From The Command Post

WHY AM I STILL AWAKE!!!!

2007-09-01T01:44:00.000-04:00

Okay....maybe I had a little bit of caffeine, but it wasn't Diet Coke....it was sweet tea....from Chick-Fil-A. Doesn't that make it okay? I am going to have a loooooooooooooooooooooooong day tomorrow. my 12 year old has a soccer tournament this weekend, 2 games on Sat. and 2 games on Sun. All 4 games are about 1-1.5 hours away and we have to be there @ 815am in the morning. I still need to pack lunches/fill water jugs/shower/charge camera batteries (they are dead from son's football) and then sleep a little before driving. Oh, darn, i just remembered that I need to get gas as well.....GREAT!!!
Other than that, everything is good. The children survived the 1st week of school. my 7 year old fell off of his bike and busted his lip and the meat of his gum and lip inside his mouth, it's really nasty looking.....maybe i can take a picture of it....hmmmm....
thank god he was wearing his helmet...it could have been worse.
Well, i better go and make some sandwiches before bed time. I hope you have a great weekend....

Command Post......Out!

SUPERBAD was SUPERGOOD!!!!

2007-08-25T23:25:00.000-04:00

Especially if you love dirty humor!!!! I, personally, thought it was hysterical!!! The entire audience was LOL and applause broke out on several occasions.... It was well worth the $9.75 per ticket to see! How could this happen, you ask? Did you lock your kids in the closet to go to the movies? (we usually lock them in the basement....lol)
Actually, my oldest sons father and his girlfriend took the kids camping!! for 2 days and 3 nights as a last hoooraaahhh before school starts. Boy are they brave! We ended up with one of the worst thunderstorms that i have seen in a long time so the poor kids were stuck in the tent for 3 hours and yes, they argued the entire time, i think.........I wonder if they will ever do that again.
In the meantime, we managed to get some supplies for school, pack a few book bags. the kids are worried about which teachers they will have. my 9th grader is worried about such a long day at school....lots of work......
now they are sleeping and i am going to make their lunches and plan my day for tomorrow.
I hope all your 1st days at school go well!

My Best Good Friend

2007-08-24T00:33:00.000-04:00

There is so much that I can say about my best good friend, but first, I would say that I miss her due to a recent move out of state. I met her when I was pregnant with my now 8.5 year old son. I never thought at the time that I would meet someone who was as bold as me, as mouthy (probably more mouthy than me), who had a large Bi-racial family like me, who was an anti-neat-freak like me, who had seen hard times, suffered loses like me and shared in a love for our FUNCTIONALLY DYSFUNCTIONAL families. So many of what we thought were negatives in our lives were kinda what drew us to each other. We didn't have to explain so many things to one another and the more time that went by the more we had fun. We have often compared ourselves to cartoon characters like Sponge Bob and Patrick. Then one day.......we realized.....that we were like PEAS & CARROTS! LOL My best good friend.....JENNY (yes, i know......that makes me Forrest, but wasn't Forrest smarter than Jenny?) LOL!!!! What will I ever do!! Who is going to make midnight trips to Wal Mart with me? Those spur of the moment Costco trips? And worst of all, who will get the absolutely, uncontrollably, tears down your face, pain in your cheeks and wind through your teeth giggles with me at the most emotional part of a quiet movie b/c someone is moaning in the back of the theater in a most er....sexual manner? Have you ever laughed until you thought you would pee yourself? Did you every actually pee yourself? Who did you laugh with? Does everyone out there have that 1 best good friend? Do we only get one and if no, where do I find another? I have felt such a loss since my best good friend, Jenny, has left. I know she is only out of state, but when you are a busy mom, it's not the holidays and birthday parties and events that make your friends so memorable. It's the everyday phone calls and knowing that they are right down the street if you need them for anything. it's all the small things.

I will miss you dearly and have felt the hole in my life already! I consider you family (yes, that means i want Christmas gifts and birthday money) For everyone else out, feel free to leave a comment about your best good friends. i would love to hear your stories!

