Soul Singing

This summer's been a bitch. (Sorry, but I ain't gonna lie.) I haven't felt this rough emotionally since I came home from my Vietnam ordeal with Emma and then went through her RSV ordeal. (Emma=ordeal, is anyone else noticing a trend here?) I can't pinpoint one thing that has led to my melancholy, it's more a accumulation of things. Financial strain, a house full of nine people, trying to wrap up some loose legal ends from Darrell's death (yes, still.) They've all kind of worn me down into a uninspired, unmotivated mess.

I felt better a few weeks ago. I realized that I had to pull myself out of my pit and I was climbing at a pretty good rate. I started blogging more. I started working a on fiction writing project. I felt the fog begin to lift. And then the loose legal ends came to a screeching halt and I felt that all the pain and grief I have gone through for that process alone was for the benefit and profit of a whole bunch of other people who never felt any pain at all. Over and over I was told that I needed to proceed for my welfare and the welfare of my children, when the reality (after the chips have fallen into place) is that a group of lawyers and a health insurance company are skipping all the way to the bank while I'm sitting in an emotional maelstrom wondering what the hell just happened. I wish I could say more, and I promise I will when it is all completely settled, but let's just say I feel very used. All to the detriment of my melancholy.

Part of this legal mess was that I was supposed to be in Nashville on Tuesday, which ultimately got canceled, but me in my idiocy forgot to cancel the hotel and plane reservations. At 1:00 am Monday morning I realized I was scheduled to board a plane 15 hours later. I called the hotel and they said it was too late to cancel. The question was do I just stay home and pay the hotel anyway or do I fly there for a day and a half and get away. Alone. My boys and my mother all jumped right in and took over the small children and on Monday afternoon I was flying to Nashville. Alone.

I wish I could tell you I reveled in my aloneness. At first it felt strange, and then it felt wasteful and then I decided I was there so I might as well enjoy it. I was staying downtown so I walked around, took a trolley tour of downtown and even visited the Country Music Hall of Fame. (I'm not a country music fan but I can appreciate the history of it all.) On Wednesday morning, I got on a plane and flew home again. And I was emotionally back where I started when I left.

Sigh.

On Friday Julia and Jenna left to spend the weekend with Darrell's oldest daughter and her husband. Ross left to spend the weekend with his father. On Saturday morning Trace, Cody and Gauge were doing their own thing, so I found myself alone with Ryan and Emma . We went to the Farmer's Market and walked around and then we stopped at Starbucks and sat inside. The babies (I guess their not babies anymore) sat eating their cookies and drinking their apple juice boxes. I drank my mocha. Ryan, who interacts more and more verbally since his ear tube placement in May, was talking about everything. We talked about what color his juice box was (green), and what color the apple on the juice box was (red). He looked around finding red and green things. He called my chair a "sit down" and I told him it was a chair and he pointed to other chairs and tables and called them their appropriate nouns. All the while, Emma was sitting in her sit-down chair, smiling and munching on her cookie and squeezing her juice box all over her dress. I would try to include her with the naming of things but mostly she just wanted to be there and not have to work her brain too much. (No judgment here, I can relate.)

But as we sat there just talking and eating and drinking, I realized that my heart had a lightness it hadn't felt in such a very long time. I realized how much I missed my babies. The one on one interaction, the just being together-- uninterrupted and undistracted. I didn't need to fly away somewhere alone to find my peace, it was right there in front of me all summer. I was reliving what I had all last winter and I realized I craved it. I don't want the busyness and distraction. I want to just be.

The financial strain is still there. The house full of people is still here, although school starts on Tuesday. And the legal disaster is still there being sorted out, but there is still joy to be found in the simplest things.

And of course, it happened at Starbucks. ;)

It's A Sure Sign That We've Hit the Terrible Two's When...

Emma throws a temper tantrum within 5 minutes of waking up because she wants to drink the remnants of the Diet Coke can on Mommy's bedside table.

It was a lovely start to the day. Thank goodness Starbucks was giving away free pastries to put a bright spot in my morning.

The Swank Family Economic Recovery Plan

Times are tough and family members need to pitch in and help anyway they can. With that in mind, it's time for Emma to get a job.

Emma has just accepted a position as a barista at Starbucks. An added bonus is Mommy gets free coffee. It's a total win/win situation. Now if we can just get around from those pesky Child Labor laws.

