even more reasons to be thankful

oh how i love thursdays!  and thursdays when i have taken 4 hours of vacation (or, really, any amount) are just marvelous!  : )  


today i slept until almost 9. oh, it was glorious.  wonderful.  marvelous!  but i said that already.  *laugh*   before i got dressed, or put my glasses on, i had to come in the livingroom for something.  i don't remember what... anyway, i noticed that angel had taken my bookmark out of Born of Fire, and so i picked it up & began the process of finding out where it belonged.  and then i was sucked in.  i found the spot where i'd stopped - i'd had no trouble stopping, it was right after a chapter break.  but then for some reason as i was looking, the words leapt off the page at me... i started reading standing up and w/o my glasses and only 1/2 way ready for work.  then i curled up on the couch for 20 minutes.  and thankfully it did NOT give me too bad of a headache!  i did have a slight one the rest of the morning, but it went away.  : )  i love when that happens (as long as i'm not late!! heh.), when the story is SO good that it draws you in & almost holds you hostage.  sherri's books ALWAYS do that!  : )  


work went pretty well.  had a meeting at 10:30 & took a break at 11:30-ish because i was hungry.  it was a pretty quiet four hours - UNTIL 2:10, when everyone wanted something from me!  *laugh*  i was supposed to leave at 2:30 but was there about 10 minutes after, which really is okay, just funny.  i mean, from 1 to 1:30, when i was working on my visa spreadsheets, it was quite quiet!  that would have been a good time for all the email/IM questions.  *laugh*  


i went to the post office to mail a package for someone.  hopefully it will get to them all in one piece!  it's in double bubble wrap...not, like, double bubble the gum.  LOL  in case you wondered.  probably that was just me.  


anyway!  i was going to meet mom & leyton at the family museum, but when i texed she said they were coming out in a little bit & it wouldn't be worth it for me to pay admission!  so i sat in the car & read Pendragon til they came out.  the fire dept was having drills or water practice or something, and leyton was ALLLL excited!  it was pretty neat to watch, really.  

we met up at chick fil a for dinner & so leyton could play in the play area.  there were twin babies sitting behind us w/ their mom & gramma, and when the mom went to the loo, the babies got all fussy.  so leyton asked if he could go over & keep them company til their mom got back.  (the gramma was there, they weren't abandoned or anything!)  it was SO CUTE!  he sat w/ them & distracted them by chatting & whatnot until she came back.  *grin*  then he went into the play area & had it to himself for awhile.  it must've been twin day for chick fil a, because later a family of 5 kids sat by us & it looked like they had 2 sets of twins!  oh my! busy family.  heh!  leyton played w/ them for awhile, and then it was time to go.  

leyton is shocked, gramma.  Shocked!  lol  

i stopped at home to change into comfier clothes (not that my work clothes aren't comfy.  they are very!  they're just not pre-jammy comfy!  : )  ).  i got the mail first, and yay postcards!!!  *beam*  and both ppl wrote that they'd looked for turtle cards, but didn't find them.  which is okay, it's so sweet that they looked!!  the cards are from canada & japan.  i love the otter & fish!!  so cute, so sweet!  : )  

headed over to mom's & we just hung out.  mom found space invaders for the PS3, so we played that & watched wheel & Big Brother & played trains & trucks & cars & blew bubbles.  then we snuggled a bit & read & played w/ the DS (leyton wanted me to try & get the train after finishing a level.  finally, on the last training game, i got the train!!  he discovered if you tap it, the whistle blows.  so cool!) & then it was time to go home.  

