Today is Blah.

Not weather-wise of course. Weather wise it is sunny with a few clouds, rather nice considering it has rained a lot lately here in my little corner of the world. It is still cool probably cold, but the sun is shining and while it did snow here a little bit the other day, and yes it stuck for a while on the cars and such, it is rather nice today I think.

It is me that is blah. I woke up in a blah mood. Not really sure why. School is going well. Oh yes, just figured it out. Doug’s sister has invited us to a Hanukkah party the day after Christmas. As far as I know, the one person I do not like will not be there. But Doug’s Aunt and Uncle will be and I want to see them. So, I am going. I know I should sound more happy and excited, but honestly, I can’t. Not until I know for sure that the ‘person from hell’ will absolutely not be there. I know it sounds childish even to me, but after what I went through with this person, I have no desire to set eyes on her ever again and if I see her before she or I dies, it will be way too soon. There is no hatred there or any kind of feeling.

She does not rent space in my head that way. I have no desire to see her or be in the same room with her. I have my boundaries and that is a HUGE one for me. His sister already tried to cross it once and it did not work well for her.

Sunday was Doug’s Christmas party for work and we went. I have to say that honestly it was not as good as last year’s and a lot of people were disappointed I think. It was still kind of fun and the food was good, so all in all a win I would say. It was in the same place as last year and I was okay with that. Because it was a bowling alley and I did not have to get all dressed up, so again a win. I see these people once a year and this is it. LOL. Of course there are one or two that I see more than that, but really, once a year is good.

Doug has been really looking for another job because of the crap Home Depot put him through while he was on medical leave. On the store level, mind you, not the corporate level.  When he went back last Thursday, everyone seemed to have missed him and at the Christmas party a lot of people asked about his foot. He is still in a walking shoe and they are still doing the soft cast thing on his foot, but he is at the foot doctor today so we will see what happens next. The doctor themselves moved him down to the wound care center, where they are aggressively treating his foot. I am not sure why they waited so long to do that myself, but I am not a doctor.  But at least he is back to work and that is important.

I think this is it for now. Ciao.

A Sound Among the Trees- A Review

This novel by Susan Meissner is set in Virginia for the most part. It switches between present time and the 1860’s. I really enjoyed this book because it has it all, romance, loss, perceived betrayal, and redemption. In this book, we see Marielle Bishop, who falls in love with Carter over the internet and on the phone. A very modern way to meet. Marielle is from Phoenix originally and Carter is in Virginia when a mix up with the online dating service that both belong to happens. Marielle is only interested in meeting local Phoenix men, but when Carter’s profile is dropped to her by mistake, she finds that they have so much in common. She emails him and from the beginning she is determined that she will not fall for him. As the emails and later phone calls grow more frequent Marielle finds herself having feelings for Carter and agrees to a meeting.

Carter has lost his wife, Sara four years ago and is living with Sara’s grandmother and his and Sara’s children. When he meets Marielle via online dating service he too is sorry that they do not live closer and is not looking for a long distance relationship. In fact, Carter was pushed into the online dating world by well meaning co-workers and is not sure he is ready for finding someone new. All he knows is that he is lonely and misses loving someone else.

 

Adelaide is Carter’s grandmother-in-law and owner of Holly Oak. She is ninety years old and has a business of sewing Civil War Confederate uniforms for the reenactments. In the beginning she is not sure how she feels about Carter remarrying someone else. She seems to feel like it would be a betrayal of her granddaughter Sara, if she liked this new person. Sara’s mother Caroline, has been in and out of her life but never hanging around too long. Caroline suffers from mental illness that runs through the family.

Holly Oak is the main character of this story, but is not human. It is a centuries old house that has seen a lot of hurt and anger in it’s time. Surviving the Civil War with a cannon ball stuck in the side of it, it is a strong house that was the backdrop to lies, betrayal, love, hurt, death, and in the end is still standing tall.

I read this book quickly and loved it very much! Such an awesome story and enough mystery to keep me turning the pages. I would recommend this book to everyone.

I got this book for free from WalterBrook Multnomah for the express reason of this review.

 

A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

Waiting To Hear

Since my last entry, Doug talked to Nancy in the office of our building and has since written a letter to the management company to get permission to be able to get DirectTV in here. I honestly do not know how one company can have a monopoly on cable in one building, I do understand having a preferred provider and all, but not letting other cable companies in at all, it seems wrong somehow and I know we are not the only ones who are fed up with Nickel and Dime Cable as I call them. So, now we wait to hear back and see what they say. I have a feeling I know what they will say, but I am hoping and praying for good news.

On the other hand, Nickel and Dime Cable came today to pick up their boxes and ask for money from me. I was like, not possible right now. Hence, the off cable service. The guy they sent was really nice and all, but I am frustrated because according to them they are still charging me $7 for a modem lease fee when I returned it in September. So, since I already have a migraine today, I will deal with that whole fuster cluck tomorrow or Monday. Sigh.

I have so had it with them I can’t even begin to describe it. First they continue to charge me for internet service after I had it turned off. Now they are charging me for equipment that I no longer have in my possession. Arrg!!! This is why I did not want to deal with them in the first place. But because my building will not let me have a choice, I was stick with them. And to be honest, their service sucks. The internet, phone and cable is not worth what you end up paying for in the end. So, hopefully I will have DirectTV soon and can be happy once again. If not, well, I will have to think of something else I guess and that will really piss me off.

Stuck and Not In a Good Way

I suppose that this might become kind of a rant, so if you don’t want to read it all, I am okay with that. In my apartment building, they only have Comcast cable, I think I mentioned that before. Now, I have had a lot of issues with Comcast over the last year and little bit that we have lived here. So last night in the grocery fliers, there was a thing for DirectTV. Which we had at the house at one point and the only issue we had with them is that the repair people that came out would not replace the line when we were telling them that there was water in the line.

So, I called last night and I qualified for the deal that they are offering, but the hitch was that I had to talk to the apartment manager about getting this. Doug went down and talked to them and they said no. If it was because they thought that they were going to drill to put the dish up, DirectTV said that they would clip the dish to the ledge outside the window. I asked specifically about that to be sure that they would not drill. It would have been so much less than Comcast and get so much more! I am really mad because I tried Comcast and they really suck. I wanted something better and I feel that I should have the choice. I guess I do have a choice, Comcast or move. I can’t afford to move so I am stuck with no cable now. Sigh.

Well, going to go. Ciao.

Rainy and Chilly

There have been a great many changes in my life in the last couple of months and all of them good, I think. I gave up cable for now. With rabbit ears on my TV I still get CBS which is where most of my programs are in the first place. The only channel I can not get right now, is ABC, which is Castle on Monday nights, but I can watch that online. Actually, I will most likely wait and get the season on DVD. We have so many movies and streaming from Netflix, so it is not like I am actually missing anything. I am not.

This actually helps me because I have more time to dedicate to school. And I don’t feel like I am missing anything at all. Now, don’t get me wrong, I might change that tune after a while and now, when I say there is nothing on TV there really is not. Sacrifices needed to be made and since I need the internet for school and we need a home phone, this was the one thing that we can get by without I think. I am not saying that we will not get cable again, but for now, it is off.

The weather here is cloudy, rainy, and chilly. I think last night they mentioned snow flakes by the middle of the week or so. Not sure. I know it will be in the 20’s for the low this week. Nice day to read and relax, which is what I am doing. Well, back to my book! Ciao!

Still Alive..

I know I have not written in a while and well, life happened all at once I suppose. Thanksgiving was good, it was just the two of us and so it was quiet. Although Doug asked his sister over for dessert with out telling me and I got mad about that. His excuse was that he thought I would say no. It is not that I would say no, I would have said yes, had he asked me or even discussed it with me. Instead, he did it behind my back and can you imagine how pissed off I would have been if she had shown up and I had no idea she was coming here?? We had a slight ‘come to Jesus’ meeting over that because I was mad. I don’t do that to him and I don’t expect him to do it to me. I understand that it is his sister, I don’t have an issue with him inviting her over, just freaking tell me she is coming!!! That was and is my point to all of this.

So he called her Thanksgiving night and she was not coming over, but would be here today to look at the clothes I am getting rid of. So today, we were waiting and waiting, she supposedly was to be here at 1pm. He called her at 1:15pm and she was not coming over, but had no intentions of calling to say that. That is what pisses me off. Then she tells Doug to bag up the clothes and give them to Sandy so she can look at them later. I have no intention of doing that. Mainly because all she had to do was come here for 10 minutes and look at them and she could not even do that. I am going to donate them to the Salvation Army across the street or something. I have had it.

Doug got a fantastic deal on our turkey. There is a store here that gives out stamps and if you filled so many books you got a free turkey up to 12 pounds. When he went to go get the turkey the smallest they had was 12.5 pounds, so he paid $.50 (50 cents) for our 12.5 pound turkey. It was a wonderfully juicy one too!! He made all of Thanksgiving dinner and it turned out really well!! In fact, the left overs were fantastic today!!

