Thank you to all those who have served and will serve this country. I found this picture below while going through the old posts on my political blog and thought it would be a perfect one to put here for today.
That is my son Matthew saluting in this print which is being sold on Art.com. The photo of him was taken while on a field trip to an army base. The artist, Rhonda Watson, saw it on my site and incorporated it into a 9/11 tribute that she created. Isn't it amazing?
A wonderful Memorial Day to all of my friends!
I have dial-up service again and am trying to catch up on a million emails and other things. High speed arrives Wednesday so I'm hoping to be back to normal blogging then (i.e. responding to comments and blog visiting). One thing I've wanted to do and have tried to work on today is explained below. Thanks for being patient with me and understanding!
Some of my oldest and dearest friends will remember that I used to have a very political blog as my main blog. I wrote about my life there as well as politics, but then decided to move the personal over to here.
Well, with the campaign season so hot right now, I just couldn't let my old blog just sit there, so I've opened it back up and will be writing my thoughts about the presidential election. I also feel I can handle another blog now that I'll be getting high speed. (We'll see if that holds true)
Now, here's something important I want to say. I believe I am extremely open-minded and tolerant. When I see someone who is liberal expressing their beliefs I do not get all hot under the collar. I feel everyone has a right to express their opinion and I never judge anyone for theirs.
It's funny, but liberals are the ones who claim to be the tolerant party, but I cannot begin to tell you how much hate and intolerance I have faced over the years when I've shared my political, conservative opinions (and also my faith).
Sooo...that being said. If you are one to judge someone for their beliefs, or are an intolerant tolerant, then please find something other to do than visit my political blog. Thanks very muchly. :)
Everyone else, just click here and feel free to share your beliefs with me. I will totally respect you and your opinions.
Good news and bad news. Bad news is I've lost Internet service and am using a temporary connection (through husband's work) and can only be on for a short bit. I'm supposed to have service again any day now and will be back to my regular blogging.
The good news? This latest glitch has finally convinced the hubz to get high speed!!!! Woo hooo! So as of May 28th I will finally be out of the dark ages.
And...even better news? That means I can finally get around to visiting you all regularly again. On dial-up, it would take me over five hours to get through 1/4 of my bloglines list. I'm totally not exaggerating.
I can't wait to come by and visit everyone on a regular basis again! See you soon!
Once again, so much to say, so I'm resorting to tildas again. Ready? Here we go: Labels: birthday, duh, family, health
~Another fabulous day. It's been raining all week, but today, for our family reunion it was glorious. Sun shining, cool breeze..just perfect! And now I'm listening to the wind picking up, rain falling and a storm coming in. Excellent timing!
~When I entered the park with my van today, I pulled up to this tent/entrance and ran over one of the tent poles. And then I laughed and snot flew out of my nose so I looked like a total idiot to the lady at the entrance booth.
~Went on two pedal boat rides on the lake and had SO much fun. My cousin and I made Amanda and my sister pedal while we sat in the back of the boat and relaxed. :)
~Pics to come soon of today's fun. And possibly a video if I can figure out how to upload it. Got to see my grandma, mom, sisters and cousin. *love* My sister gave me a vase that she made in her glass blowing class for my birthday (she's an art major and is so talented!)
~I laughed so much and so hard today that I've lost my voice and my throat hurts.
~Bathrooms at the park were gaross! So I told Matthew he could pee behind a tree. He came back and said, "I did both!" hahahaha I did NOT know he was going to do that!
~Birthday on Thursday was boring. But Amanda made me a banner and I had cake and ice cream. Nothing that would excite you all, lol. Oh, but I did learn you can still have birthday sex after a pap smear. :)
~Transvag sono was all clear...no more ovarian cyst, and doctor said all seemed well with my girlie parts. Husband agreed with that assessment.
~We won a cheeseburger from Burger King on a scratch-off ticket. It said, "Winner! Cheeseburger Ganador!" Hubz said, "We won their Cheeseburger Ganador." Then we realized "ganador" is Spanish for "winner."
~I totally called it in the Preakness today! Go Big Brown! Can you believe the length between him and the other horses in the finish? Dayum! I say he's going to take the triple crown. Mark my words!
~I'm still so sad about Eight Belles, though....there's a petition to ring "eight bells" before the start of next year's Kentucky Derby in her honor, which has a lot of significance. Read that link to see what I mean and sign the petition, "Eight Bells for Eight Belles" here.
~When we were all choosing our horses for the Preakness today, Matthew thought there was an "e" instead of an "a" in Icabad and said, "I'm picking Icebad." ROFL!!
~Natalie has a headache and stomachache and I'm afraid she might be coming down with something. Which would mean a trip to the hospital. Which would really suck. Thinking positive thoughts and saying my prayers for her.
I have so much more to say but will have to save it for another post. I think that's enough tildas for one day, wouldn't you agree?
Oh my gosh. Ever have one of those days that is just friggin perfect? Yeah...I had me one today! Labels: amanda, birthday, pampering, rob, sophie
First of all, I had my entire house cleaned today by my maids, which always puts me in a good mood. Then, I headed out to pick up my groceries that someone else had to shop for because I use an online service (that only charges a $5 fee...and no tipping allowed!). I just pull up, and they load my groceries in my trunk for me. Awesome!
Picked up a rotisserie and some side dishes from the store for dinner so I didn't have to cook. Then, I took Sophie to the groomer. Look how she turned out:
She's a tiny, little thing without all the fur to hide under, lol.