Wyler Italian Icee - YUMMY!

new truck from "the baby store" as leyton calls it.  

i think the real name is Once Upon A Child?

gramma demonstrates the proper bubble technique.  

leyton pays rapt attention, of course!  ; )  

thank You, Lord, for blessing me w/ such a neat family.  i love them lots!!  i hope you got to spend some family time today, and that they made you smile at least once!  : )  


sleep is calling my name loudly!  *laugh*  take care & TTFN!  love!

abuse again

yet another day of What Would You Do?  it's about bum bashing, which just makes me sick and cry.  not only for the pain and humiliation (and sometimes lives) of the homeless ppl being abused, but for the kids who are doing the abusing - and laughing about it and FILMING it, because they are proud of it!  


and the question i have to ask is - where are these kids' parents?  how were they raised with such a disregard for human life?  there are always ppl (from good families or bad) who are jerks or whatever.  but it's sort of passive.  they're not going out to alleyways on a friday night, bored and looking for "something" to do - and making the decision that beating, setting afire, or PEEING on another person are acceptable ways to alleviate their boredom.  


it's sick, and the kids who have been caught have been as young as TEN.  


what really scares me about this sort of thing - what if the kids doing this WERE raised with a loving family, and still fell in w/ "the wrong crowd"?  there are so many things working against kids these days - divorce, and everything that goes along with that.  public schools can't teach morals or ethics because that would be seen as "religious."  (i went to a private christian school, so if public schools DO teach morals & ethics somehow, i apologize.)  political correctness has robbed our society of things like logic and free speech for fear of offending someone.  or fear of getting into trouble for offending someone.  i mean, really people!  then we have the hypocrisy of saying we want our young girls & boys to respect their bodies and others', but not practising that.  look at the clothing marketed to young girls now.  YOUNG girls.  3rd graders who were content to wear whatever mom picked out for them are now unhappy if they don't have the latest fashions.  and those fashions are getting skimpier and shorter and more "look at me."  !!!  really, we want our 8 year olds to wear mini skirts, wedge sandals & tank tops?  because they have to impress, who?  


and it's not any easier on boys, because the music and fashions and heroes of today all promote infidelity, promiscuity, etc.  girls are not the only ones affected by that!  just when you think there is a positive male role model, he turns out to be cheating on his wife & children w/ 14 hoochie mamas!!  


and then there's the feeling card.  do parents/schools teach compassion anymore?  or is that seen as unimportant now?  because it just seems like younger & younger kids are losing that ability to empathize and sympathize with or for others.  it's all about me! me! me!  and not in a kind, i wanna throw myself a HP birthday party kinda way.  


i worry about my nieces and nephews, because each & every one of them was born with a sweet spirit (even my rambuncious william!  he is a sweet tornado!).  as they get older, tho, i can see attitudes developing that need to be guided in a different direction.  and it's hard work.  it takes consistency on the part of everyone in their lives!  if you're around kids, and they say something mean or burp and don't excuse themselves, or take something w/o saying please, or are given something and don't say thank you... for their sakes, please correct them!  their parents won't (shouldn't!) take offense.  you're not condemning their parenting or saying they did something wrong.  you're just reinforcing in this child, a child you love, that everyone appreciates politeness, not just their parents.  


when we were in dubuque, at the museaquarium, i took anthony aside and lovingly told him to make sure he was AWARE of the ppl around him.  i'd just watched him moving thru the crowd, and it's not like he shoved anyone out of the way or anything, he just wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and walked right in front of ppl's paths several times.  i just reminded him to say excuse me and be careful as he moved thru all the ppl.  i made sure to tell him he wasn't doing anything wrong (because he wasn't, and i didn't want him to feel like he was in trouble or anything) but that it would be good for him to do something RIGHT.  ya know?  


i've been accused of being overly polite, but ya know what?  if it's sincere, i don't think it can be overdone.  saying please & thank you, excuse me, you're welcome, bless you... asking if someone is okay if they're coughing or sneezing a lot... these are things that are not that hard to instill in kids when they're young.  and it gives them a sense of compassion for others which will hopefully stay with them as they grow older.  but you can't STOP teaching them as they grow.  you can't give them excuses "they're boys, they're teenagers"  whatever excuse you can come up with.  don't fall into that trap!  


i don't know if that trap is what causes compassion and empathy to be lost in our teenagers, and young adults, but it's gotta stop somewhere.  i want anthony, stephen, sarah, kathryn, jacob, andrew, william, leyton, adam, and chase to keep politeness close to them.  i want it to be so ingraned in them that they don't even think about it when someone sneezes, they just bless them.  when they pass in front of someone, they excuse themselves.  when they order from a drive thru window they remember to thank the cashier for handing them their food or beverage.  i want them to think about the words they use and how those words make ppl feel.  i want them to know the Lord, and His love for them.  and if i want them to know and do these things, i have to be willing to step in when i see them NOT doing them.  


