Read this again, my Best Friend...

In my life, I have sometimes had a friend who I have called my best friend. Most of the time, they are of the same sex and someone I can share all of my secrets, thoughts and worries with. Laugh with them, cry with them, celebrate with them and mourn with them. I have always believed the best way to have a friend is to be a friend. On occasion a male acquaintance has also become a very good friend to me and a couple even earning the title of best friend. When I was a kid, my neighbor across the street was my very best friend, he and I went frog hunting almost every night during the summer and tormented our sisters with them. We were best friends until my parents separated and we moved away.

Throughout the years I had several close girlfriends. It just seems to be part of growing up, to find someone you can identify with that can assure you that you are alright but the world is all wrong.

In more recent years I have become much more guarded with people. I found people that I thought were friends, really weren't. It is a hard lesson to learn and it can harden you. I will simply say divorce changes a lot of things and let it go at that.

Some observations about a true best friend:

They get you.

You can say what you mean and not have to defend yourself.

They can tell you when you are wrong and you won't get mad at them.

You can tell them when they are wrong and they won't stay mad for too long. ;)

They will sing you a lullabye over the phone when you are feeling sad and alone and scared and unable to sleep. (If nothing else it will make you laugh.)

They can tell you when you have reached the point of being totally too upset and unreasonable and that you just need to sleep and they will call you in the morning.

They can sit for hours under a full moon and share a bottle of wine with you and talk about everything and nothing at all.

If the lullabye doesn't work they will make up really silly bedtime stories instead.

If you happen to land your butt in jail, they will be the one beside you saying "Damn that was fun!" (Hasn't happened yet, but don't underestimate us.)

Simple things become fun when shared with a best friend, and difficult things become simple when shared with a friend.

Every story about them that they share with you becomes an insight into them and endears them to you all the more.

When they hurt, you hurt.

You would do anything for them. Anytime. No questions asked.

You learn to see and understand their perspective on various subjects.

You love to offer your perspective on various subjects for them to see and understand.

You know if you need them, they will be there. No questions asked.

I have one very dear true best friend who fits into all of the above observations. I can tell you my life is so much better for having this friend. Sometimes you learn things about yourself by getting to truly know another person. You can discover your likes, dislikes and even philosophies of life. A true friend enriches your life and cheers you on through the ups and downs and is offering a hand when they can. I have this very best friend in my life, and no matter what paths we may take in our future, I will always be only one phone call away from him.

West Virginia Love Poem

WEST VIRGINIA LOVE POEM

SUSIE LEE DONE FELL IN LOVE;
SHE PLANNED TO MARRY JOE
SHE WAS SO HAPPY 'BOUT IT ALL
SHE TOLD HER PAPPY SO.

PAPPY TOLD HER, SUSIE GAL,
YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER.
I'D JUST AS SOON YO' MA DON'T KNOW,
BUT JOE IS YO' HALF BROTHER.

SO SUSIE PUT ASIDE HER JOE
AND PLANNED TO MARRY WILL,
BUT AFTER TELLING PAPPY THIS,
HE SAID, "THERE'S TROUBLE STILL.

YOU CAN'T MARRY WILL, MY GAL,
AND PLEASE DON'T TELL YOU' MOTHER,
BUT WILL AND JOE, AND SEVERAL MO'
I KNOW IS YO' HALF BROTHER.

BUT MAMA KNEW AND SAID, MY CHILD,
JUST DO WHAT MAKES YO' HAPPY.
MARRY WILL OR MARRY JOE.
YOU AIN'T NO KIN TO PAPPY.

hehehe, found this in my funny stuff email!

How evil are you?

I love Andy Rooney!

60 Minutes Correspondent Andy Rooney (CBS)
As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think. If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting. Women over 40 are dignified.

They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it. Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?", here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!
Andy Rooney is a really smart guy!

Fog and Ice

A two hour delay has turned into another cancellation. I am thankful that safety comes first. In the past, fate has been pushed and there have been some serious accidents involving students on days that they should have been at home. So, I am thankful.