Twenty Five Random Things

I was tagged on Facebook to write 25 Random things about me. Like the whole world doesn't know pretty much everything about me anyway. How I am supposed to come up with 25 more things???? And more importantly, if I'm going to sweat over this list then I'm multipurposing it on my blog.

So here we go! *** yawn****

1) I'm sitting here typing in wet pants. I'll leave you guessing how they got that way. (It is random)

2) I started a new writing class this week appropriately titled Memoir Writing. Guess its time to get back to work.

3) I think I'm done adopting but I keep getting a feeling that God isn't done with me adopting.

4) Julia just got her hair cut and straightened by a flat iron. It really doesn't involve me, or does it? Guess who will be flat ironing her hair all the time now?

5) Emma is a Holy Terror in public now. I took her, Ryan and Jenna to the mall play area for 30 minutes while Julia got her hair cut and I needed a Valium when I left. (again, involves me and somewhat random.) I settled for a Red Robin Santa Fe burger and raspberry iced tea.

6) Lest you think that I now have bladder control issues and I begin getting offers from Depends to do reviews on my blog, my wet pant situation is the result of Holy Terror in #5.

7) Thinking, thinking.... still thinking... my Lost obsession has reached new terrifying heights. I may have to admit myself into LOST rehab in the near future, well maybe not until the end of May when I begin suffering withdrawals.

8) Speaking of addictions. my Starbucks habit has dramatically decreased. Lack of funds+ Starbucks costs lots of $$ = Less Starbucks. (Not to worry, I make my own Mocha's every day with my espresso maker and Starbucks Mocha powder.) My brother told me he heard Starbucks is having serious financial difficulties. Now I'm riddled with guilt.

9) Twenty five????? Really???? Okay, how about this, we'll stick to the addictions a little while longer, that should get me rest of the way there. Lately I've craved pita chips. Just plain pita chips. How weird is that?

10) My blogging friend Denise trying to push a new addiction on me by encouraging me to begin watching 24, beginning with Season 1. Do I really NEED a new addiction? Did the NEED for a new addiction ever stop me before?

11) I think I may need bifocals. I'm having a VERY difficult time reading this teeny, tiny print. What is this font anyway? Font size 5??? (The font on the notes page of Facebook is so tiny that I struggled to see it)

12) Ross has got me hooked onto House. I never watched it before until last week and now I have my DVR recording multiple airings a day. The problem is I never have time to watch them.

13) I have had fabric for over 2 years that I'm going to use to make draperies for my dining room but I can't make myself sit down and sew it. (Have you EVER sewn draperies??? Its a pain in the booty.)

14) I'm really tired of cleaning up puppy poop.

15) I'm trying to coordinate and arrange a blogging friend get together sometime in the near future, probably this summer. Who wants to come????

16) I don't get totally offended when people ask me if I'm trying to be like Angelina Jolie, tell me that I AM like Angelina Jolie, tell me that I'm falling behind Angelina Jolie, etc. All I hear is "You look just like Angelina Jolie" to which I smugly respond: Yeah, I know, I hear that all the time.

17) This is to Stephen King, yes, THE Stephen King: Yes, I know I used an adverb (smugly) but felt it was appropriate in this instance. (To everyone else: Steve told me NOT to use adverbs because it cheapened my writing. We had a long conversation in bed one night about it)

18) I like snow. There I said it proudly to the world.

19) Seriously what font size is this??? I need a magnifying glass! There's probably some place on templates, profile, SOMEWHERE to change it but darned if I know where it is. I know, that's not a random fact/thing about. But what about the fact that I struggle to understand Facebook. I just don't get it. Why is someone sending me Lil Patch plants and what the heck do I do with them???

20) I am NOT having an affair with Stephen King so go call all your friends you just called and tell them its not true. He just drops by every night in his book-- On Writing.

21) Some days I wouldn't mind having an affair but don't think I have the time.

22) That said, I'm not sure I'm ready to date anyone. Its seems like so much work. Wasn't there an episode on Sex in the City about this? And if so, which girl from Sex in the City am I? I wanna be Charlotte.

23) Some days I really feel like my life is headed where its supposed to be going, like all the pieces are falling into place and I've found my PURPOSE. Other days, I feel like I've deluded myself.

