What Eva

Quote of the Day

Be who you are and say what you feel, because
those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

- Dr. Seuss

     I am watching the MTV Video Music Awards. This is quite possibly the best awards show ever. I always try to watch it, and the few times that I didn't, I was very disappointed.   I am so into music...I LOVE Alternative Rock, Classic Rock, Oldies, Hard Rock...some Metal, some rap, and even some country. When I was in like....um...8th grade maybe, I only listened to country. I think I was influenced by my best friend at the time, who also listened to that. Oddly enough, Tiffany now listens to it. I think that she likes Keith Urban. But I could be wrong. Either way MTV does know how to make a good awards show. Good music, some comedy, and they don't take forever to get to the next thing. I like that best.
     My mom and I took Isaiah and Evelyn to the park tonight before Evelyn had to go to bed. Just to help with wearing them out some you know. Evelyn was cracking me up because she just wanted to walk everywhere. She even tried to walk over to a school soccer game. We stayed there for a while though and then once it started getting a little too crowded we went home. Much earlier in the day, actually in the beginning of it, James and I went to Wal-Mart and bought a ceiling fan for the guest room. Although I often wish that Wal-Mart looked cleaner, I must say that you can't argue with their prices. You know, when I lived in Lodi back in CA people were complaining when Wal-Mart wanted to open a Super Wal-Mart, and close their regular one. They were saying that bringing a giant one like that would take a way business from everyone who has their own family run company, and it would be bad for our town. But here is the thing. That's not true. People who already don't like shopping at Wal-Mart, and prefer to spend more money at the family owned stores, would continue to do so...because that's what they like. And even if they did lose some business, how can you blame them...Who wouldn't want to spend less money??? I would gladly drive 30 minutes if during my shopping trip I could save a lot of money. Personally, I can not remember even one time that I have shopped at a small mom and pop shop in like the last...I don't know, 5 or more years. Because when you have a family, and a house payment, you want the good deals. Usually, the smaller stores do not have as good of deals. It's just that simple. But...on the other hand, I much prefer Target over Wal-Mart. They just have better stuff.
     Anyway...so today James and I were discussing his hair color. For whatever reason he made mention of the fact that his hair is starting to get really blonde...to which I laughed and said, "WHAT??!!" Here is the thing, it is so NOT blonde. Maybe, possibly, I would call it a dirty blonde, but it certainly isn't blonde. Light brown yes. Anyway, so he persisted in his opinion, and I in mine. To help settle this disagreement we have decided to leave it up to you the people. He went on to my MySpace, and posted a blog which included a picture of him and asks everyone the question, "What is my hair color?" So, go to my page there ( http://www.myspace.com/ecm1980 ) and check it out, then get back to me with what you think. Email me at ecm1980@gmail.com This is important people...James needs to be proven wrong!!! lol Anyway...if you are reading this on MySpace, please excuse the link and all that, and just scroll down and take a look. Well, that's about it for me...I still need to finish this award show and then watch the season finale of another show. Not to mention James is sick, so I gotta take care of him, you know how guys get when they are sick. Bunch of cry babies. lol ttyl. Bye

