Give me the choice between a night of painting the town, and an evening finger painting at home; in all my thirty-one years I pick the more childish one.  I have never feared being the most imature person in the room & pride myself in getting down & silly with no worries about how crazy I look. I am a kid at heart. I have endless energy. I love to make-believe, dance and act. I have no problem getting messy. I believe in Neverland, Santa and do-overs. I know my body is physically getting older but have seen no reason to grow up.

in 2009 I became a mommy and then shortly after, became a mommy of two.

Truth? Despite my love for imagination and youth, I feel old for the first time in my life, never quite grown up, but old. Physically exhausted, Emotionally drained at times, Lacking motiviation for much of anything outside of basic needs. (Food, Hygene, Bills). Old.

My struggle between being a grown up about life, while remaining a kid at heart has  motivated this journal.

Love him or loathe him, he nailed this one right on the head…….. … By Rush Limbaugh: I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving our country in Uniform are profound. No one is really talking about it either, because you just don’t criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well, I can’t let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you’re going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million. If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable. Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there’s a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt. Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it’s not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers. (Actually, soldiers are put in harms way by politicians and commanding officers.) We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11 families are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well. You see where this is going, don’t you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It’s just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they usually receive next to nothing of a raise. Now the green machine is in combat in the Middle East while their families have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing. Make sense? However, our own US Congress voted themselves a raise. Many of you don’t know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month. And most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They do not receive Social Security on retirement because they didn’t have to pay into the system. If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get out as an E-7, they may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed them in harm’s way receives a pension of $15,000 per month. I would like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now fighting. “When do we finally do something about this?” If this doesn’t seem fair to you, it is time to forward this to as many people as you can.

How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say,

“I could have done that!” –

Time is such a precious thing, it’s the best gift you can give anyone.

Baby sticks out her toungue

People you don’t have a great deal of respect for, telling the people you have a world of respect for, how to run their lives….not funny at all.

My precious little girl, will celebrate her 6 month old b-day on Thursday. Here are some images of her to mark this milestone.

OLIVIA LOVE

i ready today….

If evolution is real why don’t mothers have more than two hands.

I have never been a great speller, but I loved grammar and English in all of my life. I remembered today how much I used to abbreviate the word February, to Feb, to avoid the embarrassment of misspelling. Truth be told, I may never learn how to spell things correctly, before computerized spell check, there was my mom, and Niki (a spelling genius friend of mine) to count on.

Perhaps He Wanted To Encourage You

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

Epilogue. . . .There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can’t buy. “Today is a gift, that’s why it is called the present.”