24) I'm still thinking about getting a tattoo. I just want it to be meaningful so I haven't figured out what to get, or where to place it on my body. I was going get one on my lower back but Trace and Ross forbid it saying that area is a Tr@mp St@mp. Any suggestions?

25) If you're still reading you must be an insomniac. My sympathies. I want to leave you with one last gem, a pearl if you will, one randomly insignificant significant factoid. My children tell me that I snore. I personally doubt the validity of this because I have never HEARD myself snore. However, I think this means that I need my own room at our blogging get together. Oh, and my affair can't be a sleepover.

And the Oscar goes to...

When I was a little girl and I had little girl aspirations of being famous and going on talk shows and winning awards, I used to practice my interviews and speeches-- just so I'd be prepared. And then I grew up and my biggest award is cleaning more than two poopy diapers per day, usually presented to me by Emma, and its usually by default. No one else wants the stinkin' award. My interviews these days consist of trying to decipher Ryan's ever increasing vocabulary:

Ryan: ouwhas

Me: Juice?

Ryan: {Nodding head beaming}

Me: Apple or orange?

Ryan: Appey

Now that I look at it, I'm actually the talk show host. Hey, I can live with that.

But I have been a very negligent, ungrateful blogger. I haven't meant to but it just happened. Things were busy and crazy and all the "izzy's" that go with life and Christmas and gigantic giveaways. Not to mention the P word, Procrastination. But now life is back to normal, whatever that is in our house, and its time to write those thank you notes.

I have been given an award! Not just one but FOUR! Three of them I received the week of the Big Giveaway, one was last week. So without further ado:

My first award is:
I don't know ** hanging my head in shame** It was the first award I received during The Six Days of Christmas and I've lost it and can't find it. I've looked everywhere. I can't even remember who gave it to me. If you gave me an award and I don't mention you I would love to have you tell me. I'll even give you your very own post!


The Second Award is from Joanne at Barely Domestic Mama and she presented me with:

This award comes with a few rules and here they are:

Put the logo on your blog or post. Nominate several blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude! Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

I give this award to:

1) A Family is Forever by my friend Kristin. Kristin has 2 teenagers and 2 younger daughters adopted from China and she has a full time job teaching kindergartners! But her blog is always pretty up beat and FUN! She's the next Dr. Seuss, I'm telling you. You heard it hear first!

2) Ni Hao Y'all by Stephanie. This blog is well known in Chinese adoption blog circles. Stephanie has 8 children, so she's beat me out by 2 kids, and she has a very special place in her heart for Chinese special need orphans in need of homes.

3) Dragons and Elephants by my friend Heather. She has 3 beautiful children, her youngest an adopted son from China. Kai, her son, is facing an upcoming surgery and Heather has handled his condition and her fears with grace and poise.

4) Our Life with Lindsey by my frozen friend in Alaska, Kathy. Kathy's daughter Chelsea died 3 years ago this month but before she died she told Kathy she wanted a sister, which led Kathy and her husband to adopt from China. The strength Kathy displays is amazing and the support she offers to other grieving families is endless.

5) Kay Bratt Uncensored by author Kay Bratt. I first heard about Kay's book, Silent Tears: A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage, while I was in China adopting Ryan. Since then I have read her book, had the extreme pleasure of interviewing her for a book chat , and the honor of be able to call her a friend. Kay volunteered and spearheaded volunteer efforts in an orphanage in the city her family was living in because of her husband's job. The book is heart breaking, but as the title suggests, also offers hope for those left behind.

The third award is from Kristin at The Way It Is:


This award is given to those whose blog is entertaining and fun to read... one you get excited about when you notice a new entry! I am giving this award to:

1) Continuing the Journey by my friend Teresa. Teresa just started a job as a college professor teaching nursing students. She has a wonderful teenage daughter Meggie and a 5 year old son, Carson, who was adopted from China. Her family is not-so-patiently waiting to complete their paperwork to adopt their new daughter Molly, who is currently waiting for them in China.

2) The Princess and The Ladybug by my friend Lorie. Lorie is fairly new to the blogging world and its been fun to watch her as she learns new things. She's having a lot of fun with it and that's what blogging is all about!

