AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Tension breaker had to be done!!

I have rec'd not one...not two...but three confirmations that my entry has been rec'd for the Provocraft DT. I feel like such a dolt...hopefully a dolt who didn't just disqualify herself for trying to submit multiple times.

I sent the first one...no confirmation.....so I thought...maybe the files were too large.

I sent the second one...no confirmation...so I thought...maybe it doesn't like my domain that I am mailing from.

I sent the third one...rec'd a confirmation!!

Rec'd another confirmation.....and another!! DAMN!!

Patience is a virtue....that I obviously don't hold dear. But at least it's out there. They have it. I won't be wondering if I didn't make it because they just never rec'd the entry. Now I"ll know that I didn't make it cause of all the killer talent that applied.

Next is the Junkitz DT. I don't know if I"ll get anything done in time...but I"m gonna give it my best shot. Oh crap....that shot better happen quick...I only have until tomorrow at midnight to finish one half-completed project and uhm.....3 others?? crap.

Here's your sign....

We've all heard the routine right? Bill Engval doing his little jokes about how stupid people can be? I, today, became one of those people.

They have a smokin' deal on batteries at Advance Auto. Since half if not all of the kids toys from relatives require batteries and *gasp* they didn't send any, I went there this afternoon to pick up enough batteries to run a war ship for a year. I get out of my car and walk up to the building. I wait for the automatic door...

and wait.........

and wait.........

yep you guessed it - no automatic door!! I am standing there looking like a complete moron cause I thought that the door would just open. Like I am a modern day Moses, and I'm waiting for the doors to open for me like the parting of the Red Sea. Luckily for me I immediately thought of something that a good friend of mine told me once. If you actually knew how many times strangers thought about you, you'd realize that they don't. Thank goodness that is true.

Gimmie an "S"......

Gimmie an "I"
Gimmie a "C"
Gimmie a "K"

What does that spell?

SICK!!!

That is what we have been here since Thursday night. Way to spend a holiday weekend. Hubby is outside right now putting up the holiday spectacle...I mean spectacular....that he was too ill to put up yesterday. And of course now that it's Saturday and the weekend is almost over - I'm sick as a dog too. Just in time for hubby to go back to work. Oh joy to the world.

The holiday wasn't all bad though. Christopher is out of the hospital, the drain is out, and he is on limited mobility for a while. We are very thankful that things are going well. God has a plan...lucky for us that plan leaves Christopher with us a while longer. He is in good spirits about everything and thinks it's pretty cool to be the first person (and hopefully the last) in his family to undergo brain surgery. I guess that's quite a milestone for a teenager!!

I'm hoping that your holidays are starting off well...and that you didn't get your ass kicked on Black Friday while you were out shopping. Lay off the leftovers and don't have too much eggnog.

Just another Manic Monday....

Today was the first day of hubby's week-long vacation. So of course I had to make plans to do something as a family...and of course it had to rain. Should I have expected anything less?




Chirstmas Pictures!!

We went to a newer studio here in the big H that is called Innovative Portraits. They were WONDERFUL!!! They got great candids of the boys, a gaw-juss family photo and it wasn't bank breaking!! All in all I was fairly impressed. The pricing of Wal-mart with the quality of a full service studio. The best part - my photos were done in 30 minutes for me to pick them up and take them home. That's better than the 1 hour service at the Walgreens that we use for my digi camera!!

Yesterday is history....

Tomorrow a mystery...
Today is a gift...
That is why it is called...

THE PRESENT.

And that is what we received today - a present. Today we found out that Christopher is okay. It was a colloid cyst, not a tumor as we originally thought. Last night the doctors removed it from the center of his brain and today he's doing okay. He will need to leave the drain in place for a while still and they will determine if it needs to have a permanen shunt put in from his skull to his stomach.

But today we accept the present that we have been given. We thank Him for it.

and the beat goes on.....

That's what I think of as I sit here listening to my TT#1 beating on his bedroom door becuase it's bedtime. He thinks it's time to throw a fit. Like that's going to get him anywhere. Not today. No way.

Husband comes home. Spring on garage door opener on his side of the garage snaps. He tells me I'm lucky that it didn't hit my car when it snapped. Au'contrare mon ami. Me thinks YOU are the lucky one. But I digress. A trip to the Depot to get a replacement spring. Put spring on door opener. Realize should have bought 2 springs so that the tension is the same. Trip to Depot to buy second spring. Put second spring on door. Raise door. Lower door. Realize as door is halfway down that it has torqued off level. Then realize that there is nothing that you can do but stand there and watch the windows in the door shatter. Cuss repeatedly. Call garage door replacement company to come out and give an estimate for two new doors and one new opener. My dreams of a new digital camera are slowly going down the drain as home expenses tally up in the back of my mind.

Bye bye rebel.

I loved you.

Alabama is harmful to your children's health

That is the only logical explanation that I can reasonably come up with at this time. There really can't be any other reason...it is just not healthy for children to live here...

I found out today that ANOTHER family that we are friends with has a son with a possible brain tumor.

ANOTHER brain tumor.

ANOTHER drain was put in a little boy's skull.

ANOTHER MRI will be done to determine what is going on.