He also found a set of holiday dishes, 4 plates, 4 salad plates, 4 bowls, and 4 cups, a serving platter, a serving bowl, a butter dish, napkin holder, salt and pepper shakers, candle holders, creamer, sugar bowl, and gravy boat for $20. They are really cute and when it gets closer to Christmas I will show you the pattern on them. They all match. Kroger here also has holiday glassware for like a $1 each. Which we got a couple of glasses.

I changed the season on my blog to winter now. Since it is after Thanksgiving and Christmas  is right around the corner. I am going to go.. Ciao!!

Spring Cleaning in Fall

So last night while I was sitting in the bathtub reading, I realized that I had a closet full of clothes that I can not wear or do not like for the most part. So, after having gotten out of the tub and got dressed, I went in and started to clean out my closet. I would say that 90% of the stuff that was in there was too small for me. So, I have it all in a pile waiting on Doug’s sister to come over and pick through it and anything that she does not like, I am donating. There are so many things in there that I honestly have never worn because they were bought for me over my objections. These things still have the tags on them.

It is not like I will be without clothes because I have so many clothes that I literally have them on the floor because I have no place to put them all! Well, that is partially the truth, I hate folding clothes, so I usually live out of my clean laundry basket and they end up being tossed on the floor when I am looking for a specific thing. So, I am trying to get better organized for the new year and see what I need in terms of clothes. So, when I get my school money I can buy what I need.

It is actually nice to be finally getting this done. I have been wanting and meaning to do this for so long and I honestly always found something better to do instead. Before we moved from the house to the apartment, I cleaned out my shoes. I got rid a a couple of pairs, but I am not really a shoe person, so I tend to wear most of my shoes. Although I have a couple of pairs of heels I only wear when I have to.

This year has flown by so quickly, here we are almost at Thanksgiving and I have to wonder where the rest of the year went! School is going well and I am really enjoying it again. I was so burnt out by the time I took a few months off I actually thought I would never enjoy school again. But I was wrong and I am grateful for that. It flurried here the other day and stuck to the grass for a bit, well, at least until the sun came up. It was interesting to see the white on the ground, but the forecast for Thanksgiving does not call for snow in my little corner of Michigan. Not really sure if I am happy or sad about that.

My table and chairs that Doug got in February were finally put together for my birthday last month. They look nice and I love them! It is nice to be able to eat at an actual table at home now. Doug made his first ever pecan pie the other night and while I am not a fan, they look great and smelled good too! I think he is making pumpkin today and tomorrow for a few of our friends and for us. They are delicious! He made them last year for the first time and they came out great!! I am looking forward to that!

The trees around me are naked all ready because it has been so cold here as of late. Some trees still have some leaves, but I missed the colors this year and I am bummed about that. Not sure if we will get to the apple cider mill this year again, but it is okay. It is sunny and chilly here, of course the sky is clear so there is no clouds to hold in the warmth. I am finding myself colder this year than I was last year, but I think it has been chillier this year anyway. Well, going to run. Ciao!!

Final Grade and Other Stuff

I forgot to mention my final grade for my Skills for Success class, which was an A. I got an A on on my final project and so I was happy. I have started Interpersonal Effectiveness, which  looks to be another class I can get an A in with no problem. Today is Sunday and I am relaxing for the most part. Church was good this morning and because it was friends and family day at my church, it was packed!! Which was so nice to see.

I am tired today. I think it is the overcast and chilly weather. I like the chilly part, but the overcast really makes me tired. I am starting a book called “God On A Harley” which so far is interesting. This will be a short entry. I am going to run for now, Ciao.

Forever Faithful…

I normally really like Karen Kingsbury’s writing and love her books, however, in this instance, I could not make it all the way through this trilogy. I could not make it through the first book in this all-in-one-three book set. I am not quite sure why I could not actually read this. It seemed like a story that I would have loved. The first part of book one was talking about how Hannah Ryan loses her husband and a daughter. Hannah is supposed to be Christian. In reality, I think (assumptions are mine) that she is kind of a Christian. Meaning that she goes to church, listens to praise music, she reads her Bible, but because she has never faced hardship in her life, she assumes that she never will. According to her, God won’t let bad things happen to me. Then a drunk driver takes her husband and daughter and she is left with nothing but anger.

She ignores her surviving daughter in order to begin a crusade to make sure the man who killed her family would be punished. At this point, her surviving daughter is dealing with the grief of losing her dad and sister who is her best friend. Not only that, she is wishing that she had died and her sister had lived because her mother is making her feel as if she is not enough.

After that part, I put the book down and thought I would give it a few days because I was very emotional. As it turns out, I never came back to it. I tried. I picked it up many times to open it and read again, but just could  not make myself. The emotions in the book are so powerful that I could not cope with the grief and deep sense of loss on the part of the characters. I have not really ever reacted this way to a book before. So it took me by great surprise when I thought about why I could not read this book.

Having said all of that, I will try to read this book at a later date and if I get through it I will amend my review to reflect that and what I thought about the trilogy in full. But for right now, I am not going to force myself to read this yet.

I got this book for free for the sole purpose of writing this review from WaterBrook  Multnomah.

Forever Faithful Trilogy by Karen Kingsbury (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

Monday but Technically Tuesday

My class ended yesterday and today I start a new class. I am waiting for the grade on my final project, I am hoping to keep my 100% in that class. I am applying for a scholarship and I would like to have only A’s and B’s on my transcripts when it is time to send my application. That is my goal. I was up checking out my new class and I thought I would stop by and do an entry now that I have some time.

I have missed blogging, but last week got out of control for me. Not because I did not have a plan, but because life happened and well, we all know what happens then. Friday was Doug’s birthday and I had gotten him an Xbox 360. We went to Olive Garden with his cousin to have a birthday lunch. Which was nice. We were supposed to go out to dinner, but again life intervened and we ended up staying home having delivery from a pizza place down the road. I had pizza and wings, Doug had a sub. They have great food, so I did not mind. Of course, I bought dinner for him.

Saturday, well, Saturday was one of those days that you look back on and ask yourself, where did my day go? Cause I sure did! I ran around with Michael (Doug’s cousin) getting some things taken care of and got home at 4:30pm, then we had to go to Joe and Vickye’s house for dinner for Doug’s birthday at 6pm. Joe’s mom and dad were there too and we all had a great time. They got Doug a couple of things and he was overwhelmed I think because he was not expecting gifts. After we came home, I finally got my project finished for class, so that I could go to church on Sunday with a clear mind.

Sunday was pretty much a day for me to recover from the last couple of days and it was nice and quiet. So, here we are to Monday, well I woke up with a migraine and had it all day. I had already completed my school work, so it was not really a big deal for me to do very little today/yesterday. We had taco salad for dinner as it was quick and easy. Looking to Thanksgiving dinner and getting prepared for that. There have been some things going on with Doug and his job because he has been out on medical leave because of his foot. He had/has a diabetic ulcer on the bottom of his heel. Since he is a diabetic, it is not good. It looks a lot better than it did and it is healing so very slowly.

Apparently some of the information given to him at the store level, was flat out wrong and he found out about that today when he called the corporate office because he got a notice in the mail about him not turning more leave paper work in (he did) and why did he not go back to work. So he called and spoke to a very nice person and got a lot of great information out of the call. While this diabetic ulcer thing is going on, now there is an issue with his big toe and he is concerned about it. So am I. He sees the doctor weekly for his foot, so it is being monitored closely. As a matter of fact, he sees the doctor later today/tomorrow. So, it will be interesting to hear what they have to say.

The weather here has been cool and nice. Rain today. So you know my windows are open!! Not much else going on right now, except I am most likely going to bed now. So, Ciao!

Last Week of Class and Other Stuff

So this is week 5 of my class that I am in. I am now working on my final project for class and it is going well so far. I have to do a Power Point for this and while I do not hate them, but they sure are a ton of work!! More so than me sitting down and writing a paper for class. Having said all that, I do have to admit that I still have my 100% going in this class and now I am so nervous because this PP assignment is worth 300 points and that is a large chunk of my grade. I know that I am doing my best on it so I know that I am doing well.

I did end up taking a little more time for myself after last week because let’s face it, I needed it badly. I did my assignment that was due kind of half assed but got full points on it. Which in all honesty shocked me. I did send an email to my teacher explaining what was going on in my life and why my work in class may not have been up to my usual standards. I am glad that I did so.

Dealing with that whole situation last week took so much out of me and I know that was the goal in the long run. He got what he wanted. I ran scared. Since the changing of the cell number, the calls and texts stopped. Which was a major thing. I am okay and moving on now. I needed more time than I thought I would to get back on track but it is okay. I am back on track now and moving forward. Ciao.

Taking A Few Days

I know that I have not posted since Thursday, well that is because I took a couple days to deal with the aftermath of the situation I wrote about on Thursday. The cell number is changed and so far everything is quiet, which is good. However, after being subjected to almost endless phone calls and texts for three days, it seems eerily quiet to me.