3) I'm Not Your Average Soccer Mom by my friend Brandy. I met Brandy through BlogHer. We're on the same blog roll and am I ever grateful! She's just started a new blog Craving Savings
and its all about saving money grocery shopping. Girl, I'm all over that!

4) Life in the Carpool Lane by my new friend Carey. She's new to my blog roll and her posts are always so much fun! It's been fun getting to know her.


And the fourth one is from Sandy Toes at Shell in Your Pocket:

I'm supposed to list 5 addictions. Hmm... thinking of addictions isn't that tough, it's figuring out how to order them that is difficult.

1. Lost! I know, most of you think I would list Starbucks here, but Lost is almost an obsession with me right now, even more so than my beloved Starbucks.

2. Starbucks You know, I think Starbucks is starting to take me for granted. It's kind of like when you've been married for awhile and your husband starts forgetting to call to tell you he's going to be late. Or when he thinks going to the mall with you should qualify as a date. Yeah. So I'm making Starbucks #2. Sometimes its good to let them sweat a little. But I swear, if Starbucks starts watching Nascar and drinking beer while I'm trying to watch HGTV then it's moving to #3!

3. Diet Coke You don't hear me talk about Diet Coke but those around me know its the only soft drink I will consume. (Just look back at my SITS Christmas card to see all the cans around me.) In China and Vietnam they had Coke Light, which is supposed to be the same thing but in reality, is not. I did lower my standards to drink it though. While my love affair experience with Diet Coke has been longer than Starbucks, it runs longer but not deeper. What can I say? I'm a beverage polygamist.

4. Blogging Blogging is like my own personal therapy. And its fun and its free, which comes in handy when you find out your income has decreased in 2009.

Okay, trying to eliminate all my other addictions to list just one more is hard.

5.Reading I'm putting reading because when I read a really good book the rest of the world is expected to stop while I read it. Unfortunately, the rest of the world never agrees.

So now I award this addiction award to:

1) Lulaville by Lula, because she just might be as addicted to Lost as I am. She does have links devoted to Lost but I have a bigger and better Lost count down. She even admitted it! Plus it seems like she has a lot of addictions. Just like me. I think we could have a beautiful future together.

2) Under the Misty Mountain by my friend Cynthia, whom I've known since October of 2003 while we were both waiting for our referrals from China. I happen to know her latest obsession is her new son, Nathaniel Jin Pei, who she is in China adopting at this very minute!

3) The Johnson Family Tales by my friend Heidi. Heidi is another friend from the BlogHer blog roll. Heidi seems to have everything "so together" that I'm curious to see what addictions lie below the surface!

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It was REALLY hard to award these awards. For one thing, I HATE to leave anyone out! I don't ever want anyone to get their feelings hurt. Dork that I am, I hate it when there's only one winner in my own giveaways! How crazy is that??? So it was hard for me to choose. And another reason this was hard is that I've got many new readers that aren't on my blog roll. I read most of my blogs from my blog roll on the side there. So I have a favor to ask of you:

If you are currently not on my blog roll, will you please leave me a comment giving me permission to add you? And if you have more than one blog will you let me know which one you want me to add? Thank you!!!

And one more thing, and maybe this is a bit self indulgent, I dunno know, but I thought I would try something new. If you have any questions about me, or my family, or Darrell, or anything at all, ask me in the comments and I'll be happy to answer them on Sunday.


Whew! If you all had any idea how long this post has taken to write! I literally started it on January 5th!

Happy 200th Post!

Since this is my 200th post, I was going to take the opportunity to extol upon you my philosophy on life, my thoughts on world dynamics, my theory on global warming, my plan for recovering from this recession, my take on the giant super collider in Europe. And then I thought "Nah! Let's do a giveaway!!!"

It was a tough decision, but giveaway it is!

My next dilemma was what to giveaway. I confess, up until this morning I was plagued by the weighty decision. And then it hit me. A theme. So the 200th post giveaway theme is:

A Cold Winter's Night

Okay, wait a minute. Who wants a cold winter's night? I don't want a cold winter's night, by golly, I got plenty of my own without having to take someone elses. But hold up there! I'm not giving you a cold winter's night. I'm pretty talented but I can't control the weather. Yet. So instead, I'm giving you things to do on a cold winter's night.

So, when I think of a cold winter's night I want to snuggle up and drink something warm. What should I drink? A hot toddy? No, silly. How about a hot cup of tea?