WE WAS LIKE PEAS & CARROTS!

FOR MY BEST GOOD FRIEND.....JENNY

I'm Back....

2007-08-16T23:55:00.000-04:00

Although I am not really sure where I have been! LOL! I have been busy with the kids getting ready for school and my oldest started football practice this week. He is on the Junior Varsity Football Team and is starting 9th grade this year. I have been to one baby shower, approached to photograph one wedding, have another child who has been asked to participate in a "travel" soccer team (higher level of play...and cost......and commitment), been working out a carpool schedule with 12 year old daughters travel soccer team, preparing for yet another long visit from my father, had one son with swimmers ear (doctors, money, prescription), trying to figure out how to pay for it all and just to put the icing on the cake.....found out my suspicions were true re: my blood pressure....yup....it's high.....and they put me on these water pills. That meant, though, that I had to go to the doctor and take the walk of shame to the scale! Oh yeah, just an FYI.....while my siblings chose to take the path of chemical addictions (alcoholics...both of them.....runs in the family....along with many other lovely things.....let's just put it this way...if we were dogs, we would definitely be spayed and neutered...lol), I inadvertently swapped one addiction for another. Drugs/Alcohol....exchanged for.....FOOD. Yes, I am overweight. It wasn't until about 4 years ago I realized that I had 1. gained so much weight 2. realized that i had changed one addiction into another. In those last 4 years, however, I really haven't done too much about it and I really don't know why. I know what the advice is.....what would be right and good...but I just haven't done it. It makes me think of that bible verse that says..."what i should do, i don't do, what i don't want to do, i do even though i know i shouldn't"
that pretty much defines where i feel like i am at. I had hesitated going to the doctors b/c I didn't want them to tell me to get surgery. I feel like surgery would be the easy way out (for me..not for everyone). I really think that the only way to conquer something like this is to do it the hard/right way. You have to change what you do/think/feel in regards to food. I think that maybe I have been down b/c i tend to see the Forrest, not the tree and I have really been trying to work on that. It will be a good change for me and, i think, everyone around me.
Needless to say, I have been busy. If not physically, mentally. I think when the kids return to school I will have some much needed time to work on some things for myself.
Well, that's enough dumping for tonight....hopefully I will have more time to blog and browse.

Still Awake....UGH!

2007-08-02T02:38:00.000-04:00

it's 238am and i have been going through my box of papers that need to be filed. well, in my house it actually gets sorted about 300 times then filed, usually years later...lol. (i know it's terrible) i am watching DANE COOK : VICIOUS CIRCLE on HBO. he is sooo funny! so i am going through these papers and i saw something so sweet that reminded me why i love my kids sooooo much and why i try to be a better parent each day. what i found were last years Christmas lists. now, i have to give a little history so you know how we do things. keep your seat belts on cuz i am going to get a little spiritual. my husband and i don't think that Christmas should be an "ONSLAUGHT" of gifts. we feel that if you are doing your job as a parent, your children should have everything they need, and i stress the word NEED. even if you have financial difficulties, b/c God gives everyone what they NEED, just not what we sometimes WANT. we decided that the Christmas holiday was "supposed" to celebrate Jesus's birthday so what we do is ask the children for a list of their top ten things that they want and we pick out the three that we would like to get them. the 3 gifts are supposed to represent the 3 gifts that Jesus received the night he was born. the kids spend a lot of time mulling over their lists before they turn it in. (side note...they know Santa is not real....but they also know the story of how the legend of Santa started) my now 10 year olds list from last year, i think. (maybe the year before) reads as follows. (and i love all the spelling errors, they just melt my heart):

1. xbox star wars game
2. sony psp (his big brother has one)
3.bionicle
4. more time with Daddy & Mommy (I'll admit it..i cried when i read this....)

The rest of the list is pointless...look at number four....isn't it amazing how kids find a way to get their thoughts and needs met. he is the sweetest, most thoughtful, loving and caring little child i have ever met. don't get me wrong though, he can be sneaky like the day is long, but damn...he's cute! okay, that's plenty of gushing over my child...i am going to make my own self sick...lol.

back to the sorting..don't want to have an avalanche at the command post!