I have not really gone anywhere yet since all this mainly because well, he accomplished his goal and I am scared. I feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop and I hate feeling like this. Yesterday, I spent the day catching up on school work, not that I was behind exactly, I was behind for me. Because of all this crap the last week, I have been just trying to give myself time to deal with it.

It is not easy. Thank you to all the people who left comments here and on my Facebook page, I appreciate the support and advice. I had a lot of text messages too. I had to change my cell number which irritated  me more than anything, but since I have done that the calls and texts from him  have stopped. Which is good. I also tightened my Facebook security settings as well. Hopefully this is enough for now. I am seriously considering moving all my game playing friends to another page and leaving people that I connect with on a regular basis on the page I have now. I don’t know yet.

Well, this is it for now. Ciao.

The Last Few Days

Since Monday I have been subjected to stalker like behavior from someone that I threw out of my life. I have let it go for the last few days hoping that this person would burn out and get bored with talking to my voicemail. Sadly this is not the case. Yesterday he stopped calling and I thought it was done, but today I got text messages from this person that rattled me so much that I called the cops and changed my phone number.

The last few days have been hell and  I would not wish this on anyone. Hopefully this is all now finished because I have a new number and I filed a report with the police. If it continues, I will continue to push for charges about this person. All I wanted was to be done with them and they went bat shit crazy on me. Sadly I never thought that this person would. Sigh.

Right Now I Wanna Scream

In the last few days I have been dealing with something that I honestly was not going to even mention here. Although it is over as of yesterday and this will be the last mention of it, I need to get my feelings out of my head so I can let go of it for once and for all.

A friend of mine from the bad old days in Florida, had been in my life for a while and we had been talking and stuff. We had a big fight  before my birthday and that pissed me off because this person (I think) did it on purpose. After my birthday, we talked and I decided to try and let him back into my life again.

He began by telling me he loved me and missed me. He wanted to be with me. All of this while I am living with another man. He was telling me I was the only one who he was talking to . He wanted to be in my life and yadda yadda. Saying all these pretty things to me. However, knowing him like I do, I did not buy any of this.

Come to find out (yesterday) that he is thinking about moving back to Florida. Something he has told me over and over again that he would never do. Various reasons why. So when he said this to me, I was surprised. I asked why. Apparently while he was telling me I was the only one, there was another girl too. Mind you, he hurt me because I thought we were friends enough to not lie to each other. I thought we had passed that a long time ago.

Apparently I was wrong about that. What hurts the most are the lies. He told me he was living in Texas when he is living in another state. He told me he did not have a cell phone when he did. When we first started talking, he told me he was single and he was not. So, this is on me because with his past, I should have seen this coming. Live and learn.

He lied to me about things he did not need to lie about and when confronted about them, he would have all kinds of excuses ready. So, I threw him out of my life yesterday. He called me 15 time or so after I hung up on him (it might have been childish to hang up on him, but I did not feel that I needed to talk to him anymore). He left me voicemails that I deleted without listening to. I unfriended him on Facebook and I erased my call log on my phone as well as took him out of my phone.

I honestly do not need so called friends like that in my life. Oh and for the record, I told him that I was staying here and I was happy for the most part where I am. I am hurt by the loss of a friendship, which apparently only meant something to me and not to him. If it mattered to him at all he would not have lied to me repeatedly.

It Has Been A While

I just realized that it has been a while since I last wrote here. I got caught up in school and some days there just is not time enough in the day to get here too. Speaking of school, it is going very well and I have a 100% in my class currently. Which makes me really happy. It seems that October has flown by and November is right on the horizon.

The weather has been great lately and nice and cool. Which makes me happy. The windows are open and there is a nice breeze coming in. The table is finished with the chairs and it is really nice! For now, I like it where it is and will most likely stay there. I am trying to train myself to eat at the table now, but I have not done so everyday for 6 years. I am pretty good at eating dinner at the table though.

I know that sounds strange. Well.. I have to run, school work to do. Ciao!

Birthday and School

Yesterday was my birthday and overall I had a great day. Got my new phone and it is great so far! Went to Red Lobster for dinner, it was wonderful. I enjoyed the quiet day and I did not do very much at all, which was nice.

School so far is great and I am all caught up with class. Actually, I am ahead of the game so far. I have an A in this class and on Monday I am moving into week 3 of my 5 week class. I am enjoying school so very much and I am glad.

I know this is short, but I gotta run for a bit. Ciao!

Moving Day

Not out of the apartment or anything, but we moved the computer desk to make room for the table and chairs we got last February. I am pretty sure that there is another entry some place in this blog about it. Finally decided to move the computer desk to another area, Home Depot is supposed to put the table and chairs together tomorrow. After he gets it together and I get stuff set up, I will take pictures to show you.

Tomorrow is my birthday and my new phone will be here tomorrow as well. Yay! I got full point for the first week in class, which makes me happy. I am tired to day as it has been rainy and cold all day long. So, I am going to go snuggle under my blanket and watch TV for a while.

Ciao!

School News & Other Stuff

School is going well. So well that I got a 100% on my first  paper in class. Yay me! I have all my assignments and reading done for this week. My Discussion Question is not due until Thursday which happens to be my birthday as well. My goal for this week was to get my assignment due on my birthday done and posted before that. So I can take Thursday off. I am going to Red Lobster for dinner that night. So now that is checked off, I can relax some. I also have the assignment that is due at the end of week done as well. I am way ahead of the game for this week and I am happy.

For my birthday I am upgrading my phone. My birthday present to myself. I am getting the Samsung Admire. It will be my first smart phone and I am looking forward to it!!! I am so excited!! The weather here has been cool and today clear mostly. I am loving the fall weather! Well that is about it for now. Ciao!

A Day for Relaxing

I missed church today because when I woke up my back hurt badly and I am  not saying that the pews are not comfortable, but I could hardly sit up on the side of the bed. I knew I would be very uncomfortable and would not concentrate on the message well, so I did not go. I am going to read my bible later.

I also woke up very tired today with a headache. Ugh. The weather is nice again and cool. The windows are back open and the air off. I am all kinds of happy now. Thursday is my birthday and I am going to Red Lobster for ‘Endless Shrimp’. I always get a coupon for my birthday from them for $5 off two adult entrees. I got a free dinner from Texas de Brazil, which is a Brazilian steak house. I have been wanting to try it, but it is usually about $40 a dinner, but it is all you can eat. With my free birthday dinner, we would only have to pay for one dinner and our drinks. So, that makes it worth it to me to try this place.

I had been to another Brazilian steak house, Gauchos before and while it was good, I did not really feel it was worth $36 a dinner. So, since this place is different, I am hoping that I like it better. I also got a Cold Stone Creamery email which is a buy one get one free for my birthday and I will definitely be using that!! I love Cold Stone a lot, but we don’t go often which is fine with me. I am a moderation kinda girl. Too much of a good thing is still too much in my book.

Today is a Humphrey Bogart marathon in my house. I watched Casablanca and I am watching To Have and Have Not now. I will watch The Big Sleep later and possibly The Maltese Falcon as well. I love Bogie. He is one of my favorites. They sure don’t make movies like that anymore. *sigh*. I think that is about it for now.

Ciao!

Birthdays and Such

My 37th birthday is next Thursday. I am still not sure how I feel about it. I usually get a ton of birthday emails from places where I have joined their email clubs and such. More than I can  honestly use every year. Most of them only give you seven days from your birthday to use them and they don’t send them out until the week of your birthday or so. Well, Bennigans sent my free birthday salad, sandwich, or burger offer a bit early, so we went last night and I used it. I also got a free birthday dessert there as well. I had a Monte Cristo and honestly, I know I say this every time, but I just don’t get how this sandwich works!

A Monte Cristo is ham, turkey, Swiss cheese (which I do not normally like), and American cheese on two slices of bread and then battered and deep fried. Topped with powdered sugar and you dip it into raspberry jam. It is so good! I know it sounds terrible when I write it all out, but it totally works!! Bennigans is the only place that I have found that does it right. Sadly, the closest one is in Plymouth now. So I only go a couple of times a year. Since the dinner and dessert were free, it was worth it to go. The dessert was brownie bottom pie. It is a brownie on the bottom, ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry. Then the whole thing is drizzled in a bit more hot fudge.

I know I want Endless Shrimp for my birthday and Red Lobster just sent me a coupon for $5 off two adult entrees, so I will be doing that on Thursday for my birthday. I get to see Will, who is my favorite sever there and his birthday is week after mine. So, I take him a birthday card.

School started and I am almost through the first week. Class is pretty good and easy for now. I like this class a lot. I am pretty much done for the week with the assignments, so I think I will get a little bit ahead and do some of the readings for next week this weekend. Tomorrow is church as usual. Today is pretty relaxed and I am just going to chill out a bit. I have a couple of discussion question posts to answer, but that is it. My paper that was due on Monday is done and turned in already, so I don’t have to worry about that. So far so good!!

Ciao!