like mine, your family and friends know that you love their kids as much as your own (should you have children!) and that you correct them (and encourage them, remember to encourage good behaviors when you see them!) to help them, not to be mean.  you're correcting them to prevent THEM from being mean!  


i need to go to bed!  i hope this all makes sense!  i feel a little bit like mad eye moody - CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!  but i feel quite strongly that we are in a battle of sorts, for our children's quality of life.  sure, we can buy them the latest ipod or phone or clothes that will cement their popularity at school.  but that's just window dressing.  teaching them compassion and making sure they understand what it truly means to have that is the only way to avoid another generation of bullies.  


(don't even get me started on the "mean girls."  girls do NOT have to be catty and mean.  an office full of women do NOT have to be backstabby and whatever other stereotype there is about women in the work place. imo.)


goodnight & ttfn.  love!  

turn those "UGH"'s into "HUG"'s!!!

or however you wanna say it.  

turn that frown upside down!

some cheesey BS like that.  

so today was rather UGHly.

seriously.

i woke up late, then my garbage can had blown away.

just the lid sitting in my driveway.

so i went to look for it.

it was in the neighbor's yard, thank God.  : )  

then i got to work, and the ughs just kept on coming!  sometimes ppl ask me questions i don't know the answers to.  so i ask other ppl, who should know the answer, and who should (i think) be able to give me the answer succinctly.  cut to 20 minutes of confusion later... i still don't have an answer!  well, actually, the answer was, "everyone knows this already."  um... obviously not since i was just asked the question, and i had to ask you, right?!  lol  i just found that response amusingly frustrating.  

then i was asked if i was late this morning - yep, garbage can.  (i stayed late to make up the time, just so ya know.)

later i had a meeting which was very informative, but not very happy!  *laugh*  but i've ranted that pony into the ground, so whatevs.  lunch was mediocre at least!  nah, it was good, just would've been better w/ salmon or grilled chicken, imo!  (am i allowed? *snark*)  the afternoon was irritating, just residuals from the morning, i think, cuz everything was fine, really.  

after work, i treated myself to a chocolate milkshake & then went grocery shopping.  well, okay, not really groceries, i just needed a couple of things.  it was oppressively hot out.  ugh!  (ugh ugh ugh ugh!!!!! : p~~~~) the free item was kitchen cooked tortilla chips, which i'm not too fond of.  i still haven't eaten the last bag that i got for free item tuesday!  (i actually need to throw those out, i bet.)  i wasn't going to pick any up, but as i walked by, a worker was stocking them & he was trying to be nice and "hy-vee helpful" which was very sweet, and he put a bag in my cart & let me know they were the free item.  

thanks, dude.

except then the cashier didn't take them off my ticket!  which i didn't think to look til i had put the groceries in the car.  then i had to go back in & have them give me back my $2!  (again, cuz this happened the last time i was there for free item tuesday!)  i did not make them redo the whole ticket & give me my $2 worth of tax.  

i did think about it, but i didn't do it.

on the way home, the music was seriously awesome.  i felt like God was sending me different songs to make me feel better!  : )  then when i got home, i logged in to yahoo & was able to talk to april & nicki, thank God for friends!!!  they seriously helped a lot.  thank you guys!  you really did turn my UGH day into a HUG day!  : )  

i also got to catch up on Secret Life, which was nice!  idk about this show sometimes, but i do enjoy it!

and that's all i've got that's fit to print here tonight!  i hope everyone had a fabulous tuesday, and i'm praying for an even BETTER wednesday for us all.  

take care & ttfn!  