It was foggy 15 years ago today. I know this because my grandfather died fifteen years ago. I was called to the nursing home in the middle of the night and was told he was dying. I held his hand while he took his last breath and his heart beat its last beat. I watched him slip away from this world.

My grandmother was there also. She was very afraid and concerned for her own self too, worried about what her life would be like now that her husband was gone. It was a little after 4 am when we left the nursing home.

It was the thickest fog I had ever driven in. I honestly don't even know how I found the roads or found my way home. When I got close to home my husband had turned on all of the outside lights and the place was lit up like I had never noticed before.

I walked in the house in a daze and went into my 10 month old daughter's room and picked her up from her crib and sat in the rocking chair and just held her tight through what was left of the night.

Days like this will always remind me of my grandfather. And it is almost ironic that its like this on the exact date of his death. I am glad to have my kids home safe and sound today.

Snowmobiles

My boys came home from a weekend at their dad's. They spent a lot of time playing in the snow and on the snowmobile, four wheelers and six wheeler. Weekends like this always make me nervous. And after my youngest one fell in the pond earlier this week...I was simply apprehensive.

The first thing my oldest one said to me when he got home was he wanted to know if we could go to Fort Wayne to Parkview Hospital. I asked why. It turns out, his dad's best friend and girlfriend had been out snowmobiling late Saturday night and barhopping. They wrecked on the way home on the snowmobile in the wee hours of the morning. Apparently what they thought was a snow drift was a pile of rocks.

My ex-husband's very best friend is in the hospital with a broken arm and a broken neck. They are going to do surgery on the arm and then set the halo. This gentleman is younger than my ex husband and he has always been a very good friend to all of us. It makes me very sad to see such a young strong man be set back like this. But he is strong and will work through it, I am sure of this.

My boys got some serious looks at reality this week. They always look forward to a big snowfall because it is so rare around here and there is so much fun to be had. However, this year's snow ended up being kind of scary for them on two counts. These are valuable life lessons to be learned, and Mother Nature is a force to be respected, not tested.

D~I~V~O~R~C~E

At the very end of my divorce, my ex-husband took possession of the house and changed the locks and would not let the kids and I back in to get the rest of our belongings. He destroyed many of our belongings long before I could get the court to do anything to help us. It was a very horrible thing. But truthfully no worse than if we had a fire or a flood.

In a final mediation to end all of the marital disputes I was able to get my grandmother's china, my jewelry and the family pictures back. I agreed to divide the pictures and give him half of them back. I have put this off for a very long time.

This afternoon I pulled out one of two very large and very full boxes of pictures that represents our life together. Talk about a tough job. Many memories and many emotions. Some good. Some bad. Some highlighting the obvious that I did not see then, but see clearly now. Wow.

I hope when I deliver these pictures to him he takes some time and goes thru them too. He has a horrible relationship with our oldest daughter, as a matter of fact, I thought we had found a truce in their four year dispute, but he has drifted away from her again. Truthfully I am putting more than half of the pictures of her in there, he didn't spend much time with any of the kids while we were married, so she really is a stranger to him. I guess I am trying to introduce him to the beautiful little girl that he does not know. I hope it makes his heart hurt.

Compassion

From Wikipedia:

Compassion is a sense of shared suffering, most often combined
with a desire to alleviate or reduce such suffering; to show special kindness to those who suffer. Thus compassion is essentially empathy, though with a more active slant in that the compassionate person will seek to actually aid those they feel compassionate for.

Compassionate acts are generally considered those which take into account the suffering of others and attempt to alleviate that suffering as if it were one's own. In this sense, the various forms of the Golden Rule are clearly based on the concept of compassion.

Compassion differs from other forms of helpful or humane behavior in that its focus is primarily on the alleviation of suffering. Acts of kindness which seek primarily
to confer benefit rather than relieve existing suffering are better classified
as acts of altruism, although, in this sense, compassion itself can be seen as a subset of altruism, it being defined as the type of behavior which seeks to benefit others by reducing their suffering.

I truly believe in helping others less fortunate. I really do. Today at church they kicked off a month-long push to help the less fortunate in foreign countries. They are asking each family to purchase a tote box through the church, complete with a list of what is needed to be purchased to fill the box with non-perishable food items. Its a great thing to do. It really is.