School and Stuff

I started school on Tuesday and so far it is good. I am enjoying being back in class and I am remembering what annoyed me so much from before. Nothing I can really do about the annoyances, so I will just go with  it for now. Get through this class and I will be okay. The class I am in now, everyone who goes to this school has to take it, so I am in class with people not in my degree program and even some who are not even in the bachelor degree program.

I have a headache right now, so I need to go. Ciao

Shadows on the Sand, A Seaside Mystery

This is my first Gayle Roper book and I have to say that I was easily drawn into the story and characters. She writes really well and creates characters that are totally believable. I found myself rooting for Carrie and Greg from almost the beginning of the book. There are some twists and turns in the story and that is the hard part about reviewing mystery books, not giving those away!

Set in a small touristy town in New Jersey, these characters work hard and as it turns out look out for one another in ways that no one would have expected!! Seaside seems to be a magnet for runaways and people who in general need God. This book has a nice spiritual side, but it does not over shadow the story in anyway.

As in life, there are good and evil people in Seaside. Some of these are not always outsiders, but those who live next door to us everyday. In this book Greg is a former cop who is still grieving for his lost wife, daughter, and son. They were murdered in front of him, in his very own vehicle. He does not think that he is done mourning yet when Carry comes into his life and he falls in love with her. Carrie on the other hand has had a major crush on Greg for a while and she does not know how to go about turning her crush into love.

Shadows On The Sand by Gayle Roper (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

I got this book for the sole purpose of this review from Walterbrook Multnomah.

Looking Up

This Sunday finds me at peace, just as I like. I am tired today but that was because I was up late and had to get up early for church. I have not had a nap, but since it is 6pm, don’t think I will get one either. *sigh* I have not been blogging a lot lately because I have been trying to get things in order for school to start on Tuesday.

Today in church Pastor Jeff preached on why as Christians we should believe in Hell. It was a good message, but honestly one I had not really heard preached before. Pastor Jeff told us that not many people preach about Hell anymore for fear of offending someone. It was an interesting message and I actually got a lot out of it.

In case, you don’t know, the Lions have a Monday Night Football game this week. It has been a long time since they got a Monday Night game. I think we will be doing deli tomorrow night for dinner because his cousin will come up to watch the game. I am not much into football but even I noticed how well the Lions are doing this season and I am very happy to see them finally moving in the right direction. Since I have been here, they have been really bad. This year finds them with a good coach, a good GM, and great players. All elements needed in winning.

So, here is to a good week. I will keep you posted on school.

Ciao!

Bipolar Weather and Five Days

The weather here in my little corner of Michigan has been rather bipolar lately. What I mean by that is during the day lately I have had to have the air conditioning on because it is warm outside. Because I live on the eighth floor of a building and the scientific principal of heat rises comes into play, it can be 10-15 degrees warmer where I live than at ground level. So taking this into account, if it is like 73 on the ground, it is 83-88 degrees here at my house. Which really sucked in the summer, let me tell  you. It works to my advantage in the winter though.

So, lately I have had to have the A/C on during the day and when the sun goes down, I turn it back off and open the windows again because the nights are great. Seriously, it is almost the middle of October, where is my fall temperatures? I miss them! I will share a quirk about me: I am such a die hard Florida girl that I will wear my flip flops until the first snow. I hate regular shoes so much. People up here think I am nuts, but I don’t really care.

School starts in five days. To say that I am looking forward to it is well, an understatement at best. I am a bit nervous though. I know I will be okay once I get into class and get stuff working again. I did not realize how burnt out I was on school until recently. It sort of came as a shock to me. But looking back it makes so much sense. I needed the break I took to decide if I wanted to continue or just quit. I needed time to recharge my batteries and do a little soul searching too. At first, I looked at this time off as a major punishment and did not how I would get through it. Now, I look back grateful for the time to be really sick and to just do some things for fun.

I have my passion for school back and it is nice to feel that way again. It has been a while since I felt this way. I am not sure when exactly I lost the passion for school, but it was totally gone. I got to do some things that I love during my time off. Things like read a book that is not a text book, cook more, try new recipes, just relax and be me for a while. I needed to do those things too. I always feel like there is not enough time in the day a lot of times. I think that I could possibly manage my time better which is one of my goals for my first class.

Getting back in to a routine for school will be challenging after not having to have a schedule for anything for so long. Instead of trying to make my day fit a defined schedule, I think I will see how my class unfolds first before I make my schedule for my day. It seems to work better when I do that. Since I got out of the review classes, I have three less classes to deal with or even think about. Yay! I do still have to take a statistics class, but I think I will be okay with that class. I just have to work harder.

Well, I am going to go! Ciao!

Letting Go

This blog entry is about something that I have been thinking about for a while, but never really did. In life, I know that some people will be in your life always and that some people float in and out. I don’t have a problem with that. I have a problem when someone who says they are there forever, decides that they are more important than you or anything else.

Let me back up a bit, I had a friend who I have known for a very long time. He and I have been back in touch for a while and things were fine. Now, you might remember the entry I did about PMS just a while back. If you don’t know big deal. Well, this person decided that I have been lying about that and was using it to just not speak to him. Which is entirely false.

So, it finally came to a head on Saturday when this person called me up and bitched me out and then hung up on me. That apparently was not enough because he then texted me about 11pm that night too. I let all of that go. I understood why he was upset and thought that if I let him cool down we could have a discussion. I was wrong it turns out.

On Sunday after church, I texted him and tried to tell him what was going on. He did not believe me. His right I suppose. He then texted me saying he did not believe me and I told him that I had not been talking to anybody. I turned off my Facebook chat and my IMs. He thought I had an attitude. Again, his right. I did not and if I came across as if I did, it was not intended. He did not believe that either. Ok, fine.

I basically told him that I hope he has a good life and finds what he is looking for. I was trying to end this on a decent note, but he wanted nothing to do with that. So, I had to turn off my phone. I sat and prayed last night about all of this and you know what? Sometimes, you have to be the one to let go. It is not easy and it is not fun, but right now it is for the best for me and my life. Maybe down the road somewhere we can be friends. Maybe not. I don’t know. I feel an inner peace that I have not  had for a while and I am enjoying it for now.

Ciao!

An Unexpected Question

Today at church, I got an unexpected question asked of me. I have been going to this church for a bit, more than a handful of times. This morning while waiting for the services to start, I was chatting with Pastor Jeff. He asked me if I wanted to take a new member class at the church. Honestly, I had not really thought about becoming a member of the church, but I said yes and asked when it was.

Apparently they had just finished one the week before and they normally wait until they have several people wanting to take this class before they begin another, which makes total sense to me. So, he will let me know when it will be.

This class is only one Sunday, they meet before service and after the service as well. I am really surprised by his invitation for sure!! I am looking forward to it. Services today were great. I had asked God for help on dealing with a situation that has arisen in my life in the last couple of days and I don’t know how to deal with it. So, I asked. Now I am waiting for my answer.

Ciao!

Holy Crap October!!

I can not believe it is October 1st already!! The weather is great though, it is cool bordering on cold with a nice breeze that sends a nice flow of cool air through the windows of the apartment. I love it because I can have the windows open all the time now and just close them as much or as little as needed. Sure is a wonderful break from summer!!!

Earlier they did a test of the tornado siren. Which since I have moved, it seems that I live closer to the siren now. Anyway, it is supposed to be tested at 1pm. It started going off and I looked at my computer clock and it was 12:57pm. I was kind of like, way to tell time there!!

Speaking of the tornado siren, I remember the first time I heard the darn thing after I moved up here. Since I got to Michigan about in the middle of October in 2005, I missed that test, so I think it was November that I heard it. Seriously, no one warned me that they actually test these things here. In Florida, there were no tornado sirens. I was dead asleep until the siren went off and it woke me out of a dead sleep. Scared the hell out of me because I had no idea what it was!! Boy was I mad when someone told me it was just a test of a tornado siren.

I start school in 10 days. I am so ready!! Since I tested out of the review classes, I am happy! Mainly because they would only cost me money and not do anything for my degree. I still have to take the composition class, which is fine, I actually get 3 credits for that towards my degree. So, I am willing to accept that class.

in 19 days it is my 37th birthday. Not sure how I feel about that yet. I will probably have more to say on the subject as it gets closer. I don’t know. Well, I am going to run.

Ciao!

It’s Not You, It’s Me… Really.

The last week, okay week and half I have had the worst PMS I have ever had in my life. I have been so over emotional and going between sad and angry at the drop of a hat. So I thought that if I just kept to myself, I would spare the people I care about, dealing with me and this.

I am not ignoring anyone. I don’t mean to make people think that I am ignoring them or want anything to do with them. It is just better if right now, I don’t talk to them because I don’t know how to control this. I have been downing Midol like candy. It helps a little.

So, I am sorry if someone thinks that I am purposely hurting them. It is not my intention.