I got to go on a shopping spree at the pet store for needed supplies (I always love it when I have to buy stuff). That t-shirt she's wearing? That's her thunderstorm t-shirt. That's right. The vet said that studies show if you put a dog who's afraid of t-storms in in a tight fitting t-shirt, it calms them down. So we'll see if it works next time it storms. But in the meantime, isn't she adorable:
Yes, my Sophie is a "rock and roll princess" hahahaha.
I also bought her a harness because I heard that small dogs shouldn't wear collars because it can cause their tracheas to collapse. I asked my mom if that was true and it turns out it happened to her dog, so the harness was #1 on my list. I got her an outdoor lead and stake for the ground, too. "Pill Pockets" to hide her calming medicine in (those things worked SO good!) Oh and bunny food, lol. (for the bunny, not Sophie).
Okay, so while Sophie was being groomed, Amanda and I headed over to the tanning salon. Thanks to my wonderful husband who spoils me rotten, I can now tan in the premium....uh huh!...beds unlimited for the month...his bday gift to me. *love*
I'm all for skin safety and all that, so I'm only doing it gradually for the month in order to get a base and that's it. Then it's self-tanning creams. Have you ever tried using tanning creams on pale skin? You pretty much have to be perfect or every little streak will show. Not good. So I want to build a base with the tanning booths so I won't scare everyone away at the pool.
Next, it was on to the salon for a mani/pedi. Oh my gosh how I love my mani/pedis!!! It's been WAY too long since I had one. But thanks to my loving, generous daughter Amanda, I got the works tonight:
Oh, and that's a venti, iced, soy, decaff Mocha from Starbucks in my hands. Yes, Starbucks with a mani/pedi. Can I got a holla?! But I know you were totally focused on the glorious cleavage on the salon lady instead, right? :)
And here are the results (note the design with sparkly jewels on my fingers and toes):
How much better can a day get than that? I'm soaking it in now because tomorrow, I have to get a transvaginal sonogram for an ovarian cyst (at least I hope it's just a cyst) and then on Thursday, (which is my birthday, btw), I have a gyno appointment.
Yes, for my birthday, I will be in stirrups getting a cold, metal speculum shoved up my girlie parts and scraped where things shouldn't be scraped. So you see why I had to celebrate my 36th today instead. :)
One question. Whatever happened to Karma? After Amanda spent all that money on me, she came home to find her hard drive completely crashed. Everything gone. Unrecoverable. Every document. Every photo. Every everything. Where's the fairness in that????
Not such a good day for her. :(
Happy Mother's Day to all my mom friends! I'm spending the day doing nothing....ahhhh. Wanted to update since I haven't in awhile, so here are some tidbits: Labels: anniversary, birthday, faith, mother's day, natalie, rob, sophie
~My birthday is in four days!! (the 15th)
~Sophie is so low to the ground that she sneezed her face into the floor.
~I got this as an anniversary gift from Rob awhile ago and have been meaning to post it:
~My birthday is in four days!! (the 15th)
~I got myself a new digital camera with the Amazon GC's I've earned through my review blog (also a Sigg water bottle and holder and a memory card for my camera). I can't believe how much better the picture quality is than with my camcorder! Look at this photo I took of Natalie in her First Communion dress:
~I just finished reading Atonement and thought it sucked. I think I'm the only one on the planet who feels that way based on all of the praise it got. I'm all for intelligent, literary reads (I love me some Austen and Shakespeare), but this was just dull and the ending sucked.
I know I'm not going to watch the movie either because of all the puking and gore in the book. Oh well.
~Rob's anniversary Mother's Day (duh...I don't know why I typed "anniversary" before) card to me: "to a wife who still has a girlish figure, from a husband who still has boyish ideas." hahahaha
~My birthday is in four days!!!! (the 15th) :)
Amanda and I traveled to Richmond a couple of weeks ago and stayed at a hotel with a gorgeous view of the city:
We played on the high speed computers (why, oh why, won't my husband get high speed?????) in the lobby for awhile, then went upstairs to watch t.v. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't stop talking/laughing and didn't fall asleep until after 4 in the morning. (I think we fell asleep trying to remember the name of the blonde chick on "The Office." It bugged us the entire next day and after we got home, just as Rob was about to Google it for us, I remembered it. Why does it always work that way?)
The next morning, we made our way over to VCU for the college's Block Party celebration for freshman students. We toured the various departments and talked to tons of students and student groups, toured the various housing facilities, and got a FREE lunch (best part of course).
Amanda got several email addresses, many courtesy of me...her P.R. agent. :) So she already has a bit of a leg up when she starts in the fall as far as contacts/friends go.
Oh, and as we were touring, we ran into a friend of hers that lives about five houses down from us! That was a bit surreal.
Here's a photo of Amanda standing in Monroe Park:
And this is Richmond Theater, which is right in the heart of campus:
Isn't it gorgeous?
Touring the housing was a good idea because we realized our first choice was not a place she'd want to live in at all. We found a place she's really happy with, so hopefully she'll get her first choice.
The campus is beautiful and very diverse. By being in the city, she has access to museums, cultural programs, and other tourist attractions. I'm so proud and so jealous at the same time!
But the best part of VCU by far? They have a friggin' Starbucks in the college library!! That's MY kind of college! :)
I just can't believe my little girl is all growed up.
UPDATE: I've had this post in draft for awhile and planned to post it this evening. Then I heard the news about the gunman at the University of Richmond. I was already afraid after the shootings at Tech. Now I'm going to be a nervous wreck the whole four years she's away.