I personally have always had a struggle with this form of giving. And I am familiar with the organization and am even related to the founder of this organization. I know the food is given to the needy in foreign countries. I know this and I applaud their efforts.

For me personally, I just feel we need to help those closer to us. We need to look around our own neighborhoods where we live, look at those we attend church with, work with, or the classmates of our children. There is need everywhere, there really is, maybe its selfish, maybe not, but why not help the people the closest to us that we can? Imagine if that could be done throughout the world, all of us taking care of our own and helping where we can...would that make a difference? Or am I just out there in my own world looking through rose-colored glasses?

Whew...

The kids are back in school.

Valentine's Day is over with.

The kids are back in school.

I can get some work done today.

The kids are back in school.

Life is good.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

LOVE IS NOT A MAYBE THING, YOU KNOW WHEN YOU LOVE SOMEONE.

Ever have one of those days?

Today seemed to just be a day where I had a dark cloud over my head. The snow had me worried I guess. I started off the day calling my sister and asking her not to work today. She thinks she is wonder woman sometimes and I just didn't want her traveling too far from home. Her job takes her all over north central Indiana. She assured me she only had one local appointment. So I granted her permission to go.


Next I reminded my best friend to be very careful on the roads. He took it under advisement. Then my stepdad called and came to get my oldest son to go in town to get gas for the snowblowers. So I had them to worry about.


Finally, it seemed everyone had called it a snow day and was back where they belonged. My oldest son set out in the neighborhood to offer to plow drives for neighbors. Later in the afternoon my youngest son decided to play outside while his brother was plowing.


That is where the cloud of doom over my head turned out to be a real problem. I kept checking on the youngest son and he was out front in the driveway playing with his remote control air blade thing. He decided to go around back to where the pond is, and for whatever reason the pond is not completely froze over, so he wanted to test his air blade and see if it would go on water....


I heard yelling outside and I ran out the backdoor to see what was wrong and couldn't see my son anywhere but saw his remote control thing on the pier...I ran through the house to the garage as he was coming around that side screaming and crying.


He had slipped off of the pier and fallen into the pond. He was soaked. I got him in and stripped him and wrapped him in blankets til he was warm and quit crying. After dry warm clothes and some quiet snuggling time I went to my room and cried my eyes out. It was a terrifying situation.


He told me about slipping off the pier and trying to pull himself up on the ice and it kept breaking away and sinking in the water. The he grabbed ahold of a pier post to pull himself up out of the water and his glove froze to it and he fell back into the water. He got himself out and came to the house. Later, my older son went out and got the air blade and brought the glove in to show me. It was frozen in the shape of his little hand and wrapped around the pole. When I saw that the tears started all over again.


There has been much snuggling, cuddling and I Love You's between me and all three of my kids all evening. We all learned what matters most today - and its all about the people you love in your life. That really is all that matters.

I feel so sorry for.....

Florists. The biggest day of the year for a florist is tomorrow. Actually this week, mainly today and tomorrow. Now they have this weather to contend with to make their deliveries. Some businesses will be closed and they will be unable to make the delivery. I hope it doesn't end up being a financial set back for some of the smaller shops. Can you think of any other business that could possibly be so adversely effected by weather like this?

Snow?

According to the National Weather Service we have some snow heading our way. My kids were pretty excited this morning, telling me they aren't going to have school tomorrow. We shall see....

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING INTO THE
SOUTHERN PLAINS THISMORNING WILL LIFT NORTHEAST THROUGH THE OHIO VALLEY ON
TUESDAY.THIS SYSTEM WILL CAUSE SNOW TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA FROM THESOUTHWEST
TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE UNTIL TUESDAYNIGHT. THE SNOW WILL
LIKELY BE HEAVY AT TIMES. STRONG NORTHEASTWINDS WILL ALSO DEVELOP AS THE LOW
MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. THISWILL RESULT IN AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW
WITH NEAR WHITEOUTCONDITIONS AND SOME IMPASSABLE ROADS POSSIBLE. TRAVEL WILL
LIKELY BEADVERSELY IMPACTED ON MANY MAJOR TRANSPORTATION ARTERIES...INCLUDING
PARTS OF INTERSTATE 69... 65... 75... 80...90... AND 94...AND ROUTES 6... 24...
27... 30... 31... 33... AND 127.CURRENT FORECAST AMOUNTS WILL RANGE FROM 8
INCHES ACROSS NORTHERNPORTIONS OF THE WATCH AREA TO A FOOT OR MORE OF SNOW ALONG
ANDSOUTH OF ROUTE 30.