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes....

2007-08-01T11:38:00.000-04:00

ROTFLMAO!!!!! Okay...let me start by saying that when my father stays with me, he likes to give the kids $20 bills for school work, report cards, birthdays and sometimes he just likes to see the look on their faces. Now, with that being said, my 7 year old LOVES to count money and is constantly saying, "so Pop Pop, how about that 20 dollars?". He pays attention to EVERYTHING. Anyway, my husband went to cash a check at the bank and took the 7 year old. Upon their return I was fittingly at my command post and this cutie came running up to me with eyes as wide as golf balls and stars around his head and proclaimed, "Mommy, mommy that bank B, B (and he said) plus B gave Daddy 105 dollars!" Now the bank is really called BB&T and it was the cutest thing to see his little face. He was so excited.....as if the bank just gives out money! Ahhhh......the bank giving away money $$$$.....we can dream, can't we?

From the Command Post!

Oh....the rain..

2007-07-31T00:59:00.000-04:00

well, it was a rainy and pretty boring day. although, the kids have had a horrible case of the giggles over the last few days. we have been trying to do some laundry and house cleaning...get the house in some kind of order before soccer and football and back to school starts. (can u believe it's almost august already) I have also been trying to work on some photography stuff. I need to put a website together and do some advertising this year, in stead of just going by word of mouth. I should really be doing more with the photography. there is so much to do....school supplies....soccer registration....football equipment....getting up early in the morning (i HATE waking up early in the morning) yes, i know, i have 5 kids. 5 kids who have been thoroughly trained in the art of cereal pouring, oatmeal cooking and i even have a few who know how to cook eggs. Most of the time they even put their dishes in the dishwasher when they are done. Boy, I really don't like mornings...lol
Maybe I am just feeling old...I do have on starting High School this year. (maybe I AM old) LOL

Well, this 33 year OLD WOMAN is going to bed! See you next time...

FROM THE COMMAND POST!

2007-07-29T11:56:00.000-04:00

Finished The Book....Now What????

2007-07-28T02:19:00.000-04:00

Okay....someone needs to ask J.K. Rowling what the _____ are we supposed to do now???? Maybe those of you who have a life know, but I sure as heck don't. I feel like someone in my family has passed on and maybe I should be wearing black for the next year or so! I guess I can wait with bated breath for the last two movies!! Wait!!! I do see light at the end of the tunnel!!! Woo Hooo!
Now don't panic, I am not that obsessed with it, I am just deep and emotional.....ROTFL! I have felt this way when my son's football season was over......when my daughters soccer season was over.....and when my last baby went to kindergarten! :-( What do I do now? Defining one's self is a difficult task and as you can see from my music tastes and styles, even though it seems like Cybil put that list together (check play list at bottom and turn on speakers), I am not sure if I want to define myself. I like that fact that I can listen to classical and reggae and rap. The only thing I have wondered though.....does that mean that I am only scratching the surface? The surface of music...the surface of anything and everything in my life.....the surface of me? Sometimes I feel like some of these little things are very intertwined. The way I am with my music is sorta the way I have been with most things in my life and I really don't know if I care or not. I like not coloring in the lines, I like to be different, but yet sometimes trying to be different makes me the same. I guess that's the trick.....not to be worried about being different or the same or in a "category".
Just be yourself, love yourself for yourself. You can't give something you don't have! So fill yourselves up ladies with something real, something good (and NO I am not talking about chocolate...that's a whole post in and of itself). Till we meet again....LOVE!

I....Can't.....Read....Fast....Enough....

2007-07-24T00:50:00.000-04:00

I can't keep my eye's open.....been trying to finish this HP Book #7 (plz don't tell me the ending). I have also been sprucing up my page, although as a photographer I tend to be "extremely overly" protective of my photos. I don't know what I am exactly worried that someone will do with them. I just wish that they were right click disabled or protected somehow. Anyway.....I am on chapter 21 of the new HP book. It's REALLY good!!

