Why do you talk to me the way you do? Do you really think of me the way you talk to me when you are angry? You hurt me, you said things no one has ever said to me, you put me down more and more with each confrontation. It’s not ok. I won’t be YOUR VICTIM. You have 2 sides. No one would ever believe me if I told them which one I get at home. Your public image is so important to you you would never let them see what I do. You hurt me. No more.

~Posted by a guest writer~

Today is “Free-For-All Friday” which means you can post whatever you want on my blog. Say what you want to say, share a link, complain about household appliances, etc…all you have to do is login and post! Don’t know what to say? Then answer this question: What are your plans for the weekend?

Here’s how to do it:

• Go to the log-in prompt by clicking here.
• Login/Password: guest/FFAF
• You will be redirected to the dashboard – Click on “Write” on the top menu bar.
• In the categories box on the right, make sure there is a check mark next to “free for all” .
• Type a title in the “Title” field and type whatever you want in the “Post” field.
• When you’re done, click the “Publish” button.

A Bunch of Us!

Originally uploaded by fl0w3r.

The Good: We pulled off the greatest surprise party ever. My Mother-in-Law’s birthday was last week and about a month ago, my Sister-in-Law, Rachael, approached Mike and I about throwing a surprise party. We embraced the idea whole heartedly. You see, Mike’s Mom has kind of been the unsung hero in the family. She and my Father-in-Law raised four boys. They both did an excellent job…but I think it is harder for boys to know what to get their Mom on Mother’s Day, birthdays, Christmas, etc. They usually have a pretty clear idea what to get their Dad, but it just hasn’t been that way for their Mom. So, when Rachael and Nate brought this up…we knew this was the best idea. You see, part of the reason the boys don’t know what to get her is because she is extremely low maintenance and very giving. It just doesn’t seem like she needs or wants much. However, the one thing I know she always wants is to have her family around. She loves her boys and her grandchildren so much. Just having everyone together would mean so much.

So began the lies. My husband came up with the brilliant lie that would keep her at home. We asked her to babysit Gabe while we helped my Dad with some home improvement projects. She agreed…of course! Then, as the date neared we let my Father-in-Law in on the festivities, since we would need him to get her over to Nate and Rachael’s place. His first attempt failed, so we just didn’t know what to do. He asked her if she wanted to go out for dinner that night, but she wanted to go the night before instead. Uh-oh! I’m not sure who thought of it, but Plan-B was Nate and Rachael wanting to go out to dinner that night and to have them stop by and pick up Nate and Rach. BRILLIANT! We also had a fake party the night of her birthday, when most of her kids just showed up for a while and had cake and ice cream. Yet another BRILLIANT idea!

The Money Shot

Originally uploaded by fl0w3r.

So, they show up and this is the money shot! They round the corner into the back yard. My Father-in-Law’s face is lit up like a Christmas tree and she is just starting to choke up at the surprise. (We knew she’d cry. A good time was had by all. We got many pictures and quite a few much needed family shots. As the crowd thinned out in the evening, we all enjoyed a delicous Margerita and then we called it a night. It went so well. This is the ONLY party that I’ve ever seen Mike excited about. He kept telling me last week, how he couldn’t wait. It was a great idea and everything just worked. Thanks Nate and Rachael. Mom – I hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed giving it!

Bingo Bird

Originally uploaded by fl0w3r.

The Bad:On our way home from the party, we got a call…it came through on Mike’s phone. From the conversation, I gathered that it was my Mother and something was wrong. I immediately thought of Taz-Cee, however, Taz-Cee was just fine. My Bingo bird was not. She was still at the bottom of her cage. Upon further examination, it looked like she just fell asleep in her usual perched position and just passed away. Her eyes were closed and she was still in her perched sleep position. She was a very old bird. I’m not sure how old. I’ve had her for about 12 years and she had two previous owners. The owner before me had her for about 5 years, so I’m guessing she was around 20 years or older. She showed no signs of distress, in fact she had whistled at me just that morning, the way she did every morning.

My wonderful husband immediately took on the responsibility to take care of her and bury her even though it was dark night outside. He burried her by our outside bird feeders so she could be near the birds. It was a great idea, but I have to admit, looking out there today and seeing all the birds at and around the feeder choked me up. She was an extremely good bird. She was so gentle. There wasn’t a mean bone in her body and I’ve known many mean cockatiels in my day. I’m glad that she was with me for so long and I’m especially grateful that she just fell asleep and left so peacefully. It was a very sad ending to an otherwise wonderful day.

The Ugly: Well I really don’t have anything ugly for you…but it made for a snappy title, didn’t it?

First of all my Dad stopped by this morning unannounced! Normally, an unannounced visit would peave me but not today. The moment I saw his mammoth of a vehicle park in my drive way, I just kind of lit up. I was so tickled that he stopped by. He only stayed for a few minutes as he was on his way through town…but still it was wonderful to see him. Gabe thought it was great too. He just giggled at him the entire time.

