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Every year my aunt’s bank does a Fill The Bus promotion. They collect items that can be donated to the local schools and try to Fill A Bus with them. They asked the school system what they were in most need of this year. They said underwear, socks, and shoes. Wow. I hadn’t even really thought of that. My grandmother has been buying things for the bus off and on since sales started to come on. One of the ladies got Stride Rite to donate 200 pairs of Keds shoes. After looking at the sales papers today I’m going to be picking up some things when I finish Sydney’s back to school shopping. I’m going to let her put them in the bus, it’s a learning lesson as well. I always take any opportunity I can to teach her about less fortunate or children who live in orphanages, etc. I’m going to purchase some Hannah Montana things as I know most people get the cheapest stuff to put into these donations. I’d like there to be “cute” things in there as well for some lucky kids!

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From the time I was a little girl I had it pounded into me that you always decorate the graves of the people who passed before you. It all seemed a little creepy, but was always consumed with a short vacation to visit far off family members so I didn’t give it too much thought. Then problems started to arise. My grandparents got older and started to develop health problems of their own, some are gone now. It wasn’t always possible for us to make that trip 6 hours away to decorate those graves anymore. I remember both of my grandmothers feeling so much guilt over this. Still, at 70 years old and barely able to take care of herself my grandmother thinks she needs to take care of these grave sites on certain holidays and I’m afraid this is her last year doing so.

I’m looking into a service like that of Gravesite Masters. Gravesite Master Flowers are gorgeous and come in artificial or fresh cut, with a variety of styling. I took a look at some of the wreaths they offer and they were breathtaking. The unique thing about Gravesite Masters is that they offer other services for the cemetery. All of the things you see at the graveyard that you had no clue where to purchase them like the saddles, solar lights, and flower urn’s can be purchased from the company. I particularly like the solar lights in the shape of a cross.

They also offer headstone restoration and cleaning. The site has some before and after photos of the before and after stones they have done. It’s really miraculous. We have some very, very old ones in our family that could use this. I started to think that if we had the older ones restored and had all the other ones cleaned then we could periodically have that done to ensure they are looking nice. However, grandma will want the flowers there. Good thing that Gravesite Masters will not only deliver their arrangements to the cemetery but they also offer flower planting and watering, something my grandmother does at my grandfather’s stone in town weekly.

They’ll also provide gravesite maintenance, landscaping, and just about anything else you could possibly want done. I’m pretty glad that I can tell my grandmother she doesn’t have to worry anymore about not keeping this tradition up. We just can’t take this on now that we don’t live in the same town with all of these loved ones that have passed!

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I was reading about the USA Network’s new original series In Plain Sight and it looks so good. After reading the character bios I started to fantasize that my job was as important as that of Mary Shannon. I wish, but I can definitely relate to her. Take a look at this.

“To help facilitate her witnesses’ often rocky transition into their new lives, she has to wear many hats at any given time: mother, therapist, best friend, maid of honor, priest, rabbi, marriage counselor, employment agent, bodyguard, and occasionally, homicide detective. As far as Mary’s loopy mother, Jinx, and her younger sister, Brandi, are concerned, Mary’s job as a Federal Marshal consists of lounging around the courthouse with her trivia-loving partner, Marshall, and serving the occasional warrant.”

I feel the same way! I may just look like a mom, but honestly I do all those same things with the exception of looking at dead bodies! I’m a mother, therapist, best friend, maid of honor, marriage counselor, and I’m definitely the bodyguard of this 5 year old. I’ve also been known to help the occasional person get a job or talk over religious concerns with friends and family. Yet, to everyone else in the world I sit on my rear, eat bon bon’s, and watch daytime televion!

The show premiered on June 1st on the USA Network. I’m going to check and see if I can catch a repeat of that and then watch it Mondays from now on. I was drawn to it because I love Mary McCormack who plays the lead character I was just describing. She’s a great actress so I’m looking forward to watching.