How about some Tazo Passion tea? Did you know that Tazo is owned by Starbucks? Yep. And this tea is really good, both hot and cold. Starbucks will mix it with lemonade at their store and its delish. I'm going to try to make some here at home because Ross likes it too. Just today, I found my new source for this tea since my local Price Chopper doesn't carry it. {I bought a box for me too.}

Please drink responsibly. I can not be held responsible for what happens after you drink it. It is named Passion.

But wait a minute? What will you drink your tea out of?

How about your very own mug! You can drink your hot tea like a lady, sipping from your beautiful garden themed vessel. But you know, I like to nibble on something while I sip on tea.

How about some Pepperidge Farm cookies? Two varieties here, one is Shortbread and the other is Milano Double Chocolate. Yum. If I'm letting myself go, I'm taking someone with me. I was going to get crumpets, because the English eat crumpets with their tea, and I was going to "put on some airs." But I had no idea what crumpets are, so I settled for cookies.

But you're bored. Who wants to sit around just drinking tea and eating cookies. What can you do?

How about a new book?! (Okay, is it just me or do you hear the Price Is Right music too?) The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs.

When I gave this away last time, there were so many people who said they hadn't read this book that I thought I would give it away again. It's that good.

You're still bored. You've finished your book/don't feel like reading/wanna do something else. Good heavens, you sound like my kids! Okay, okay!

How about a new movie?! Nothing like snuggling in to watch a movie on a cold winter night. I haven't watched Must Love Dogs* in years, but I really loved when I saw it before. *Dog not included.

What's that? You're hungry again? You really are like my kids!

Want some snacks? Two packages of Orville Redenbacher's microwave popcorn 94% Fat Free Butter, a box of Junior Mints and a box of Reese's Pieces.

What are you going to watch your movie on???

Your own tv! I don't make that much money off of BlogHer! For those not "in the know" I use all money that I make off of BlogHer ads to fund my giveaways. So the more clicks those ads get, the more money I make! Make sure you check some of those ads out!

I can hear you. You're saying "Cut to the chase. How can I win this fabulous prize?"

This fabulous prize could be yours if the Price Is Right sorry, I could swear I just heard Bob Barker. We're going to do this just like the Six Days of Christmas only you have more time to enter and there's another chance to win.

1) You get one entry by leaving a comment.

2) You get another entry if you follow me. You can tell me with the first comment or leave another, its up to you.

3) I'm going to try something new and give you 3 entries if you post about this on your blog. Leave me a comment telling me that you did this so I know and can enter you appropriately.

The contest starts on Thursday at 5:00 pm and ends Wednesday, January 14 at 8:00 pm CST.

Good luck!

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Edited 1/9/09 Okay, just to be perfectly clear-- I am NOT giving away a flat screen TV! I think some people have skimmed the paragraph after the photo of the TV, although it does have an X across it and the word SORRY, because I have gotten a couple of emails asking if I was really giving away a TV. The answer is NO!

Today's Post Brought to You by the Letter "R"

My new BFF Brandy at I'm Not Your Average Soccer Mom -- oh wait, Brandy did I tell you that we were BFF's now? Anyway, Brandy had a tag of sorts. She had to list 10 of her favorite things that started with the letter "L". I was quite impressed with her list. She made it look entirely too easy so when she asked if anyone else wanted to play I naively jumped up and down waving my arms yelling "Me! Pick me!" And she did and gave me the letter "R."

R seems like an easy letter. Its pretty common, right? But just try coming up with your favorite things that start with R. I received my assignment on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, so I put it off for a few days. I was so arrogant about my abilities to complete this task that I only gave it momentary thoughts as I cooked my turkey and ate until I had to let my pants out and then half passed out from the postprandial alkaline tide after my large feast. (Heads up, that was my moment of brilliance in this post so if your searching for another you might as well quit reading and wait for tomorrow's post.)

The first is Ridiculously easy. #1) is Ross and Ryan. (Do I get extra points for using the word Ridiculous?)


Two of my 3 favorite boys. Aren't they cute? I could have split them up and made them #1 and #2 but they seemed like a pair to me.

After this I was stumped. Trace showed up and helped me brain storm. Unfortunately he kept coming up with things I didn't like, let alone be my favorite things. But he was somewhat useful. He stated one that should have been totally obvious.