 : ) 

mail call monday - woot woot!

happy happy *bounce bounce* happy meeeee!  


yeah, i get excited when i have mail, and especially postcards and letters, and especially especially when i then hear that my postcards & letters reached their destinations!  yep yep!  happy monday!  : )  


today i received a postcard from China, showing China's Shenzhou VII manned spaceship.  

how. farden. cool!!!!!  : )   i'm not really into space launches, per se.  which, i know is odd considering my love of shows that take place in space (haha, rhyme!) - firefly, star trek(all), space camp... : )  but i do love spaceships.  if anyone's ever in florida or texas or somewhere w/ shuttle postcards, please feel free to send them my way!  *grin*  also, i just really enjoy the colors on this card!  


my second card received today was from the netherlands.  you know i get excited each and every time i get a card from there, even if it's not particularly "dutch" looking.  the fact that someone LIVING in holland picked out & sent this card to me... i love it!  plus, hello, water! i would like to be sitting in one of those chairs on the beach right now... well, maybe not one of THOSE chairs.  i might need one a bit more sturdy...  : ) 

the lady who sent this one, wilma, included her address on the card, so i'm sending her one back.  also, two of my cards were received, so i get to send two more - one is going to canada (love love love!) and another to missouri.  the profile for the pc in missouri is adorable.  this guy's personality just leaps off the page!  


also, i mailed off a few other cards today, and my friend, anna & my nephew, stephen both received their cards that i sent out last week.  yay!!  


i got to chat w/ april a bit about big brother & stuff today, and called sarah tonight to chat.  watching army wives & then idk what.  but it's all good!!  


praise the Lord for days like today!  


ttfn.  : )  

hyper leyton!

i was up til 2 am, then slept til 2:30 this afternoon.  


went to sonic for 1/2 priced real lemonade & wendy's for a potato for lunch.  mmmm.  rude wendy's workers, tho, dude!  : (  i miss my former neighbor guy working there.  he was always nice!  


watched The Jensen Project.  wal mart & P&G worked together to have family movies.  i have 2 of them (there's a third, but i haven't seen it yet), Jensen and Secrets of the Mountain.  they were both very cute movies!!

i finished my People & the plan was to watch the last two episodes or True Beauty & whatever else hulu has to offer.  


then leyton called.  


heeheehee.  i saw it was mom's number, so i was expecting her voice, and then it was leyton, "Aunt Carrie?  can you come over?"  heh.  i said "yep, i'll be right over!" and that's what i did.  it's so cute to talk to him on the phone, and it reminds me of when grandpa & i would talk on the phone when i was little.  especially when we say goodbye but neither of us hangs up.  LOL  


leytonbug was HYPER when i got there.  he was just all over the place!  we did play, tho.  he settled enough to play trucks on the kitchen floor w/ me while we watched Big Brother.  : )  i made mac & cheese & fish for dinner (for me - he & mom had eaten) & ended the evening snuggled w/ him, reading the Lionel train catalogue.  yep, reading it like a storybook!  there are stories of the trains in there.  pretty cool, actually!  phil called a little after 8 because he wanted me to bring him something at work, but i wasn't leaving til 9.  mom offered to bring down some cans of mt dew, but he wanted fountain dew.  i think they were both wrong.  mom got upset at him for not wanting the cans, he got upset at her for not wanting to go into kwik shop to get fountain soda.  i texted him when i left at 9, but he never texted back, so i didn't bring him anything.  


then, when i got home, i see that he has a rant on his FB status.  um.  okay.  now, his rant basically said, "i always do crap for ppl but then they can't do me one little favor."  well, now, that's not exactly true.  i do crap for him all the time.  but i can't do EVERYTHING, ALL the time.  he can't, either.  there are times when i ask him to do stuff & he doesn't, either because he can't at that time or doesn't want to.  and i have gotten upset at him for that, too, so i GET it.  but really... over a soda?  idk.  probably the times i've been upset have been over stupid stuff, too.  


anywhoo!  finally watching the end of TB & then off to beddy bye i go!  can't sleep past 7:30 tomorrow!  heh.  i hope you had a fabulous sunday, and i will leave you w/ some fun photos from tonight!  : )  

Oh yeah, then Aunt Janie called, and Leyton answered the phone & wouldn't let her talk to mom til he'd had his fill of conversation.  Oh, and until I said hi.  LOL  

He also got ahold of the camera at one point (okay, I gave it to him cuz he asked.  LOL).