So, its just a wait and see game. However, I am going to go into town today and get a few extra supplies, its amazing how much food kids can consume...boys especially. And in the event I am stuck in the house tomorrow, I will go ahead and get Valentine treats for the kids, I have always given them some sort of little something or other and a card on Valentine's Day, so I better be prepared!

Date Night with my boys

Last night I took my boys to a Komet Hockey game. It was the first time for them. They had a blast! This morning my oldest one was saying he wants to play hockey now. They were so fired up. My youngest one had his eyes glued to the game the entire time. It was actually an event through cub scouts, but it turned out to be a great evening for my boys and I. We even got to see a couple of fights and the Komets won after going into overtime. The biggest problem we had was that I was unable to explain the game to them.

So let me guess, white chocolate next?

M&M's has just come out with dark chocolate candies. Almost surprising that it has taken them this long to do that. So my guess would be that white chocolate will be next?

Well I just visited the website and yep, we guessed it, they do have white chocolate candies too!


I have always liked the holiday ones, especially the Valentine's Day candies, but then again, I am just partial to that holiday!

You can also get personalized M&M candies with your own messages or company logo. More information here.

Tips for Valentine's Day

I found this online and thought I might repost it to help you guys out - I hate to see a guy think he is doing everything right and have the best of intentions only to land himself in the doghouse! Yes. It is "just another Hallmark Holiday." But guess what? It matters to her.

How to Pick the Right Gift for Valentine's Day
Posted by Dr. Laura Berman

Hey, guys: Looking for the
perfect gift this Valentine's Day?
I've got some "hot" and "not" gift ideas
to make sure you end up in her good graces, not the doghouse, this Valentine's
Day. Romance doesn't have to be a dirty word. Trust me, it's the way to her
heart...and a great night for you, too. A little effort and a personal touch
goes a long way.

Here's a gift guide to help you speak her language of love.

HOT: A bouquet of her favorite
flowers or red roses...delivered to the office, so she is the envy of all her
co-workers! (This last part was the idea of one of our regular posters.)Women
want to be that woman who is getting romanced for everyone else to see. Sending
flowers to work is a great surprise (unless you do it all the time) and creates
some heavy anticipation for when you get home!

NOT: A bouquet of yellow roses.This is
the ultimate "friend" present. In fact, it's what you might send your
grandmother when she's in the hospital or your best friend when he's had a baby
with his wife. Yellow = no passion.

HOT: A coupon for a backrub from you
or drawing her the ultimate sensual bath, with no expectations!Get versed in the
art of massage if you're not up to speed. There are plenty of videos and books
out there. To do a sensual bath, all you need is candles, a pile of soft towels
and some lavender oil, with relaxing music in the background. Pour the lavender
oil under hot running water and tell her she can take as much time as she wants
enjoying herself, while you make dinner or do something else that keeps you busy
elsewhere. For an added touch, place some wine or champagne next to the bath for
her (cold, of course).

NOT: Disgusting toys or movies.This is
the ultimate gift-with-an-ulterior-motive. It's not actually about her, it's
about what you want to do with her. Same goes for really skimpy lingerie. Giving
a gift like this creates a sense of pressure. It's not enjoyable or romantic.
Better to pick out toys and movies together, when you're both feeling
it.

HOT: A home-cooked meal by
you...where you really do it all from start to finish. Or, a privately cooked
meal at your home with a chef for one night is a special treat for both of you.
There are tons of chefs out there who specialize in on-site cooking, and take
you from menu conception to preparation to clean-up afterwards.

NOT: Cooking lessons.This gift will only
be taken two ways: one, she is not a good enough cook or, two, you are looking
for someone to do more cooking for you. Either way, you lose.

