Say What???

We've always had what amounted to a phrase of the moment or word of the moment. With Madison, it is to be expected. She picks up a phrase and that is ALL she says.

We've been through:

Whatever!!
Oh No You Didn't!
Oh Snap!
That's right, I went there!
I know, right?
(insert name) say what?
Sweet Niblets

and the list goes on. And yes I realize the child watches too much Disney.

I never know what might pop out of her mouth and become the new thing to say. So I just go with the flow, giggle a lot and wait until it changes again.

But one day that all changed. It was a day not too long ago. One of the very few days of summer we actually had this year. We were enjoying a nice afternoon at the beach. Playing in the water. When out of the blue popped the question i'd been avoiding.....

Mom what is sex?

So as I stand there waist deep in Lake Michigan contemplating what I was going to say....and deciding if I wanted to postpone it for another time or answer....she got impatient.

Mom you promised you would tell me.

SNAP. That's right, she went there.

So I decide honesty is the best policy.

Sex is when a man inserts his penis into a woman's vagina.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW gross.

(whew!)

So we carry on with our day after a brief conversation on how she may just adopt babies, which I fully supported LOL.

But that was not the end, my friends.

It seems that Madison has adopted a new word.

Penis.

I swear she can work penis or sex into ANY conversation. Mostly penis though. Sex still grosses her out.

We are talking about a game for her birthday party.

Oh that reminds me of people using their penis.

We are talking about pulling her pants up

You know what else would be bad? A boy showing me his penis

I mean I don't want the child to believe it's a bad word. But do we really have to talk about it two or three times a day?? At what point does it become too much?? And what happens when we are at walmart and I say Do you want to get bananas? and my cell phone wielding 11 year old drama queen announces to the whole store that bananas look a lot like a penis.

Sadly we've talked so much about penises that tonight she asked me to clarify what a vagina was. Hello. It's the part you actually have. Focus on that for a while.

Come on Hannah Montana, come out with a new saying! We need a new phrase around here.

On a side, silly and pathetic note....I have recently adopted "check it out". Anyone who has seen Sonny With A Chance will get that reference.

Well I am off. Hopefully I won't soon be doing installments of "Conversations from the produce aisle"

It's been a while....

Well if you are a reader, thank you for your patience. It's been a long time since I've written. Not for lack of wanting to write. Simply because sometimes, life gets in the way. So here I am. And wow I have a lot to update you on.

To pick up where I left off, I did make my trip to see my friend. I finally got the privilege of meeting April. We had a nice day out and about in Madison including the mall, State Street, a tour of McFarland and of course Cherry Limeades from Sonic. I had a blast and it was GREAT to finally meet her. She is as wonderful in person as she is online!!

Then to move forward a bit, I started my gig at the Mission. I absolutely love working there. The people I work with are great. And the job is rewarding. For a temporary time, I am the person who gives out stuff to people in need like furniture, diapers, etc. I'm loving that, but it's only while Ms. Phyllis is out on leave.

ChaCha-- Well ChaCha is going to kill me. Nuff said.

A sad update. In June, my wonderful dear grandmother passed away. It was an extremely sad time for all of us. I am still having a hard time with it. I miss her soooo much. Needless to say as much as I loved seeing my family, my summer trip to NC was not under good circumstances.

Summer sucked in Michigan. Most days it was too cold to do anything fun.

Madison is back at school and responsibility is the motto of the year.

Speaking of Madison, she is now 11. Her birthday has come and gone....and For her birthday I got a $50 a month bill!! And in exchange, my little girl is now carrying a cell phone.

And the positive.....we are moving. I am getting my very own I own it home. I am soooo excited yet stressed beyond belief. But stay tuned for all my cool decorating projects as I make this place a real live home.

If I disappear, packing the basement swallowed me!!

Now a couple of notes.

Since January, it has been a struggle. Financially, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I have hit my lowest, pulled up a bit, fell back down and repeat. So many people have been there for me. In many different ways.

To my special family....you have helped me with bills, listen to me complain and just been there. I can't possibly list all you have done. But I wanted to say thank you!!

To SHFB-- for being my sounding board-- Thank you soooo much. For all the prayers-- Thank you even more. And for the laughs-- thank you the most. Trust me that more than a keyboard is between us!!

To my dear special friend...you know who you are. You have given so much of yourself. You have helped me with things as trivial as advice and as serious as affording to get to NC for the funeral. I know you have been struggling the past little bit. And I am praying for you. But please know how very special you are and what a tremendous blessing you have been in my life. Even if I argue with you.....I appreciate every single thing you have done!

To the two ladies who helped out with back to school-- one sent a straightening iron for Madison and one sent a huge box of back to school supplies. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To my friend who probably won't read this because she don't do the online thing much. Thanks for it all. Hanging out, talking, texting, cigs, nails...all of it. I enjoy it more than you know. And someday we will go free bowling followed by smores and rum and pepsi!! LOL

And finally to my everyday chat with me friends --- okay that means you Lynn-- thanks for being my friend for like ever.....and not getting sick of my griping about my life and laughing with me over ChaCha questions.... and just being the bestest of best friends.....The cabana boys are waiting!!