More Good News

Today I got more good news from school. It seems that my 70% in the English placement test was good enough for me to test out of English Review I. However, since I had already had an English class and gotten an A, that let me get out of the English Review II class. So, that made me happy this morning or actually this afternoon as it were.

Today I am trying to test out of my Composition class. I am not sure I will do that well but it is one less class I will have to take if I do well. Writing has always been one of my favorite things, but this is not like just writing something and turning it in. This is about knowing about writing and being able to answer questions about it. This is similar to the English placement test, but not quite the same.

I am so grateful for all the opportunities to test out of all these classes. It will get me finished with this degree faster, which will make me so happy. It also will save me money as well. Which I am so glad for.

The weather is wonderful here and I like it so much. So cool and a nice breeze.

Ciao!

Tested Today

Today I took placement tests in English and math. I took these to hopefully test out of a couple of my classes. This will save me both time and money in the long run. I got a 90% on my math placement test and a 70% on the English. I actually had thought that it would be the other way around though.

The English test was tough because it tested on everything in English as well as APA formatting and so much has just changed. I also realized that I had not had an English class since before I started at Phoenix, so it has been a while and I did get an A in that class, I forgot a lot of it though. So, I might have to take a refresher English class. Which is okay, because I know I can get a good grade in that class for sure.

I think that because I got a 90% on my math placement test, I will test out of the math review class. Which is good. One less math class for me to take is always good. I had two classes going in to transferring here, I was told that one of my math credits transferred. The other did not because I got a D in that class. So, they dropped that credit for me. Which is why I have to take another math class. I don’t really mind. I am not strong in math and I know that in order to get better at it, you have to do it.

Although I do not like to do math because sometimes it is complicated, I know that I have to do this for my degree. So I will. I was thrilled with the 90%! So all in all not a bad day.. School starts in two weeks!!

Ciao!

Enemies of the Heart- A book Review

I want to begin by saying that this is my first ever Andy Stanley book. I have seen him on Joyce Meyer’s television show a couple of times and he seemed interesting enough. Sometimes, I make the mistake of thinking that if the person is a good speaker they are a good writer and I have found that is not the case with many. Andy Stanley is one of the few exceptions to that. He is so very personable in his book Enemies of the Heart. He talks about some very personal things and gets you thinking about your heart and how it is working with God.

In this book Andy talks about the four things that keep a person from giving their whole heart to God. He even talks about his personal struggle with some of these things. As I was reading his book, I realized that some of this totally applied to me as well. It is hard to give it all over to God and not hang on to something, a tiny piece of your heart just in case things don’t go exactly as planned. I know this kind of thinking all too well because I have engaged in it in the past.

Andy also talks about confession. Real confession. Not just laying in bed listing off the bad things you have done that day, week , month, or even year. He talks about taking responsibility for your actions and your confession. Saying that if your actions have harmed another person, intentional or not, you need to go to that person and confess what you have done and ask for forgiveness. Sometimes, this can occur years after the incident, like he talks about in the book. Once you confess properly then you can go about your life.

Anger, Guilt, Greed, and Jealousy are the four things that Andy talks about in this book that can and will keep you from giving your whole heart to God.  I think that if we all look closely enough we will find that one or more of these have impacted our own lives in some way. I know that I had to come to terms with my own issues while reading this book and it made it harder to get through because I kept putting it down because I would think of things in my own life that were right on target for what he was talking about.

I love how Andy Stanley writes, he is more of a conversationalist than a writer. Reading this book was a lot like sitting down with a friend and having a wonderful conversation about God. He is no way judgmental or preachy. He gives examples from his own life and that really helped me to understand what he was talking about.

If you have never read an Andy Stanley book, I recommend you do!! He is amazing!!

Enemies of the Heart by Andy Stanley Leader's Guide

I got this book for free from WalterBrook Multnomah for the sole purpose of writing this review.

Unrelated to My Earlier Post

I meant to mention it in my earlier post, but did not know the outcome for sure and now that I do, I can write about it. For most of my long time readers, you know what happened when Home Depot’s dad died last summer and how I was muzzled due to a threat to put me in jail because I was writing about the TRUTH that was happening at the time. I even had people sitting on my blog to monitor what I was writing about. I am sure if you are a new reader, if you go back to June of 2010 you can find the posts there. Briefly I thought about moving this blog/ closing it and making it private, but in the end, I hate to admit it, I gave in and did not write about what was happening. Well that is OVER now.

We were invited to Rosh Hashanah dinner at The Sister’s  house on Wednesday night. The only stipulation that I had made was that The Cousin ( I have decided to not use her real name, but you can find it in the entries from before) that made my life hell and decided to take all of the crap to Facebook not be there. I have no desire to see her ever again and honestly, I don’t hate her. She takes up no space in my life, I have no feelings about her what so ever. I don’t think that after what happened that I can be in the same room with her and I don’t want to be.

The Sister had said (according to sources) that she would not be there. Well, that was wrong. Apparently she was invited and had accepted. Now, I was all set to go Wednesday night as a let-bygones-be-bygones thing with The Sister. I am not going now. My life is too short to be in a room with people I do not like and have to suffer through and deal with them. That is how I feel and I refuse to apologize for that.

The thing that really gets me is that The Sister has been telling Home Depot that she wants to do more things with him and us. He told her a few days ago that I would not be there if The Cousin was invited. She knew. Well, Home Depot is now not going either because he doesn’t want to deal in anyway with The Cousin. He has made this clear, so for The Sister to invite this person anyway is like telling us, I don’t give a shit about how you feel on this. She wonders why we don’t do much with her since last summer. Perhaps she should think about this moment the next time she gets a decline from us.

I told Home Depot to go if he wanted. He DOESN’T want to have anything to do with her (The Cousin). There have been some rumors swirling about her anyway and it is probably safer for us to stay home. What could have been a nice holiday dinner with nice people, well that is out now. I for one, I could care less. I was thinking about staying home anyway before all this came to light. I don’t think The Sister was going to say anything about inviting The Cousin either. Until we got there and saw her and honestly I would have walked out right then and there. Fuck that.

300th Post

According to my Blogger dashboard today is my 300th post in this blog. Oh, where has the time gone? I remember when I was just starting this blog because I really missed public blogging. So much has happened in my life since that day. Sometimes I like going back to the first post of my blog and re reading it. You can find that first post here. It seems like a lifetime ago that I started here but in reality is was March 8, 2010.

Today the weather in Michigan or at least my part of Michigan is grey and cloudy. The weather on the news last night said that we were expecting 1-2 inches of rain. That is a lot of rain!! It has rained off and on since about 1am this morning. The good thing is that it is cool and overcast. My cat Dinky doesn’t like this kind of weather because she loves to lay in the sun.

You will notice that some things have been removed from my blog, the biggest thing of course is the picture of my kids. Mainly because I was getting some strange comments about that picture and I decided that it was best to just remove it. They do not live with me here in Michigan, but still.. Better to be safe, ya know?!?

So, happy 300th post to me!! Here is to 300 more!!!

Ciao!

Relaxation

Today I went to church and heard the most amazing family testimonial. Truly inspiring for sure! It really made me feel like my issues last week were so trivial. It really put things into perspective for me. Which I needed desperately.

Today was a very restful day for me and I needed that for sure. I get stressed out sometimes just by stuff building up in my life and it is hard sometimes for me to destress. I took a nice nap and really had nothing to do today but church. The weather has been wonderful, I have all the windows open because it has been cool enough to do so.

I love fall weather. I also think that is what is helping me relax too because it is cool enough to enjoy. I am gearing up for another week of my shows being on. I am so happy that fall TV is back for sure!! Tonight is steak and potatoes for dinner, which sounded so yummy earlier. I am looking forward to dinner. I had a salad because I was getting a headache earlier.

Right now, life is good for me. One of the things I am trying to do to be more healthy is drink more water. I have a Brita pitcher that I totally love. I am also looking into getting a water cooler for the house, the ones with the hot and cold nozzles. The water here is not great. Which is why I have a Brita pitcher, but the filters are totally outrageous. So, until I find another idea, that is what I am going with.

This week I am getting two DVDs. I have my last month of DVDs with Netflix and then we signed up for Blockbuster. I will still keep streaming with Netflix. So, I have Thor coming for Doug from Netflix and The Equalizer from Blockbuster for me. The Equalizer is an old 80’s show that was on for a while, I think Edward Woodward was the star. I am thrilled to find it on Blockbuster!! Well, that is it for me.

Ciao!

New Commenting System and Other Stuff

So I decided to try a new commenting system on this blog. Simply because it gives me a lot more control of my comments. So I have a favor to ask of my readers, if you could just comment on this post so I can be sure that it is installed correctly. Thanks!

I have been rather anti-social as of late. Mainly because I just have not really had it in me to deal with others. I wanted to take some time to myself because in the span of a couple of days, everything kind of blew up here. God really does work in strange ways. For a while the issue of renewing the lease here has been on the table. The notice we got was really misleading. When we moved in, we got a ‘move in’ special. The apartment that we are living in, was originally $646 a month, but with the special the rent was $550 a month. So, when they sent us a notice that it was time to renew the lease, it said that the original rent was $646, which it was, but they wanted us to renew at $666 for a year.