#2) Reading. Duh! Why didn't I think of that? It's so obvious, maybe too obvious. I love to read and wish I had more time to do it. But its to the determent of my family when I get too absorbed.
I haven't made my obsession with this series a secret. Enough said.

Trace's next suggestion left me somewhat Righteously offended but then I saw he spoke the truth.

#3) Rambling. I admit, with Relish, that I tend to Ramble at times. But if I didn't Ramble my posts would be much shorter and much more boring. Rambling's a good thing. If I keep telling myself that then I'll keep believing it.

So that was the end of Trace's usefulness. Great, I was only at #3. Was it too late to split up the boys? Hey, who needs Trace? Moving on to #4

#4) Ring. My wedding Ring which I now wear on my right hand. I love this Ring!

My fingers are kind of shiny because my hands were freakishly dry so I put lotion on, hence the shiny moisture laden skin.

Confession: This is not my original wedding Ring. My original Ring had tons of bagette diamonds. When it was cleaned at the jewelry store, it was shiny and beautiful, but 1 hour later it looked grimy. It drove me crazy. About 8 years after we were married Darrell decided to stop the whining make his wife happy and we spent about a year looking for the perfect Ring, my need for perfection, not his. Did I mention that I love this Ring? No, I didn't think so.

#5) wRiting. I freely Resign myself to the fact that writing does not really start with an R but it sounds like it does, right? You know the 3 "R's"-- Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmatic? Not to worry, 'Rithmatic won't be # 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10.

Here I am hard at work at my laptop with my staRbucks cup in hand.

#6) Range, as in GAS Range. When I moved I left behind my beautiful semi professional gas Range. Now I cook on a glass top electric cook top. In my dream of dreams I would have one of these:

If I had one of these bad boys I would probably cook a LOT more. And it would be good, like Food Network, good. If only it came with a Sous Chef.

Which brings me to #7

#7) Restaurant. I love to eat out! I could eat out and eat out all the time. I'm not talking Golden Arches here, nor any other establishment that has a drive thru.

Wait, staRbucks has a drive thru! But I only get breakfast there. Okay, never mind. Olive Garden is one of my favorite places. Yeah, its a chain restaurant but it doesn't have a drive thru so it qualifies!

Unfortunately with all of my children, and my ever shrinking budget, eating in a Real Restaurant doesn't happen very often. Oh well.

With all that cooking and cleaning could it be any surprise that my next favorite thing is:

#8) 'Rita, as in maRgaRita.

I love Margaritas. I love the lime and the salt. I like them so much I could drink them without the tequila, which I did at times when I was pregnant.

Which now leads me to my next item:

#9) Riesling, my new favorite wine. And not just any Riesling, my favorite is by Relax.

Not only does it taste extraordinarily good, but it comes in a totally cool blue bottle AND it has a metal screw top, no messing with a cork with this bottle. It totally Reeks quality and class.

I'm looking like a total lush here. Time to redeem myself. On to the Big Finish.

Only, heRe's where I get stumped and want to go back and split up my babies. No, be strong, don't split up the kids. You can do this.

Okay, maybe I can't but my next item really is a favorite of mine.

#10) TyleR FloRence. So his name doesn't start with an R but he has an R in both of his names, so that has to account for something, right? I know, you're thinking "What is she talking about? Tyler Florence?"
Just look at him! Not only can this guy cook, but he looks hot while doing it. Hey, maybe he's the Sous Chef that comes with that Range in #6. Or maybe I could be his Sous Chef. Did it just get warm in here??? Its too bad he's married because apparently I'm not anymore. Hmmm....

Wasn't I trying to improve upon my reputation after #8 and 9?

Soooooo, if anyone wants to play this game let me know in the comments and I'll send you a letter.

Sorry, I've got to get back to Tyler.

The Power of Gold

You know the economy is bad when a company goes to any lengths to bring back one of their favorite customers.

I have been trying to stay away from one of my most favorite places, Starbucks- the awesomest place on earth, (according to one it's drive through employees.) And I had been doing so well. I went SIX days without going! SIX DAYS!!!! I don't think I even went that long in China. And although the cute little metal steamer tube to my espresso machine is still firmly wedged into one of the tiny holes of my garbage disposal, I've been using it to make my own no fat, no whip mochas at home.