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So in just a few short months (August 1st) I will have been married for 10 years. I have wanted a diamond anniversary band since I was at year 3. I love them. I love the way they look, etc. Someone said, you have to be married for 10 years. Well darn it, it’s been 10 years so where is my diamond anniversary band at? My husband said if you want we can get a whole new set of rings that are bigger and better.

If I want? Don’t threaten me with diamond rings and expect me not to harass you man! You’ve known me for 12 years, you know better. So here is my problem. I think I would rather plop down the money on an actual second honeymoon than a piece of jewelry. I’m torn. Completely torn on this issue.

Never fear, as always I have a devious plan in the works. I’m going to win the online treasure hunt that jewelelegance.com is sponsoring for some diamond jewelry. This way I’ll have new diamonds, and a second honeymoon to an exotic location, as well as my hubby of 10 years. Three things that will truly last forver!

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I love social networking sites. Judging by the popularity of them, so does everyone else. I’ve joined a new one called 3gb Communities. You can do all the usual things like meet new friends and connect with old ones. Some of the perks is that you can upload photos to your own albums and join group chats with other members. You can also join group blogs and listen to the hottest mp3’s while networking. If this sounds like fun join 3gb community www.3gb.biz today and look me up.

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That’s Sydney. She’s the apple of my eye and my constant source of stress. Sydney currently likes to sing Hannah Montana songs and pretend she’s Stephanie from Lazy Town, hence the pink wig. She throws things in like Hubba Bubba that turns your entire mouth blue just for kicks. After years of trying, worrying, waiting, and wondering we finally made our dream of being parents come true in December 2004. Life’s perfect right? One problem. Mommy likes to shop. She likes to tote her child around in expensive Gymboree outfits and mommy has a soft spot for all things called accessories. Unfortunately we forgot to plant our money trees in the backyard and daddy gets a little put out when mommy buys things that she doesn’t need, constantly. Nobody wanted mommy to go to work and leave this precious little thing at home that she fought so hard to adopt. Just imagine if I weren’t here to kiss away the tears or teach her how to count to ten in Japanese? What if she were at daycare all day long and didn’t even know what LazyTown was and couldn’t act like a super hero? We couldn’t have that could we?

Thankfully I found my saving grace with a company doing something I was already doing, blogging. I’ve been at it for a while now and I’m really excited about the new SocialSpark system. Ask me why I’m so excited? Ok, I’ll tell you. This company has real promise to help me boost above and beyond my earnings to date. That means more money in my savings account, more shopping adventures, more cute kiddie clothes, and best of all I’m sitting at home in my jammies while I do it all.

I don’t have to leave my house on cold winter days and bundle up my child to drop off for someone else to get to entertain all day. If she has a sniffle that doesn’t warrant anything but hugs and kisses then I’m here to give it to her. She’s not with a “stranger” passing the germs on. I honestly feel like I’m getting over on someone or bucking the system somehow by doing this. I don’t have to brush my hair or get dressed up every day. I don’t even get to gripe about the high gas prices that I pay to fill my tank to just get back and fourth to work, because work is in my living room.

You’re all wondering how much money I’ve made aren’t you? I’ll tell you this much. I started out saying that I needed extra cash for this and that and tinkered with this system. Then I wanted to see if I could earn enough money being a mommy blogger to adopt another child eventually. I planned on saving and working on this for a while. When I got my tax information this year I was shocked to see that I made it. I made enough money to adopt all by myself in one year.

I could tell you 100 more reasons why it’s the best job in the world. You just need to check out SocialSpark for yourself and earn some money of your own to know how great it feels. Wake up every morning feeling like a rockstar, sometimes I pretend I am one singing while I type in my robe, ponytail in my hair. You can join the SocialSpark mailing list and get updates on when it goes public and you are able to sign up and start earning that money. The sign up is simple and takes just a few minutes. As long as you have a blog over 90 days old you’re probably good to go. Don’t worry about not knowing how to do this. I was overwhelmed as well at the start. We’re mommies, we can do anything. The fact that the Izea boards are a place to network and ask any question that has been asked by 40 others and not get laughed at is a big plus!