Which alarmed me!! I mean it was bad that it would be going back to $646, let alone $666!! Because the lease is not in my name, I could not go down and talk to them. It has to be him. Well he has been procrastinating and putting it off, until I was nagging him every single day to go down there and talk to them. In actuality, we are getting the ‘move in’ special still, but they are raising the rent by $20. Which is better than what I originally thought!!

Then Thursday, he left to go run some errands and well, the car died as he was driving it. So, he had to get it towed to the place that he got it from ( he bought it from a mechanic). The mechanic said it would not be all that expensive to fix. Actually it was less than $500, but right now that was even difficult to manage for him. His sister is actually paying for it today and he will pay her back. Which is wonderful. So, the car was ready yesterday and the guy allowed him to pick it up and take it. Which was nice.

The thing about the car dying in the middle of the road was bad because it was a major street and it was about 5pm, so it was rush hour. A lady stopped to help him get the car out of the way of traffic and because he had his cell phone for once, he could call the police. They showed up quickly and he called AAA, who had originally said an hour to an hour and a half for a tow. The cop said that was too long to wait, so he called a tow truck on the list. If that tow truck had not fallen behind because of a big accident, he would have had to pay for the tow and then submit the receipt to AAA for reimbursement. Which would have taken about 4-8 weeks or so. But because the tow truck the cop called fell behind, the AAA tow truck showed up and he did not have to pay for the tow.

So, while things got bad, they also were taken care of. So many good things happened!! I am so grateful. I am going to church tomorrow again. I really enjoyed it last week. Well that is what has been going on with me.

Ciao!

T.V Shows and the New Facebook

Last night was the season premiere of NCIS, NCIS:LA, and Unforgettable. NCIS was amazing!! I am so looking forward to the rest of this season!! NCIS:LA was awesome as well, but as it answered questions, it left more as well. I am so into this season already because I want to know more!! Unforgettable is Poppy Montgomery’s (formerly of Without A Trace) new show and it has a pretty interesting premise, she has a medical thing that will not allow her to forget anything that she sees. She is a former cop in the pilot episode, but will be rejoining the Queens police department as a homicide detective. To make this even more interesting, her older sister was murdered seemingly in front of her or in her vicinity and she is trying to solve the case. I am intrigued enough to watch next week and see what happens.

Okay, the new Facebook home page has got to go!! I am so confused by it and I hate it! I used to be able to see what I needed quickly and easily and now I have to hunt for stuff and I can’t really refresh when I want.. Arrrgggg!! It was fine the way it was.

Ciao.

Fall Television

I am so thrilled because my fall t.v shows are back. Last night was the season premiere of Castle. It was good because I was worried about Kate and I could not wait to see what happened between Kate and Richard! It was a great season premiere and a great way to start my week off! There is also a new Richard Castle book coming out September 20th. I am looking forward to that.

Tonight is NCIS and NCIS:LA. Both left with major cliffhangers from last season and I am ready to see what happens!! I am glad they are both back and they are my favorite Tuesday night  shows. So, I most likely will not be online from 8-10pm tonight.

There is one CBS show that I am looking forward to seeing, possibly. The show is called Unforgettable with Poppy Montgomery and it apparently premieres tonight at 10pm. So, my night is pretty much planned.

Ciao!!

Rejuvenation

Today seems so different from last week. Well, that is because things are different from last week! To begin with, I went to church this morning and it was so uplifting and it made me feel so good I was wondering why I stopped going before. I have no real answer for that. Which kinds of bothers me a little bit.

The phone thing is fixed and I am happy about that more than I should be probably. The weather has been so wonderful the last few days and I am thrilled with that. Yesterday was a great day and I had fun with Joe and Vickie. The weather was so nice outside all day and got a bit chilly last night, which was perfect for the bon fire.

I seem to be in a happier mood and I like that. It is nice. Church this morning was great and is I think most of the reason why I feel rejuvenated today. It was uplifting and I really enjoyed it a lot. Looking forward to next week too.

Making vegetable beef soup tonight for dinner. With some great bread, it will be wonderful. I can’t wait! Great day for soup. I am getting into some of the apple recipes as well, but not until Late October or so when the apples are better.

Things are looking up for me finally and school starts again soon. I am so ready and honestly I was questioning if I should continue in school or not. I know I had my plans, but sometimes plans don’t always work out well. But I really feel that I will be able to continue and finish my bachelor degree for sure. One day at a time and sometimes I lose sight of that. Life is pretty good right now, I have those that are my close friends and they make a real difference in my life!!

Ciao!

Cooler Temperatures

I admit that I hate summer. Living in Florida it was so hot that you would melt right where you stood if you were not careful. Here in Michigan, the summers before this one were not too bad, considering that I am from Florida and that deep in the South it can get to be 102 in the shade during the summers. However, we reached 100 degrees this summer here in Michigan. That my dear readers, is too damn hot no matter where you are from!

I always look forward to September and cooler temperatures because fall is my favorite time of year with the leaves changing colors and being able to wear sweaters and sweatshirts. I have the windows open and it has been nice the last couple of days.

One of my favorite fall activities is to go to the cider mill. The smell of apples is heavenly and the ice cold, fresh cider is amazing. Not to mention the freshly made apple donuts which are still hot to the touch and you can see the steam rising from the paper bag. They are so good.

Hockey season also starts soon and when I say soon I mean in the next few weeks. I am also happy because all of my TV shows are coming back starting with Castle on Monday! School also starts soon, October 11th. Which I am looking forward to. I needed the break but will be thrilled to be back soon.

Well, off to watch a movie. Ciao!

Not Really Hiding..

I have been just doing other things lately. Not hiding. Reading mostly. I did something to my right shoulder and it hurts really bad. I am not sure what I did or exactly when I did it, but all I know is that my shoulder hurts sometimes so bad I cry when I have to lift my arm a certain height. So, I have been dealing with that, which is not fun by any definition of the word.

I just haven’t really felt like writing lately. I know it seems strange, but honestly I have not really had much to say about anything. I have been hanging with my cat and books. Which right now makes me happy. Still working on the phone issue though. Sigh. Well, I am going to run. Ciao.

School, Blog, and Other Assorted Stuff

I was going to do this post earlier, but decided to hold off until after midnight. On the 11th, I have a month until school starts back and honestly I am so thrilled with that. I am beyond ready I think. Although it might take me a few days to get back into the swing of things.

I somehow screwed up my blog, so if you are wondering what happened, I had to use a Blogger theme until I can figure out what in the hell I did. I was trying something with a background and header from a site that I get a lot of the backgrounds that I use. I have never used a header before and well, I screwed it up somehow and now I can’t get it back to normal. Sigh. That will teach me to go messing with things that I should not be messing with. So, if any of my readers would be so inclined to help me, that would be great. Leave a comment on this entry and I will contact you.

Later today it is supposed to be in the 80s but after that it is going to cool off and I am so ready for that!! I am sick of the heat and ready for the fall like temperatures! I can not wait to go to the apple cider mill. I have so missed that place! Already thinking about Thanksgiving and what to have. A lot has been going on here, most of it I can not talk about here yet. Soon, I will though.

It has been a quiet weekend, which is the best kind really. No really big dust ups and no drama, which is definitely the best kind!! Right now it is me and the cat chillin in the living room as I write this and she is vying for prime real estate which is my lap and my lap top is currently occupying that space. So, she made herself comfortable on my left hand, which as you may realize makes it difficult to type. Got her settled into a nice spot next to me and she is all happy if I pet her about every five words or so. She is definitely the head of this house!!

I am tired tonight, more so than usual I think. I don’t really know why, unless it is the mental stress I have been under. Again, school will be a wonderful distraction for me soon and I can not wait! I apparently have injured my right shoulder somehow and by somehow, I mean I have no freakin idea how I did it. It hurts bad and I wish I knew what to do for it. Sigh. Bed calls… Ciao!

9/11

Since Sunday is the 10th anniversary of 9/11 I thought I would do an entry early. Usually I do a  post about someone who perished on 9/11. This year I am doing this differently. This year I am going to talk about my feelings about 9/11, then and now. I remember it like it was yesterday.

9/11 changed my life in so many ways. Personally, it devastated me. I had a very difficult time getting past it. As it turned out, someone I cared about deeply died on that day. He meant the world to me. Not only to me though, to his family too.

As a mom, I had the hard task of explaining this to my kids. My son was 6 at the time and my daughter was 4. As fate would have it, they were home that day with me sick. I got a call from my mom telling me to turn on the TV in time to see the second plane hit and the tower fall. Both of my children saw this and of course did not understand it. I actually think that they thought it was a movie or TV show.

I had the unenviable task of explaining what happened to them. When my son went to school he had a couple of classmates who had family in New York. Everyone was sad and I am not sure that he understood totally why. I explained as best as I could at that time to them both.