ANOTHER family that is on my prayer list.

I want to destroy the word ANOTHER. It shouldn't exist anymore. It is such an unfair word. ANOTHER and TUMOR should both be bottled and blown up and never used in the same sentence again - EVER.

Christopher is only 15. He is older than JJ...but still a child. A child that will probably never again fly a plane (he was getting a pilot's license)...a child who will probably never drive a car..a child who will probably never go to college or even graduate high school..still a child....

I was talking with one of my best friends today about this. We both wondered when the doctors will draw the line and refer us for counseling after we request a bunch of tests for our kids to be sure they are healthy. When exactly do they start thinking that you have Munchausen By Proxy? I want my kids scanned, tested, x-rayed, and evaluated. Not to prove that they DO have something wrong with them...but to be sure that they DON' T have anything wrong with them.

We joked about going "granola" and giving up tap water. How far can you really go to protect your children?

I laugh at the commercial that shows the mom wrapping her child in bubble wrap before sending them off to school...

but does it make me a bad mom to WANT to do that?

{Another Box}

Got another box today. It's from Colorbok. They sent some great stuff for the fundraiser. It's turning into a great pile of stuff for the goodie bags and giveaways!! There are albums, paper, stickers, frames, and more that I won't say cause I want it to be a suprise!!

Crop for a Miracle {UPDATE}

Yesterday I got another manufacturer's box (who knew UPS delivered on holidays?)

...it's from Karen Foster....LOVE YA KFD!!!

They sent enought product for every goodie bag to get some!!! That box weighed in at 8 pounds...do you know how much stuff you can cram in an 8 pound UPS box?? Well let me tell you...it's a LOT. Every person who comes to the Crop for a Miracle will receive not one...not two...but three different items from Karen Foster Designs!! Can't wait to see what else fills up those bags!!

Just keep swimming.....just keep swimming

That's what I'm telling myself. Just keep going. My weeks are quicly getting filled up between now and the end of the year. Visits to the gardens with the kids to see the lights and Santa...lunches at TT#1's school...shopping for presents...church activities...fundraising events....making items for craft shows...where oh where is all my time going??

We are having a meeting on Monday November 14, 2005 at 10:30 at St. John's Catholic Church on Hughes Road in Madison Alabama to discuss fundraising activities that we will be having for JJ's family. We have in the works - of course my scrapbooking day in January, a silent auction, spaghetti dinner, and ribbon sales. There will be childcare available if you would like to come. Address information can be found at the St. John's website

Feels like christmas early!!

I received the first box of sponsor product today...I won't say what was in it...but the company starts with an S. and ends in an E. I. They sent some wonderful stuff that some lucky people will be taking home in January!! I have gotten several responses from other companies that are also sending product so I can't wait to see what else is headed my way.

We are working on the location and I will probably wait until closer to the event and start hounding local eateries for discounted or donated food for the day. I still have to approach the local scrap store and see if and how they want to participate. It seems like it is coming together nicely.

There was a full front page story about JJ last Friday in the Huntsville Times. Check out JJ's webpage for the article. Erin's news release made the front page of the Athen's paper a little over a week ago also. JJ is getting prayers all over the world and the word is spreading about our little guy and the family. God Bless them all.

Crop for a Miracle

Well plans are underway and sponsors have been contacted. We will have a "Crop for a Miracle" in Huntsville AL in January. So far I have a few manufacturer sponsors and hopefully there will be more. I am looking into LSS sponsors and home-based sponsors also. So if you have a home-based business and would like to take part in this all day event - please email me.

I'm suprised at the number of companies that won't donate because I'm not a wholesale customer. I mean...if I was a store I'd already have their product on hand and could use it as a tax write off anyway... it just doesn't make any sense to me. But there are companies that if you don't already have buying power with them they have no use for you...oh wait ... other than collect your money when you buy their product at a store that has a wholesale license with them. I guess that I have always thought that charity was charity and you give it freely...but that I am quickly learning is only for the nieve to believe.

There have been a couple manufacturers that have requested that I pay for shipping...totally agreeable to that...I mean it's the least I can do for their generosity.

okay I just re-read what I wrote above and it does sound a little bitchy. But I can tell you this...I am offering sponsors to have full access to all advertising that we produce (paper and television), names prominently displayed on literature given out the day of the event, and a sponsor list printed on the front of the goodie bags. There will be plenty of exposure for the companies that participate. And for them to use the excuse that they can't donate becuase I don't have a wholesale account with them just sounds really lame to me. They would probably get more exposure than they get sitting in the back corner on a shelf at my LSS with their name not displayed anywhere. Rant over.

And next on our list.....

We are going to have a planning meeting in two weeks to figure out ideas for fundraising. We have several options that we want to pursue...some are easy and won't cost money...others are going to be involved and require some investment on our parts. We'll have to see what comes up at the meeting.

JJ has been going to his treatments this week and seems to be doing well. We went to lunch with Diana yesterday and she was in really good spirits. Jenn is doing embroidery on shirts or bags of the grey cancer awareness ribbon so we can show our support. Everyone is helping in their own way. We have a long road ahead of us and it will be hard at times...but that's why we have each other.