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So at this point I’m pretty sure I’ve ruled out the possibility that I’m having a heart attack, although about an hour ago I was scared. I woke up this morning after a really bad night to pain in my chest. I’m chalking it up to no sleep and fibromyalgia. It got worse as the day went on and while trying to iron some laundry my shoulder started to hurt really bad as well. Now, of course my hand starts to tingle because I think it’s all in my mind at that point. Honestly, if I press my breast it hurts so bad I can’t stand it, so that’s where the chest pain is located. It’s like someone beat the crap out of me in my sleep.

Moving on. I suck at this whole internet thing anymore. I have layout block, creative block, and I have been feeling really bad lately so I just am blocked. I’ll get back to normal…I promise. If I don’t, shoot me and scatter my ashes on the sidewalk in front of the local Coach retailer and we’ll call it a day.

Sydney turned 5 yesterday. My camera is busted so I resorted to crappy cell phone photos during that IHOP dinner. She had to have those Whocakes, she talked about them for a week. She didn’t like them when they got there. In her defense they were pretty darn nasty! She still ate a good portion. I’m making alternate camera arrangements for the weekend so I’ll have party pics to share. For now, crappy cell phone pics of a mountain of Whocakes!

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When we move to a bigger house I hope get the media aspect of our living room coordinated better. We’ve got a huge tv and I guess we need a surround sound system or something of that nature. We really need to look into a better stand for the tv that can hold everything we have shoved under the current one. Of course we need to make it comfortable because that’s the key to any good media room. We need some type of home home theater chairs to make it more comfortable.

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If you were given the opportunity to Transform Your Home would you? I sure would. Even though I want to move as soon as possible, I’ll take any help I can get. Right now Renuzit TriScents is having a contest where you get $20,000 to Transform Your Home. So what room would you use it on?

I personally would use it on the bedroom, not a room that everyone who visits sees, but the one that needs it the most in this house. Your bedroom should be your haven for getting away and relaxing. I have always wanted a place where I could go to get away from it all, or feel comfortable ending my day with a renewed sense of calmness. My current bedroom doesn’t make me look forward to tomorrow.

My bedroom is drab, dreary, and nothing matches. There should be tons of photos in my bedroom so I can look at the ones I love before I go to sleep, and first thing when I wake up to remind me of why I do what I do every day. I would love to have all black furniture, a king sized bed included in that furniture, and French Country bedding. Fluffy white and black bedding with tons of pillows. My decoration would primarily be flowers of the fake or real variety and unique photo frames.

What about the smell? Being a big believer in the healing powers of aroma therapy I think certain scents have calming effect on you. I would have my new bedroom surrounded in floral scents, probably lavender or lilac. Both of these are very calming for me and would help me relax instantly. I shy away from cinnamon or other powerful scents in the bedroom and bathroom. Don’t get me wrong, they smell great, but they don’t do anything to relax me. I use cinnamon in my kitchen constantly.

Winning the Transform Your Home contest would be a dream come true for me. All you have to do is visit the Renuzit TriScents website and upload a video, photo, or essay telling what room needs a make over and how TriScents can help you. Be sure to follow the official rules and you could have a shot at winning $20,000 towards a home make over.

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Pregnant man is not actually a man at all. Oh, he’s pregnant, but he’s a she. He had his breasts cut off and took some testosterone and decided to keep his female reproductive organs so he/she could have a child some day. The man said that an ex asked him why not just be a lesbian? I can probably tell you…because he would have as much attention? I mean come on now, if you want to live as a man then be a man. Men do not give birth, men should not want to be pregnant and give birth. I think this is one confused person that needs to stop having surgeries and start having counseling. I also find it odd that they went on Oprah and to People magazine. Dude, keep it hush  hush if you don’t want attention.

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