A couple of years later my daughter asked me about it and I explained what happened. It was hard to tell a child about people who wanted to kill innocent people because of a religion. For the most part as my kids have grown up they have dealt well with the new world we live in now.

Since then, so many things have changed. Some not for the better too. Lately in the news there have been talk about credible terror threats. Now a days, I am more into supporting the military and I worry about my guys. Since all of this has been going on a lot of them are getting alerts. A lot of the National Guard units went on alert.

I knew as this anniversary of 9/11 got closer that more and more terror threats would come to light. It makes sense. However, if something happens again there will be no place that these terrorist could possibly hide. I strongly feel that is very true. I love this country faults and all. Here is to a quiet 9/11.

Not A lot to Say and Nothing Good

I have been quiet lately on this blog because honestly I have not really had anything good to talk about. I could talk about all the issues going on, but as I am not really sure if there are trolls lurking around or not, I would rather not get into that here.

I am hoping to have my cell back on by next Tuesday. So if you have been trying to call or text, sorry about that.

My First Craigslist

Today I made a Craigslist account and posted my first for sale thing. I have The Simpson’s seasons 1-7 and 9. No one watches them, so I am offering them for $15 each. Hopefully I will get a nibble soon. I will let you know what happens.

Stressed Out

Today I accidentally found out that Comcast did not remove the internet services from my account. You will remember that back in July I switched my internet and phone to AT&T. When I switched AT&T told me that when I switched, they would contact Comcast and have them disconnect the phone and internet.

Now, I have no idea if AT&T did not contact Comcast. Although the phone was removed from the account, so I am sure that AT&T did contact Comcast. I think that what happened was that Comcast removed the phone but not the internet.

If that is true that pisses me off. I called and removed the internet today finally and they are sending me a box to return the modem to them with. They are paying the shipping. As they should. I also think that they should remove any charges for the internet from July 19th on until today.

That is a fight for another day though. I am tired right now. I am stressed out. I got the internet removed. I actually found out about this because someone from Comcast called me to talk about lowering my bill. He mentioned the internet and I was like, there should be no internet on that account. Surprise! There was. Ugh.

I do have to admit the lady I spoke to to remove it was so nice. She did what I asked and only tried to talk me into phone service. LOL. I was like, no thank you I am happy with AT&T right now and she let it go. No hard sell. That was refreshing to say the very least.

The Cosmos Has Spoken..

So this morning, I found a comment that my friend Ben left on my  entry about Monkey Bread on my food blog, and he said Thanks for posting this, Tawnya! I wasn't familiar with monkey bread and now you're the second person to mention it this morning. Sounds like some great cosmic hint that I'm supposed to make monkey bread! To his comment, I say, you are very welcome Ben, the cosmos has spoken. Go forth and make monkey bread!

Actually everyone that I have shared some of the monkey bread with loved it. It is a easy recipe and soo good! It also is easily customizable to your tastes. I was asked to make it for Christmas morning and to add pecans to it as well.

I have some other recipes that I want to do as well and that I will be doing. So be sure to stop by my food blog. Friday night we went to Olive Garden and while I did not really feel all that great, I really wanted to go. I had the Chicken and shrimp Carbonara.  Their description for this dish is Chicken and shrimp with bucatini pasta in a parmesan cream sauce with pancetta bacon and roasted red peppers, baked and topped with seasoned breadcrumbs. It was so good!!! I really loved it and would totally get it again.

They also have new Panini's for the lunch menu. They look so good!! I love the Olive Garden. I am now making myself hungry by talking about this.. I think I am going to go. Ciao!!

Making Monkey Bread

I honestly have never had monkey bread but I found a recipe on one of my favorite websites for recipes ( to see the recipe go to my food blog here). So, I printed it out and thought I would save it. Well, I got sick and had to wait. Thinking that I was feeling better today, I decided to make it. ( There will be pictures on my food blog, so check them out!) I will post a pic of the final product here, but for the recipes and other pics, they will be on my food blog. There is a link in my side bar and above, so check it out.

I apparently was not feeling as well as I could be and I thought I was. I got slightly dizzy and clammy by the end of making the monkey bread. So, since it was in the oven I sat down before I fell down. Sitting here writing this  I can smell the cinnamon and it smells so good!!

I am all kinds of happy that September is here because fall is my favorite time of the year really. Cooler temps and the apple cider mill opens at the end of the month. We did not go last year because honestly we had so much going on with just moving and Home Depot’s dad dying. Dealing with various family members who were bitches and pains in the ass. It was a hard year.

It has been a month since Julie’s mom died and I am doing better but I still miss her so much. I still have not taken her cell number out of my phone yet. I am just not ready for that. I am going to send Julie’s dad a Christmas card at Christmas though. I miss him too!!

It is supposed to get cooler here in Michigan soon and I am so ready for that!! I love being able to have the windows open and being comfortable. I honestly did not turn the heat on once last winter. Not. one. time. I was so happy!!  This summer has about killed me though. Sigh. Too hot. You know it was hot here when I am from Florida and I am saying it is too damn hot!! LOL. Well, I am going to go. Ciao!

Why I Am Tech Support In This House

Home Depot ( not my nickname for him, but since I don’t want certain people knowing everything about me, I had to make up a nickname for him) has been trying to figure out what an MP3ga is . I had never heard of it before and never encountered it anywhere before. Apparently this website that he downloads podcasts for his MP3 player on recently switched to this format without saying anything to anyone. So he was constantly getting an error when he tried to download files.

This has been going on for a while and finally it occurred to him to ask someone in Best Buy in the computer section. They explained to him that it was a type of a file and you had to convert it to an MP3. Simple right? Not so much for him. So, in order to convert a file, you have to have a file converter program. There are many on the market, but I am very, very picky about what I will allow to be downloaded on to my desk top. Mainly because of all the viruses out there. Yes, I have anti virus and a firewall on that computer, but I am still careful none the less.

So, he waits until I am sick to ask me to look them up online and find one for him. I was like, I will when I am feeling better because honestly when I was really sick, I would go on line to check email and that would be basically about it. So, a couple of nights ago, he asked again and I was feeling okay I guess, so I did a search online and found a free program that was on the C-Net website. I do trust them because I have a few things that I use on my lap top that I got from them.

So, I was looking at the program because anything too technical to use and I will be the one converting all these files for him. I found a nice simple, free file converter program and downloaded it on to the desk top. After it was done, I used it to be sure it worked before I told him to use it and to see how simple it actually is to use. Honestly, it is simple. You choose the files you want to convert and you hit the convert button. Easy as pie.

No way to get that confused or to mess up the file. Fool proof for the most part. Exactly what I needed. So, I told him it was ready and how to use it. The first time he used it there was a small snag in that it needed to know where to place the converted file at. I thought I had it set for the desktop on the computer so that they would be easy to find. I quickly fixed that and sent him on his way. The best part of this is that it sends it directly to Rhapsody, which is the music software he uses to put music on his MP3 player. Score!

So now he is happily sitting at the desk top converting all these files for his MP3 player. Anytime anything electronic goes haywire in this house, I am supposed to fix it. Sometimes I score big like this time, others not so much. All in a days work as tech support, too bad I don’t paid for it.. Sigh.

New Blogger Interface and Stuff

First off, I want to talk about the new Blogger interface. I like how clean looking it is. I love how uncluttered it is. But for me the one drawback is that it is confusing as heck! I am usually pretty good with new things and I normally embrace them. I will continue to use it to see if it gets better.

I was thinking that I wanted to update my 32 GB HD Zune. I saw the 64 GB HD Zune and I like it a lot. The problem is that I think that it is new because even on Amazon it is $600. As with ebay as well. So, I am going to wait for a while before I move up to the 64 GB. It is really nice and my 32 GB is totally full. So…

Instead of updating my MP3 player, I am going to update my phone instead. I have never had a smart phone before, so I am upgrading to the LG Optimus M. It is an Android phone and I am looking forward to it. I most likely won’t do this until around the holidays or so.

School starts in a little over a month and I can’t wait! As much as I love the time off and the freedom to do what I want, I am missing school too. I am so looking forward to getting back into class and learning something!! LOL.

I have enjoyed my time off where as I did not think that I would in the beginning. It has been nice to not have to worry about deadlines and assignments. It will also be nice to get back to those same deadlines and assignments.. Well, I am going to go lay down. Ciao!

Turning the Corner or Hoping I Am Anyway

Most of my readers know that I have been sick for like 10 days or so. Not as sick as I normally get, but it has been rough going. Today was the first day that I actually could take a shower and not felt like I was going to fall over and crack my skull on the faucet. So that is a win for me! Yay me!

I like to celebrate the little things because it sucks to have to wait for the big things to celebrate. The only real issue I am having, well okay it is two issues is that I have this horrible cough. No wheezing, which is good because I am an asthmatic. And also the eye thing started again. I know! I was doing the happy dance and all when it quit after one day, it seemed that it was lulling me into a false sense of security.