Second…this is my most favorite website of the moment: Cute Overload. You need to book mark this sight. If you are needing a pick-me-up, this is the place to go. If the sheer cuteness of the pictures don’t get you, click on the “Caption Me!” picture in the Cute Caps section on the left side-bar, down toward the middle. Just read some of the captions for the pictures and hilarity will ensue.

Want to know what else is hilarious? My husband. While I’m folding clothes he is reading the The Little Red Hen to Gabe. It is one of his favorite books and for a while we were reading it a 1/2 dozen times a day. When he got to this part:

“Who will help me bake the bread?” said the Little Red Hen.
“Not I,” said the duck.
“Not I,” said the goose.
“Not I,” said the cat.
“Not I,” said the pig.

He proceeded to explain that it was just stupid that they didn’t help with this part because all they had to do was put it in the oven. The hen had all ready made the dough. That made me chuckle…but I would have spit Pepsi out my nose, had I been drinking Pepsi when I heard the following:

After the loaf had been taken from the oven it was set on the windowsill to cool.
“And now,” said the Little Red Hen, “who will help me to eat the bread?”
“I will!” said the duck.
“I will!” said the goose.
“I will!” said the cat.
“I will!” said the pig.
“Suck it dry,” said the Little Red Hen. “I will eat it myself!”

Have a great weekend everyone!

Dear God,

I’ve posted before about the evident mortality of my first baby, Taz-Cee. Her sight and hearing have slowly deteriorated. They are almost completely gone, as I realized earlier this week, when she made her usual trek to the back door to go outside and she got a little off course and consequently bumped into furniture and was unable to right herself. She was stuck and I had to pick her up and help her outside. She can still see faint shadows if they are in front of a bright light and she can still hear the high pitched noise of an air-kiss, if she’s in the right position. Yet I know that her days are numbered.

God, while she is still with me, I need your help to curb my frustration. A few times a day now, she will act like she needs to go outside or she needs food or water. She’s been pretty good about making her needs known by being completely under foot and needy until you figure out what she wants. Well, she’ll go through the normal routine, but doesn’t want outside and her food and water dishes are full. I get frustrated and I need you to remind me that maybe…she just needs me. She was my baby before I had Gabe and I treated her like one. She’s probably just missing that attention and affection. If my time is short, I need to seize every opportunity to hold her and cuddle her now.

I need to ask one more thing, Lord. As I watch her body slowly failing her…I know what this means. Eventually, she won’t see shadows and she won’t hear that air-kiss. She will live in a world of silence and darkness and she will slowly lose her mind. Please, please, God. I don’t want to be the one who has to make the decision to let her go. I don’t know if I can. I don’t want her to suffer…but I don’t know if I’m strong enough to know when it is time to let go. Most of my prayers to you these days are giant “Thank Yous” for allowing me to have such a wonderful life. This time, I’m begging. As I’ve cried myself to sleep every night this week, I beg of you to take her peacefully in her sleep. Please. please.

If that isn’t your will, please give me the strength and wisdom to know when the time is right. For fourteen years, she’s followed at my heals. She kept me company when I was lonely and without companionship. She has loved me unconditionally. I owe her that much.

Thank you for listening. Amen.

Been a long time since I’ve done a meme!

I read the local news articles every day and I usually walk away angry at criminals or injustice. Today is different. As I type this post right now, I can’t stop crying. I just read this article about a Mom that loses her battle with cancer during one last family vacation. Yes, I shed tears for the lady who apologized to her parents as her body failed her. However, most of my tears are shed in gratitude to the angels among us. There were so many beautiful angels in this story. While boarding the plane to fly to Florida so Lynette Marie Angers could take her children to Disneyland, a complete stranger asked why her Father, who was assisting his wheel chair bound daughter onto the plane wasn’t going. He explained that he had to work. Angers’s Mother was going along. While on a layover flight in Atlanta the stranger offered to pay the $700 plane ticket for Anger’s Father to join them and he wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. This stranger must have known how important this trip would be for the family. This nameless stranger is truly an angel…but not the only angel.

Then there is the Father’s boss at Huber auto dealership who insisted that he join his wife, daughter and grandchildren in Florida. Yes, he is another angel among us. In addition, let us not forget the many angels at Westside Baptist Church who raised the money for the trip and provided hospice nurses to tend to Angers while in Florida.

God bless all of you angels, God bless the parents, the hospice nurses and the children…

…and God bless you, Giggles.

Yeah… I saw Superman Returns like three days after I posted that… It was great. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves now.

I haven’t seen Superman yet. I probably won’t get to see it for a while, and I don’t want to know about it. I’ve been avoiding reviews on tv, in print, and on the web. If you try to tell me about it, I’m going to hurt you.

That is all.