Now I will freely confess that I had Starbucks 3 days in a row last week. I broke my fast the first day because it was Field Trip Tuesday with my sister-in-law Janne'. Janne' likes Starbucks almost as much as I do so what kind of sister-in-law would I be if I denied her her Viente Chai Latte? And the other two days? I ran away from home to find a place to write and what came to mind? My dear friend, Starbucks. Two days I sat in Starbucks two and a half hours both times and I only got one drink each day. But on that second day the heavens parted and the angels sang and I was introduced to:

The Starbucks Gold Card.

As you can see this is a really cool looking card. I mean, I just had to have one for those floating gold stars alone. And the slick black card-- black goes with everything, especially my wardrobe in the winter not to mention that black is slimming. Between my quarter mile jogs and that black Starbucks Gold card I'll look like a super model. I better not turn sideways or you might not be able to see me.

That card had to be mine. And for a mere $25 it was. Now I can hear what you're thinking-- she paid $25 to get a black card with gold stars? But wait! Not only did I get a super cool card that makes me feel so very special, but I got a free drink! Right then and there! And I get one on my birthday too. But even better, I get 10% off all my drinks. That alone makes it all worth it. The only problem is now I want to use it. I want to get my 10% off to pay for my card. See where this is going? The Queen of Rationalization is working her magic.

But I was a good girl and I didn't use it on Friday which made it even more justifiable to whip it out today. I don't want my little Black Beauty to think I've forgotten her. As I pulled up to the drive through window I got my wallet and pulled out The Card and sang "Ahhhh...."

Julia was with me and asked in an amused tone "Are you going to do that every time you pull that card out?"

I just might.



The author was not compensated by Starbucks to promote this special offer, although as much publicity as she has given them over the last few months she should get free no fat, no whip mochas for life, or be in a commercial, or something.

Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway!

I have in my possession a $10 gift card to Starbucks. I'm in a very generous mood and to celebrate the fact that I haven't been to Starbucks in 5 days (but who's counting?) I have decided to pass it along to one of my readers.

This is a one day only giveaway. To be entered you only have to leave a comment. Say anything you want. Just say hi, it really doesn't matter I just need your comment to let me know that you would like to be entered.

I will take comments until 9:00 CST. I will then have a winner picked by the random number generator. I will announce the winner tonight and get your gift card in the mail tomorrow.

Good luck!



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Anonymous commenter #3, could you please email me your name in case you win-- that way I'll know who you are!

I've been tagged AGAIN!

AGAIN!

I think that Kay at Kay Bratt Uncensored just didn't get enough esoteric tidbits about me with my last tagging and tagged me again! Or maybe its payback for actually suggesting the only reason I didn't go as her for Halloween was because I wasn't blond. In any case, its a good thing I'm such an interesting person! Yeah, I didn't fall for that myself. I'll try to not make this a snoozer.

So my 7 "interesting" facts straight off the top of my head:

1) I can't smell oh wait, I used that one already The above statement brought something to mind. I am the queen of rationalization. If you want to do something but there's some reason not to do it I will help you rationalize why you SHOULD. (Maybe I should sell this service) Want that cute pair of shoes that cost too much? You really SHOULD get them because they are really one of a kind and they'll go so well with the black dress. If you wait for them to go on sale they might not be here and then you'll be so sorry you didn't get them.

Some people get great super powers like flying or x-ray vision. I got rationalization.

2) I like to sing and dance all over my house, oh they know that already OK, something along those lines. I used to want to be an actress and a singer. Slight problem with that, I really can't sing that well. American Idol was in KC this summer and I told my kids that I snuck away and tried out. Julia's bestie from Nashville was visiting and those crazy girls thought I actually did. (I'm not that crazy!) But I had them going. I told them "Well, you know, I'm really not supposed to talk about it since its all a big secret but lets just say be sure to watch in January." They were all excited thinking I was going to Hollywood (?!?!?!? these girls have heard me sing!!!) Then I told them "Now, I'm not saying I made it but... Simon was quite impressed." I think that one was the kicker that sold me out. Simon's never impressed.

3) I love to write my blog, wait, I've told them that time and time again I have always loved to write. I started to write a book when I was in 4th grade. It was based on a dream I had. (Hey, it worked for Stephenie Meyer. She had a dream, woke up and wrote it down. Its chapter 16 of Twilight) I made it to about page 80 and stopped. Not to bad for a 4th grader.