I'll write more when I am done!!!

Back From The Beach.......

2007-07-21T20:26:00.000-04:00

Ahhhhhhh.....my good ole rolling chair.....the sweet sound of tapping on my keyboard, which of course I am very particular about. It has to make just the right sound and feel just the right way before I will use it. :-) (That's a whole other post about my quirks and things that some may call "obsessively compulsive") LOL

Well, as you can guess from the title, we just got back from (believe it or not) our very 1st Family Vacation!! Thankfully, no one drowned or got sucked away in a rip tide as I had been (obsessing) worrying about for the last 3 months. Oh yeah, we also did not get eaten by a shark, stung by a jelly fish or lose anyone while on the boardwalk. The kids had an absolute blast! I took ton's of pictures, got some sunburn and have been spending my time today trying to peel off a layer skin. *just and FYI..."packing tape" works great as a skin peeler. just lay a strip on your skin and slowly peel off* (PLEASE do not do this if you are an extremely hairy person, use some common sense, and for the love of God, please do not rip it off swiftly...trust me...it hurts) It's amazing to me how the addictiveness of blogging followed me once again, even though I was trying to stay off the computer. I think I need to start carrying around a necklace with a notepad attached so that I can jot down notes or ideas. Sometimes I forget and then when I sit here at the command post I will just start to babble.....and babble. I keep thinking that most people pick one topic to write about and I thought that I had to do the same but I have decided that I will just sit, write until I feel done and then I'll be done. Does anyone else blog this way? I look forward to your answers.
Waiting on my doorstep when I returned was the "pre-ordered" Harry Potter Book. Since I think that I will spend some time reading and I think i probably won't be able to put the book down. I'll be back when i am done reading. (should only take a day or two)
Have a great day and I'll see you next time!

PS Thanks for all the comments!!!

Back From The Movies.....

2007-07-11T15:41:00.000-04:00

Well, let me start this off by saying that I have see all 4 of the previous Harry Potter Movies without reading the books. My oldest son used to go for his birthday, since it was in November when all the other movies came out. For this movie, The Order Of The Phoenix, I got the brilliant idea of "preparing" for it. While meandering around my favorite consignment shop last summer I found the book on tape and a light bulb went off! I have a tape player.....the kids and I could listen while in the car on our way to doctors appointments.....baseball games.....soccer games. Now, we started to listen and it was so good that we wanted to listen in the house, but being so technologically advanced (heheheheh) we did not have a tape player. Yet again, I found myself at a thrift store this time and for 6.95 I acquired a perfectly working tape player/ karaoke machine (came with a mic and the echo effect). Now, we started to listen every night after dinner with the lights dimmed low. It was an amazing story, but I still wasn't satisfied....I had to read the book.....so I get the book and stay up till who knows what time ever night reading....I read in the bathtub, in the bathroom (or as my best friend and I call it....."the office"). FYI: "the office" is usually where I make my phone calls from as there is guaranteed privacy via the bathroom door lock.
Okay, back to the story. It was such a good story that I could not stop reading and when I finished that one I cried and then realized that I also had the next book, The Half Blood Prince, in my possession and proceeded to read that one in one weekend (maybe a little more). Finally....all I had to do was wait! Wait for the movie to come out and I just knew it was going to be GREAT! Now I know that can't put EVERYTHING from the book into the movie, I guess I just hoped that there would be more information into it. I wonder if I hadn't read the book would the movie been better?
Overall the movie was entertaining, but if you have read the books and fallen in love with the series it was kind of like going to dinner and only getting an appetizer and side dishes with no dessert. The meat of the characters was gone, in my opinion, and the relationships throughout the story were not connected as in the book, which changes the whole feel of each character. I just wish the movie would have been a little deeper. I would give it a 7/10 wands.

I encourage all of you to read the books because you have no idea what you are missing! Well, I have to get back to real life a go shopping for groceries! See you next time and have a great day/night!

In Control....at least I think....