It's been a struggle....but my motto now is If I survive September I will be good. It's almost over, so I am almost there!!!

Love you all!!

I didn't die LOL

I've just been super busy lately. Doing what? Well....taking care of life. Isn't that what we all are always doing?

My mom left for NC a while ago. She is there indefinitely. And we've been making some changes around here. We had become quite dependent on my mom to do some things around here. The dishes. The laundry. Picking up the living room.

So I've been on a mission to get the house in order. And let me tell ya....its been a LOT of work. We are STILL working on it. But its become habit now to clean and keep the laundry up. We're almost done with the upstairs and then we tackle the unknown...the scary....the basement. Goal is to have it all done and rooms moved by May.

On top of that....I have a new gig. I am a ChaCha guide. What is that? Well you can text any question you might have to 242242...ChaCha.....and it will get answered. Don't believe me? Try it. I have. Anyways I am the person who looks up the answer and sends it to you. One of the people. The many many people. So I've been working hard to earn some money on that.

Ebay is...well...on hold at the moment. Long story and I don't care to share. But I am working towards getting that resolved ASAP.

And the state. The lovely state. I say with sarcasm. They have decided that job hunting wasn't enough for me. I already had to turn in 40 applications a week. Which I did. But if you live in Michigan you know that jobs are VERY hard to come by. And I am having no luck. So the state decides that I need actual work experience. This can come in the form of a) working for free at a place like Goodwill or b) volunteering at some place. Now thats cool. I will not work at Goodwill and if you ever want to know why feel free to ask. But I don't mind volunteering. So I ask the lady how many hours I need....2...3....maybe 4 a week. Nope 14. FOURTEEN hours a week I have to go volunteer.

Yep I am superwoman LOL. I really don't mind it though. I am going to be working with the Rescue Mission. And I believe God is doing this to lead me down the path I've known for a while I was headed towards. I was letting life get in the way and God stopped that.

But here's the sad part. On top of this....I have to try and get registered in school for a minimum of 8 hours a week.

Soooooo in a nutshell....I need to attend 8 hours a week of classes, 14 hours of community service, 40+ hours with ChaCha, however many hours Ebay takes, clean my house, help run a girl scout troop, raise a daughter and still find time for game night, movie night and our sunday day of doing something active.

I can soooo do this. NOT.

Or the alternative is to get to the point where I can purchase medical insurance and don't need it from the state. Which is my goal for the year. Get self reliant. But right now I can't do without the medical. So I must jump through hoops.

I have a meeting tomorrow to plan what I'll be doing as a volunteer. And when. Then I have to go take a 3 hours reading, writing, math test to prove i'm smart enough to work.

Sometimes I hate Michigan.

But I wouldn't leave.

Irony.

Anyways back to life.....

I didn't get a chance to post that Caleb and Christopher are home. They are both doing awesome!!

And I haven't shared photos in a while. I promise to find time to blog here in the near future. I just wanted to let you know I am alive and kicking. And screaming and crying LOL

Oh and a juicy tidbit to make you curious.....

I am planning....God willing.....and short adventure to meet and see a very very special friend of mine. And so far everything is working out. So keep your fingers crossed for me. I will update as soon as I know it won't jinx it. And I'll of course have photos!

For now, its time to shower and go to bed. Gotta start my busy day early tomorrow.

Toodles for now

It's been a while

since I've blogged. To be honest its been a while since I've really accomplished anything. You see, my grandma was taken to the hospital Monday. It turns out she has congestive heart failure.

She is now in a different place for a couple of weeks. But the prognosis isn't great.

My mom will be leaving here next week to go be with her and to help my aunt.

I am here, just hoping I get a chance to spend more time with her.

I'd blog more about it, but honestly its just too hard to talk about. But if you read this...Keep us all in your prayers. My mom and aunt, my grandma, my cousins-brother and me. And of course the little ones.

Here's a picture of her I took while we were there over Christmas...It's a really good shot of her.

The first father/daughter dance

Every year Madison goes to the Girl Scout Father/Daughter dance. Well this year WMAAA had their own father/daughter dance on Valentine's Day. So Madison was excited to go. It didn't turn out as well as she had hoped :( But I heard the dance was really nice and the music was great. Anyways here she is all ready to go. And a pic of dad/daughter. Brian could smile once in a while LOL

I'm suffering creators block LOL

I've been working on the design for a friends blog. And I get it done and it doesn't look right. So I've been stumped. So what do I do when I get a brain freeze? I join in some challenges from the groups I am in.

Well this challenge I took part in, the rules were to create a page layout that showcased your valentine. Any way you want.

I think I did pretty good. And now I am ready to get working on designs again :)

Here's what I created: (betcha can't guess my valentine?? LOL)

I made this....

On OneTrueMedia. I love it. I can add pictures, songs,....whatever. And it makes a little film. LOVE IT.

Anyways heres the one I made. Shows how crazy it is around here :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com