Reflection

Last night as I quietly sat and reflected on the events of the day, my mind happened across something I had read. I brought it out and read each line one by one, and tried to relate each line individually with the events of my life. And I wondered why would this passage come to me now? Why now? Was God trying to talk to me, and if so what is He saying? Am I listening?
I am feeling the need for change in my life, and trying to decide if I need to follow my heart or my head. I thought this might help me decide, but after much pondering last night and little sleep, I am still confused and unsure. Maybe my answers will come soon. But I would like to share this little tidbit with all of you.....and remind you to be aware of the everyday Blessings that we have surrounding us.


Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

Mother Teresa

GOTTA LOVE THE BABIES...

As you all know my profession of choice is as a Daycare Provider. I just feel the need to share a story of a wonderful little girl who spends 5 days a week with me.

Setting the Scene:
Everyone who knows me knows that I am and have always been a candle freak. I love candles of all makes and scents. There are candles in every room of my house. I have a special candle holder in a special place where I go to light a candle and turn my troubles to God. When others need extra prayers, I light a candle for them and say a prayer. I have large candle holders that set in front of the plants so the children can't eat the houseplants. I never burn candles in these holders, but the candles are in them none the less.

Over all the years that children have been here, everyone of them have tried to get the candles and candle cups out of these holders. And every child has been told no-no and moved somewhere else and given something they CAN play with. After several times of diverting their attention I have not had any problems with them.

Now I have this beautiful 13 month old that knows what no-no means, understands it very well, and doesn't care! For the life of me I can not dissuade this child! For months I have been telling her no-no and moving her and even when she heads that way I remind her that those are no-no's and she can't have them.

She looks at me and takes a couple steps in that direction, lets me remind her gently, and takes more steps. She will stare me down while getting them! And then runs as fast as her little legs will take her, laughing all the while! I think she likes the chase and catch factor...

Today I have decided that the battle of the wills must be won (or lost)....

Today after the third diversion tactic, she got put in the pack n play for a time out....oh my word!
you would have thought the world came to an end! I rarely put children in a pack n play except at nap time, and she knew full well it was NOT nap time! After one minute I took her out, sat on the floor to play with her and she took off directly for the candle holders.......Soooo, she went back to the pack n play. So far she has had 3 time outs and I am still not winning this battle of the wills.

But we will keep trying and in the mean time she is the most adorable child, and she loves to snuggle with me in the mornings, and we will keep playing, learning and exploring together! And we will keep smiling when we look at each other!

UGGGH !!! IN LAWS

Oh man, I love taking road trips, but this one is going to be a doozy!

Just taking a short jaunt up the highway to see my mil, I LOVE my mother and father in law, they are totally awesome. I have been married for 28 years and they have been divorced for 28 years, but they are so awesome when it comes to the kids, they both show up for get-togethers and get along just fine.

I am really looking forward to seeing her, however.....2 of my sister in laws will be there. Normally that is fine, but Ma's health isn't so good anymore and this trip is going to be a major downer I am afraid.

You see one of them has a big fancy job with a major restaurant chain and makes more money in bonuses than most families make with a year's salary. Yep, the old "Holier than Thou because I got money" thing. The sad part is that her and I used to be as close as sisters....I miss that. But alas we all grow up and away. Her hubby is a major factor in the loss of our great relationship, however he can make her happy for life and I can't, so I just accept it.

The other sister in law is a Registered nurse and feels she is the ONLY one who can diagnose Ma'a illness. Oh she is sooo good that she is better than ma's Dr. She thinks!

So hopefully we can set that all aside and just be there for ma this weekend. And hopefully the weather will hold up so we can make the trip safely.

UGLY DAY

Ugh..I think winter is trying to get here sooner than I had hoped for. Today is cloudy, windy and cold and the weather channel says we are going to get snow and rain mixed! Yuck, that means slick roads and shoveling the sidewalk. For me shoveling is early morning...Like before the sun comes up early! The guys do it the rest of the day, but 6 AM shoveling just down right SUCKS ! With every scoop I toss, I think of the daycare babies that won't fall and get hurt because of my hard work, and lots of rock salt!
Yea, that thought only lasts as long it takes to toss one scoop of snow!

But hey...I am going to make it a better day! ( I hope).

Today, I make the final payment for Steele Shadow's college tuition for this semester. Now I can save for January...

Today I make 'The Putz" happy, I turned on the furnace (finally). And if you have ever seen the movie Grumpy Old Men...Yea, Putz lives in my house!

Today, I am going to let the oven do more warming than the furnace, thats right I only set the furnace to 58.....But the daycare kids get to make and eat cookies today!