In high school I had an English teacher who saw "great potential" in me. Imagine my surprise when I turned in a creative writing paper and I got a C. I went to her after class and asked her why I got a C when so-and-so's paper got a B and wasn't better than mine. She looked me straight in the eyes and told me that I was better than that paper I had turned in and she was grading me according to my potential not to the class standard. I had never been told anything like that before and it stuck with me forever. She was my biggest supporter and I thought the world of her.

A couple of years after I graduated I found out from my mother that my English teacher had been very sick and found out that she had cancer. It was very advanced and aggressive. She died soon after her diagnosis leaving a husband and small children. I decided that if I ever wrote a book it would be dedicated to her-- Mrs. Connie Davis. So all you teachers out there who wonder if you make a difference, please know that you do. I will always regret not thanking her for believing in me.

Wow, that's a tough one to follow but the list must go on.

4) I have a lot of kids and love being a mother, most of the time. TOO OBVIOUS! I knew that I wanted to be a mother when I was 17. Just deep down I felt a need to be a mother. I had 2 boys with my first husband and getting Ross was a miracle in itself because my first husband wouldn't have had any kids if he could have gotten away with it. I can remember thinking to myself that I wished that I could have just one more child-- hopefully a girl that I could dress up in cute little dresses and bows. I can tell you that I would have never believed 15 years ago that I would get FOUR more children. So Kay, hysterectomy or no hysterectomy you can still have more kids if you really want to.

I am so totally blessed, even when I'm a crabby cake on Halloween.

5) I love Starbucks, no kidding???? So I'm a Starbucks addy now, although I haven't had a Starbucks since Wednesday, but I used to HATE coffee. I remember trying it in my early 20's thinking if you had to add so much sugar and milk what was the point.

Sometimes we have to eat our words. And they don't taste too bad when you have them with a Grande nonfat, no whip Mocha.

6) I'm a nice person I have a knack for getting along well with others. I'm pretty tolerant, so I guess that helps.

Back when I was histologist and went back to work after Julia was born, I interviewed for a job at the VA hospital in Little Rock. During the interview the supervisor confessed that he had had a very hard time keeping people in my position because the other people in the department were "characters" and sometimes hard to get along with. I knew I would only be at the job for about 5 months so I told him that I had never had a problem getting along with coworkers.

Oh my! When he said they were characters, I really had NO idea what I was getting into. It was a very interesting experience, from one guy literally watching the clock when I left for a break or lunch, to 2 coworkers yelling and screaming at each other in the hallway and finally the guy who told me he knew someone who could "take care of" a relative I was complaining about. Oh my is right! But I worked hard, helped them out and when I left my supervisor told me he had never seen anyone get along with the characters in Character City and how sorry he was to see me go. I heard he quit not long after I did.

7) I like to bake I make the best silk pie in the world. Ask anyone who's tried it. Its the easiest thing to make but its always requested. Stop by sometime and I'll prove it to you. Give me a few hours notice first.

So now I'm supposed to tag 7 more people:

The Shaw Family
Not Your Average Soccer Mom
The Johnson Family Tales
Mommy Chronicles who redid my blog
Pokonutz
The Princess and the Ladybug Because Lorie's all new to blogging and she needs to get her feet wet!

I think 6 is enough 'cause I'm not going for 7!


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Edited Sunday morning @ 8:00: I have had several people ask me how to do a strike through, which is when a word or words have a line through them. I tried to answer this in the comment section and it got all freaked out with the Html format and wouldn't let me so I'm posting it here. Besides, lots of people don't read comments and might see it here.

The Strike Through:

Let's say I want to strike through some words in this sentence: My children woke me up at the crack of dawn at 8:45.

I want to strike through " the crack of dawn"

Go to the Edit Html tab and put your curser in front of the words " the crack" and type < str!ke>and after the word "dawn" type < /str!ke> when you click on the Compose tab it will look like this: (Important note: change the ! in the strike above to an "i" and take out the spaces. I also just found out that you can type this on the Compose tab and when you publish it will put it in the Html format.)

My children woke me up at the crack of dawn at 8:45. And its true, they did, pre Daylight Savings time, which all that mattered to me.