2007-07-09T23:28:00.000-04:00

So many important decisions to make.....which kind of font....which color font.......where do you want the font.....how big do you want the font.....which shade of that color. Maybe this is so much fun because we have so much "control" over it! There is so little in our lives that we do have control over. Or maybe I should say, since I know better, that there are so few things that we realize that we have control over that we spend all of our time exercising control over the small things, sometimes the things that don't count as much as we'd like them to. Sometimes, after dealing with children all day and a husband who sometimes doesn't talk or listen as much as we'd like, it's so nice to sit down and do what I jokingly refer to as "dominate" the remote control to the TV the computer or other crafty things we like to exert our power over. (no offense to my lovely scrap booking neighbor...that was surly not a stab at scrap booking) lol.

Wow....it's amazing how my mind can wander.....my husband put on movie to torture me with. (The Messengers) I can only imagine how bad this is going to be. I will let you know tomorrow, or maybe the next day. Glad you could stop bye and I will see you next time!

PS. thanks for all the comments!

2007-07-09T00:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I am back already. It's 12:42am, yes I am still awake, and I have not been able to stop thinking about blogging. I think I should have read the label before I started...someone should have told me..lol. Addictions run in my family, you know! I just hope that I haven't traded my recently kicked Diet Coke habit for a new, carpel tunnel syndrome inducing habit. I guess we all have our vices. It's just hard being on of those people who needs to try them all :-) So my command post is as comfortable as ever despite a minor avalanche earlier in the day when I was unloading some pics on to my computer. The fallen solders include a few bottles of nail polish (closed of course...I would never leave those open.....), a tube of toothpaste in a Ziploc baggie and some misc. papers and hair bands. I know what you are thinking and yes, I have a large purse and I would probably win those little contests that they do at parties and showers. You know the one's where they say..."do you have ________ item in your purse?" And when I carry a small purse, I always bring a tote bag.
I guess that maybe I should tell you a little bit about myself. I am the mother of 5 children (6 when my step-daughter is here). I had those 5 children in a seven year time span (I like a little chaos) and I even had some of those children before marriage (yes, I am a rebel) I wouldn't trade anything, anyone or any experience I have had for anything,including the dream house I wish I could win from Extreme Home Makeover, the 300 Million Dollar power ball I wish I could win...if I ever played, a car that never broke and the perfect "everything" that I used to wish for when I didn't know how much trials and tribulation make you a better person.
My children and I live with a wonderful man that they call dad and i call husband.
On that note...I am off to bed....I will see you next time.

Head First......

2007-07-07T23:31:00.000-04:00

You know how people, when getting into the pool, tip toe and slowly try to creep in? Not me....I like to go head first....or feet first. Sticking with my true form, this is how I will be entering the Blogging world. HERE I AM....JUMPING IN BODY/MIND FIRST!!!! WOOOHOOOO!!!! Technically i guess it would be fingertips first, since i am typing, but who cares. I really don't know where to begin...I have so many stories, ideas, thoughts, opinions (most of which will be politically incorrect and sprinkled with bad words) So far, the blogging water feels pretty nice. I guess I should just start with where I am and go from there. Where I am is the "command post" , or at least that's what my friends and my husband call it. It's the place where my computer sits with my monitor and other goodies. the problem is that magically, no matter how many times i clean it off I end up with piles (sometimes mountains) of things that need to get done, be filed, put away, sent out or maybe i am not sure where it goes. Not matter where i sit or move my desk to I always end up with on little path of getting in and out of my chair. No one is allowed to come near the command post for fear of a life threatening avalanche of miscellaneous objects that may poke out an eye or impale you if tipped. Or they may, God forbid, spill something on my photographs or bend a photo. I spend a lot of time at my command post, probably too much, but it works for me now. Hopefully I can share with you my stories about my life/family/love/friends/opinions and thoughts as I sit here at my command post and view my life and the lives of my family. I hope you enjoy my stories and I hope that they are and inspiration to you. At the minimum I hope that they make you think.

See you next time!!! PS. to my neighbor....please email me and let me know what you think!!!