And for myself I am going to make it a better day, because I just sent an email to my boss. Yep the part time job boss. I have been working 15 to 20 hours a week for 4 years without a raise! The job is changing and requiring my schedule to be more flexible....I don't have flexible. I live a solid schedule when it comes to working. The job is also requiring more hours during a transition phase that will last a year probably. This will require me working well into the night some times. Soooo, You guessed it...if they want me to work that hard it's gonna cost someone! And the old nickel or dime shit won't cut it! It is time to get paid for my effort and inconvenience as well as my work.

Yep I am smiling, I think this ugly day is gonna be a great day for me!

Introducing......

I would like you to meet my family.

I have 3 (wonderful) children....Left to right is the oldest daughter, we will call her Para, next is the oldest son, Chaos and the far right is the youngest, Steele Shadow. And of course the middle 2 are the great creators of the the 3 musketeers.




And here you will see my own "Fantastic 4". Left to right again is Queenie, age 4 and known best for her ability to add drama to any situation. Sir Movesalot is in the middle, age 8 and best known for his agility and ability to move continuously even when falling. Far right is big Brother Sir Talksalot, age 11. He was born with the incredible gift of speech. He was talking in his sleep even as an infant. The boy never shuts up! And front and center is the amazing Princess Ican. She is now 10 months old and is convinced that she can do anything the others can do! And in her little mind, she knows she does it better!


And last but not least is the children left at home....Ozzie is half Great Dane and half Australian Shepherd and was rescued as a pup. And Schatzi is our baby at a whopping 6 months old in this picture. I trust these two with all my secrets, but not at all with my food!

Nice to meet you and we'll be right here, so stop by and peek into our lives any time!

Friend or Friend??

Today I ponder the concept of friendship....What is a friend?
I have many friends...Good friends. So what are the others who you know, and get along with most of the time, but you really don't know so well?

We all have them...
You know the person you have only met a couple of times. The one who is funny, smart, fun to be around.....you know, the one you talk to only in the comfort of their own little circle, yet when you invite them into your circle they kinda snub ya? The one that you go to great lengths to protect all the little "secrets" you know about. Yea thats the one I am thinking of.

How many times do you continue to invite them and listen to the excuses why they can't make it? How many times do you give them the opportunity to get to know you before you say oh well and walk away?
I like to make sure everyone is included, but some people just have to make friends on their own terms I guess. What a shame.

So I sit here and think of all the friends I would not have if I had failed to step outside of my "comfort circle". I am so very thankful for my good friends. Yep the ones who stepped into my circle and the ones who invited me into their circle. And especially the ones who have helped me to connect our circles. Yep I have to think those are my BEST friends.

So now what about the people we were great friends with as kids....yep the ones who we grew up with and then our lives split....Have you ever found one of those lost friends? I have.

What a disappointment that was.....sigh...To reconnect 30 years later and find out that they went farther with their post high school studies and had no children and worked so hard they closed out everyone else. And now they are to smart and you are to insignificant to be their friend anymore. They are no longer anything like the person you once knew. Of course I am sure I have changed too. You know after working and raising 3 children and moving to another state, I don't believe for one second that I am the same person I was 30 years ago...I am positive I am a BETTER person, with a full and healthy perspective on life.

I like who I have become, and I love my friends with all that I am. Yep even the ones who pretend not to know me when its convenient. Yep, even the ones who are not sure about my friendship loyalties to them. Yep, even the ones I don't know anymore. And yep, I like me....why?

Because to hate is to damn much work and I have enough of that already !!

So, my friends.....have a great day and I really do love you all.

Who I Am

I guess to start blogging, I should have a start point. Just so you know, I am a Mother, Daughter, Sister, Niece, Aunt, Grandmother, Wife and all around happy person. I have opinions, ideas, beliefs, and feelings.

I am the mother of 3 grown children(well almost grown). I have "Fabulous 4" grandchildren. I have a husband that has been in our lives for 28 years. Many years ago I grew weary of helping put money in some one else's pocket and decided to be self employed. I opened my daycare in my home, opened a web store after many attempts and lots of hours. And then I got tired of paying Uncle Sam out of my hard earned cash so I took a job for someone else. A real paycheck, you know the kind where they take out taxes and all that good stuff. So I just send that whole paycheck to Uncle Sam and it pretty well covers all the other taxes.

Somehow I ended up with more time to fill.....I must say that getting paid to "ChaCha" is a blast, but still a little more time to fill. So for enjoyment without pay...I play pool, you know hit the little balls all over the table and try to get them into those little pockets, yea that kind of pool. Twice a week I do that for fun. Tried golfing but was always wore out when I got done. Lots of fun, just a lot of work too.

What? Housework you say? What about housework? Oh yea, my weekends are dedicated to cleaning house, shopping, and spending time with the family.

And yes I do have friends!! Not the kind I see everyday anymore, but still good friends. And today I would like to start my journey sharing my life with all of you, so that you can all see how truly blessed I am.

Feel free to leave comments, remarks, add the things you like and let me know of the things you disagree with.