HOT: A handwritten love note or a
poem on fresh tree bark.Don't be scared to be vulnerable! You don't have to be
Shakespeare to write a love note to your one-and-only.

NOT: A gift message written on the
wrapping paper.You can ruin a perfectly good, romantic gift by failing to
include a card. Women do not understand this. Why is a card so difficult? It
feels impersonal to get a gift without a card. Just get one. Trust me, it means
the world, whatever it says, as long as it's from the heart.

Well there you have it, and if it helps one of my friends to at least have a special Valentine's Day then it will be well worth it!

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines....

Well, the Daytona is a little over a week away, but I have boys. Boys like cars and sound effects. My youngest son has more cars, trucks, tractors and trailers than you can begin to imagine. And each one has its own sound effect that he creates himself. I can actually tell the diesals, chevys, fords and dodges from his effects. Yeah. He is good.

Well this afternoon while I was doing paperwork he was all engrossed in running his 77 car thru the Daytona 500. This race was complete with 3 pitstops including tire changes... and on the last lap, because he didn't top off the tank on the last caution, he ran out of gas and lost the race. The "S" word came out of his mouth on that lap....

I was laughing so hard I was crying. What an imagination! (He even had talks with his pit crew during the race...)

Wedding Thriller Dance

This was on Good Morning America. Apparently the bride's favorite movie is "13 Going On 30" so they decided to do this dance at their reception and the entire wedding party practiced 4 times a week for four weeks. It was the groom who broke down the dance and instructed all of them. Now that is a case of true love!

A case of True Love

These skeletons were recently unearthed, locked together in an eternal embrace. True love through the ages. Full Story.

Just for the Record... Hats Off to Dove!

Dove has an ongoing ad campaign that showcases beautiful women. Yeah ok. So what is so great about that? Dove recognizes the beauty of all women, inner and outer. They have dared to step out of the norm. They have dared to showcase women of all shapes and sizes and all ages. It is a beautiful campaign. Yesterday they revealed their newest model, age 64, in a fully nude ad in Times Square!

Oprah is doing a show today about this campaign and showcasing women of all shapes, sizes, color and age and they are all beautiful. It is the direction and the mindset we all need to take on. The glitz and glamour of Hollywood has messed of the minds of many young women making them believe if they do not fit the beautiful mold, they are not beautiful. How sad that is to see the confidence of young women shaken and destroyed by such stereotyping.




Hopefully, the stage is being set and we will break out of this stupid mindset and learn to appreciate all people for who they are and their own individual inner and outer beauty!

Super Bowl Shuffle

Aw, these pour souls. Its cute, they were just misinformed as to who they should have been "shuffling" for...

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS!!!!! THAT LITTLE VONAGE TUNE KEEPS GOING THRU MY HEAD AND MY FEET WANT TO DO THE HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!

What a game! Whew! We had a blast watching it. All three of my kids ended up home for the evening and then discovered there is already a two-hour school delay in the morning. Of course all evening long they kept having me go back online and check to see if it had closed. My goodness they get an inch and go for the mile!!!




We all watched the halftime show together and my kids were appalled at Prince. They thought he was extremely weird - and the silouhette with the guitar during "Purple Rain" just didn't help his cause at all with my kids. What can I say? He does have a few good tunes....




My oldest son was cheering for the Bears. Sigh. I don't know what possessed him to do that! My youngest had made me promise him earlier in the week if the Colts won I would buy him a Colts jersey. I think the time has come I may have to invest in one for myself too! Early on in the evening my daughter's boyfriend told me he was going to buy me a Bears "Grossman" jersey. My response? Perfect! I need a good bonfire starter!!! (AWB is influencing me.)




In the third quarter AWB called to make sure we had the game tuned in and my youngest son answered and had a nice little conversation and hung up the phone. He looked at me as serious as could be and said, he called to talk to me mom, he said he will talk to you some other time. I couldn't stop laughing. A few minutes later the phone rang again and I answered that time - and yes AWB - we had the game on loud and clear in our house! hehehehe!

GO COLTS!!!!!!!!!