I appear to have no upper lip, but it's just the face I was making at him...*laugh* 

i'm lovin it!  ttfn!  : )

and just one more thought...

Postsecret postcard that just spoke to me today:

sometimes i think ppl overuse the concept of "God's plan" (myself included, but i'm trying not to do this anymore).  what makes us think God PLANNED for someone to be born w/o hands, or for a child to die?  why would we WANT to think that?  Romans 8 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."


but i don't think that means He plans for bad things to happen to us!  it just means that when the bad things DO happen, He works them out to a good result.  


anyway.  i just wanted to share.  


thanks.  later.  

Jesus is not a swear word!

recent tweet - dear usa_network - "Jesus" is not a swear word.  please encourage your writers to stop using it as such in shows i love.  thank you.  


it really is alarming to me how often i heard His name used as such on Burn Notice and White Collar.  when did this become acceptable to advertisers?  clear example of just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it.  ugh.  i seriously live by the addage that words are words.  i don't really get upset by "swearing."  i'm not particularly fond of "the f word," and feel it's unnecessary a lot of the times that it's used, but it doesn't offend me so much as a word.  imo, unless it's during an extreme emotional time and it slips out or is being used to really show that emotion, it's a rude word.  like certain crude words ppl use for anatomy. agian, imo, there's no need to use such language.  


but using Jesus's name as a swear, that i just completely find offensive and irritating and completely classless.  i lose a little bit of respect for someone when they do that.  if they do it a lot, w/o remorse, well... idk.  Jesus is my LORD and Savior.  even if you don't believe that about Him, even if you are completely a different religion, you should still respect His name.  i don't use Buddha or Krishna or anyone else's holy icon as a swear word.  no one does.  (i do occasionally hear/use "merlin's beard," so i guess if there's a church of merlin i might need to rethink it, but i don't know of one!)


anyway, that's just my little rant about that.  i feel like if we as Christians are supposed to respect other cultures & religions, then those other cultures & religions should respect US as well!  


so, in other less grrr news today... !  : )  


i got up super early for me (like 8:30!) & called in my Rx.  they said it'd be ready in like an hour, so i grabbed a 50 cent fountain pepsi at kwik shop, a breakfast sammich at mickey d's, and then went to WM to get cat food, litter, TP & other groceries.  i found a pretty black skirt, too!  it was most definitely not in my budget, but was only $16, so i just didn't get some of the things on my list to make up for it.  and i came in $15 under budget.  yay!  of course, now i don't have pizza in the freezer or pasta sauce, but i have milk & cream cheese, which means i can make my own!  lol  pasta sauce, not pizza.  : ) 


brought the groceries home & went to isabel bloom to get a giftie.  it was such a pretty day!  i didn't want to come back home.  *laugh*  i was gonna stay downtown moline & go to the JD store, but there was no parking, so i did come home.  mom said she didn't want to see a movie, so i tried to get ahold of aunt jan, but she wasn't around!  then mom called & said she did want to go to a movie!  *laugh*  i hung out here reading blogs & whatnot til about 4:30, and then she picked me up.  


we saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and really enjoyed it!  of course i adore nick cage.  : )  i think i'll have to own it.  the popcorn was delicious, as well, and i'd been craving it for a few days! after the movie, we picked leyton up & went to dinner at culver's.  he was in a pretty good mood til the end of the meal, then he was really tired & cranky.  and mom got cranky, which doesn't help anything, so i just kept trying to keep his focus elsewhere.  oye.  it would just really help if mom would realize ... 


anyway.  it was a good night.  hanging out w/ mom & leyton, however, meant that i didn't make it to shauna & magen's wedding reception, which was a bummer!  i'd been looking forward to it!  and i could have chosen to go there instead, but... opportunity to hang out w/ leyton... i can't resist...!!!  plus, i wanted to say bye to anthony because he's headed back to TN tomorrow & i won't get to see him again til october.  


tonight was nice when i got home, too.  caught up on my USA shows, which despite the irritation were good episodes... oh, and finally got to talk to georgette & joy.  yay!  : )  now, a little pandora and then BED!  have a great night & a happy tomorrow.  ttfn!!!