So, I think that aside from the cough and the eye thing, I am turning the corner on this thing. Finally. The house phone is so messed up right now, so I had to forward the house phone to my cell phone and well that way no calls get missed and I have caller ID on my cell, so I can selectively miss calls.

My sleep schedule is so fucked up right now. I can’t even explain it here when I stop to think about it. Sigh. School resumes in October and I am so looking forward to it, but I know that I will be sad to give up the freedom that I have had these last few months. I like school and I have found that I am good at it.

I guess for so long when you have people in your life always telling you what you liked and did not like (A.K.A The Drama Queen from Hell and the Warden) you really begin to believe them. Well, since I have been away from them, I actually have found that school was only the first thing that they were wrong about. I love school because it is challenging and I find that I like being challenged. 

Oh man, I was tired today and still am kinda. Which is how I know I am healing. I think it will be chicken fajitas for dinner tonight. They sound so yummy and honestly I go back and forth between not being hungry at all to being so hungry I could eat a cow!! I know, normally people say horse, but I like horses too much to eat one.

I think it is time that I go. Ciao!

A Couple of Movies I Want to Talk About

I know that I am woefully behind in my movie watching and I just have to say that barring a new James Bond flick coming out, I can wait until the new movies are on Netflix or IN DEMAND. Although, I have to admit that I would not be spending actual money to see these. Which means waiting until they are out on HBO or Stars for the IN DEMAND.

Last night I saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Now, having just read that book, I was most interested in seeing it. The only really bad thing I have to say is that I wish they would have shown the funeral for Dumbledor and I wish that they would have shown the progression of the Ginny/Harry romance.  I know that they can not take the whole book and make the movie from that, although on an unrelated note that is what they did with The Big Sleep starring Humphrey Bogart. I have the movie and I have read the book and it is almost word for word until the end.

I will have to admit  (if you have not read the book or seen the movie and don’t want me to spoil it, do not read the next sentence, although you know that by my funeral statement that Dumbledor dies) that seeing Dumbledor die and reading about it are two different things. I cried when I read it, but actually seeing it happen in the movie was so.. I don’t think I have the words for it actually.

The other movie I saw last night was The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. I loved this movie for a couple of reasons. The first one is that it is set mostly in Italy and I love Italy. The other one is that until  almost at the end, I had no idea how it would end. I really want to say here how it ends, but I won’t. Jolie’s character is in love with a mystery man and is being watched my Scotland Yard and some very bad Russian dudes. The man she is in love with is supposed to have stolen vast amounts of money from both.

This movie was a bit slow on the train, but it picks up once they are in Italy. Boat chases, foot chases, gun fire, etc… Paul Bettany is also in this movie, you might remember him from the DaVinci Code as the monk Silas. The one who whips himself naked. He plays a convincing Scotland Yard agent. Timothy Dalton is in this movie too but not a whole lot and you  have to really be looking for him in the end to recognize him.

All in all a pretty good night for movies I would say…

Getting Back To Normal, What Ever That Might Be

So, finally able to eat regular food again, which is nice. I am very over soup for a while. I am feeling better. Not great but better, which is good. This weekend was rough. Got an email from John (kids dad) in Florida. Was not looking forward to reading it, but he was decent. My son’s birthday is Sept. 1st and he was wondering what I was doing.

I emailed him back and told him what I had planned to do, but it will be late because I have been so sick. I guess better late than not at all. It has been rough, all I have done is sleep and read some. Here towards the end, it has been basically sleeping. The not being able to swallow thing really bothered me. It was hard to deal with.

I am able to be up and moving around a little bit now.  I am still really tired though and doing very little makes me tired. So I am trying to not over do it just yet. So back on the road to recovery it seems. Hopefully I will be back to normal by next week.

An Updates of Sorts…

Today I am feeling better than I have in a while. I can finally swallow again ( no jokes please, I know exactly what it sounds like). They eye leaking thing has stopped. I am not coughing as much as before.

I am feeling better and I am hungry!!! So, I am all kinds of happy because this is the first day I have felt this good. Hopefully this trend will continue. Well off to read the seventh book of Harry Potter.

This is Where I Am Today

This entry will probably be short and sweet because I am still sick. Not dead, but feels like that would be an alternative to this mess for sure. I have been reading mostly. I have not felt well and only wanted to chat with certain people. I am hoping to feel better by the end of the week. The nights are the worst for me though. I am sleeping a lot,which is good. Gotta go now, ciao!!

Memories of J-Land (AOL Journals)

Even though I am really sick, I could not let J-Land’s anniversary get by without some kind of entry. If you don’t know what I am talking about, today is the anniversary of AOL Journals or J-Land as we like to call it. Although it does not exist anymore, some of us like to commemorate one of the best places to journal and where most of us got our start journaling. We all have since moved on to other platforms or even stopped journaling all together, but we all remember where we started.

J-Land was fun and it is where I met most of my blog buddies. Some have become very good friends since then. Although we have a kind of support group on Facebook, to me it is not the same. I miss the AOL journals. I have since moved on to Blogger like so many of us have/did. While I am still journaling here and in a private journal, it is not the same really. So, Happy anniversary J-Land, I for one miss you very much. 

Memorial

Today is Julie’s mom’s memorial and I could not make it actually for a couple of reasons, but the most pressing one is that I am sick. Really sick. Sigh. I feel bad about not being there and all but I would not go even if I lived in Florida in this condition anyway. I still miss Cindy a lot and think about her everyday.

In a way, this was like my own mother dying, only more emotional for me. Julie and I talked about her mom when we spoke and it was nice to laugh about some of the silly stuff that she and I did together back in the day.

I was talking to another person who knew me back in the day and was around when Julie and I were always together. He was remembering what it was like to be around us together and reminded me that Julie and I are like sisters. Which reminded me that people would always ask if we were actually sisters. That always made us laugh. We are not, but back then, everyone thought we were. We would finish each other’s sentences and everything.

Julie’s mom was an amazing photographer and she took my wedding photos. They were wonderful and I was grateful. She also took a couple of photos that I will add here. Of course, these are high school photos, so ….. They are old. LOL.

Harry Potter & Sick

So, I ordered all the Harry Potter books (yeah, I know I am a nerd). I have already read the first one and more than half way through the second one. I have read them all but the last one before, but I wanted to re read before I start watching the last 3 movies. As a friend recently said to me ‘the books are always better than the movies’ and he was right. Although honestly I have been trying to get him to see that for years!! Finally a convert!

I am also sick now. Ugh. I hate being sick and yes, I am hydrating and all of that. I am having soup for dinner tonight because honestly I don’t think my throat can take much more than that. Sigh. I guess that this is what I get for not sleeping like I should. But the nightmares are not good lately so I have been sleeping little again. Double sigh.

Good thing I am not in school right now because this would so totally suck if I was. I took some time off I am returning in October so don’t freak out or anything. I needed a break. It is nice to be able to read for fun once again instead of all the psychology text books and stuff. I am looking forward to getting back into school and all though.

So many people have called and texted me to see if I was okay. Although I freaked a friend out when I called him today because apparently I sounded like I was crying. I was not. My throat is not good. So he was all OMG what is wrong?!?!? Which made me feel so good. Thanks to all my friends who have asked about me today, I appreciate it.

Today is Johnny’s birthday. I know. Happy birthday!! Muah. He is a bit older than me. I think that everyone’s birthday should be special. So, as limited as I am, I tried to make his special for him.

Well, back to my Harry Potter book now. Hopefully feeling better tomorrow. Ciao.

Self Truths

Everyone eventually discovers their own self truths. Not everyone will go looking for them and sooner or later they will smack you in the face and you will have to deal with them. On the same level, everyone realizes when they have to take responsibility for their own life. Now, admittedly not everyone will actually take responsibility for their own life.

I personally realized that I had to take responsibility for my own life after I got divorced at 19. Which made me different than most of my friends of the same age. I had been through some major stuff and had come out on the other side. The only thing different, was I was no longer a kid. So much bad stuff in my life and ugliness, I realized that I could not really expect anyone else to take responsibility for my bad choices, starting with my ex husband.

It is not easy being responsible for your own life. I make bad choices and I have to deal with them. I have had some issues here and there with choices I have made and now I am smarter about the choices I make. I am more picky about who spends time in my world. I no longer let just anyone in and I am all the better for it.

That was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn, that not all people who want to be in your life should be in your life. If someone wants to be in your life, they will make choices, time, and do things to show you they want to be there. Sometimes, I would let people into my life who did not show me that they wanted to be there. I just allowed them in and they created havoc and left my life in shambles a lot of the time.

I got smart eventually. Now a days, you have to prove that you want into my life before you are invited, kind of like an initiation into a really cool club. You have to pass the test before you are a member and not everyone passes the test. Those people you have to be willing to let go when they fail. That is the hardest part in my opinion. There will be some people  that you really want in your life and they will fail the test. You have to let them go, they might be back and when they come back they may pass that test. If they don’t come back, well, maybe it was better that way.