     I would have lost my twenty dollars had I actually made the bet that the dumb tech support people wouldn't call back today. Although as expected, they were of no help still even with them calling back. All they wanted to know of course was if my laptop was still having the same problems, to which James told them that it is. They again wanted us to wait another day or 2 to see if the problem persists, but he told them that he was not happy with that and that so far she/he was the 3rd person to tell him that. So, instead our issue got bumped up in priority and now the hardware guys who fix stuff are supposed to be calling us tomorrow. I feel like we are being jerked around here. Luckily we have a total of 5 computers, so losing mine won't be disastrous. It is just so frustrating though to have all of this happening. One day I am going to own my own brand of computers and I will have my support call center be the easiest most helpful around. Ok, well obviously that won't happen, but it is a nice thought.
     The weather was perfect today. I think that the temperature hit like 71. Loving it. My Grandma Sheila gets here this Saturday, in less than 3 days. She is excited and so are we. I talked with James today about next year when we go back to CA for a visit. I told him that after looking at how much one ticket costs, that in the end we could end up spending between $1200-$1600 for all 4 of us to fly there.   I told him that to me it would be better if we drove there. That was he could just use 6-8 days of vacation time for the driving up and back, and while we are in CA he could just work from his mom and dads house and have the evenings to visit with people. Not to mention the fact that we would be able to stay much longer, we could make it a two week visit, or longer. We would have our own car, we could still pay all our bills online as we always do...and my mom and dad are here to take care of the dogs. Besides the long drive with the kids, I don't see the downside. Plus, I think that the kids would be ok. Evelyn might get cranky sometimes, but it's just something that we would deal with you know. Amazingly, James seems to be considering the idea. We would have to do all this in June though, during summer vacation since Isaiah will be in school. In the end I just told James that he has until December to think about it, since that is when we would normally buy our plane tickets. I am very hopeful though that this might all go my way. I would love to be able to go visit who ever I want to and actually have the time to visit them. I felt so rushed on our last visit. And maybe, just maybe, Tiffany could make a drive to CA and see us too. That would be great.
     Anyway, so besides all that the day has been good. We mostly stayed inside just because I couldn't think of anything else to do, and because when I asked Isaiah about going to the library, he simply said no, that he didn't want to go out. I swear that kid is just like us, always wanting to be home. Tomorrow we have no choice though (well we do but we are going) but to go to the library because his books are due back. I think I will also go to his old pre-school and ask them for the copy of Isaiah's immunization records back. I should have made a copy of that copy so I had one too, but for whatever reason it didn't cross my mind and now I will need it back for his speech therapy when he starts next month. Sometimes I just don't think ahead. Well, there you have it...that's today. ttyl. Bye.

     Well, Isaiah's 2 frogs died tonight. After giving him a bath we went into his bedroom to get him in bed, and upon looking at his turtle tank I saw one of them floating in the water. Well, that wasn't good, but I figured, hey at least we still have one more. I was looking for it and couldn't find it though, then when I looked under the little rock bridge thing that they have, I saw it, being eaten by Leo the turtle!!! Eaten isn't even the right word. More like it was mutilated. Leo the turtle was brutal to this thing...he showed no mercy. All that was left of it was what would be it's spine, and it's legs. I felt horrible. Isaiah and I got them out, and after showing James and my mom we flushed them down the toilet along with a quick little thank you to god for giving us the turtles...then Isaiah said bye. I was very proud of Isaiah though because he took it very well. I think that he is just getting used to his aquatic pets dying. So very sad.
     Anyway, I am so very sick and tired of this computer. For the 5th time we called tech support. I am so very sick and tired of these annoying people. They ask me the same things over and over again...and then instead of trying to fix things, they just try to have my computer avoid the problem, or they keep asking me the same flipping questions over and over again. All I want is for someone to come to my house and replace the parts that are acting up. Or even take it with them to a service place and test it over and over again until it's all fixed. Even better than all that...REPLACE MY LAPTOP!!! It's only 6 months old. I don't understand why they make this so hard. I mean if they want me to continue to purchase their computers, then they should make it easier for things to get fixed when something goes wrong. All that ends up happening to me is that I get very frustrated and want to strangle someone. AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!
So, now we did a few more procedures, and they ARE going to get someone to come out, but to get that done they are going to call US tomorrow. I will be impressed if that happens. Twenty bucks says that they don't call, and if that is the case, and we have to call again, James says that this time he will be getting mad. I would have been mad today. But whatever.
     So, right now I am playing scrabble online with Kevin and James. Kevin is losing so far...although in this game it is easy to come back, so I won't count him out. I have the worst letters though. I hate that. I talked to Tiffany numerous times today and she had something great happen. She is going to be providing daycare for a mom in the neighborhood and that mom has two kids. This is going to be so good for them money wise. It will really help. Evidently, the town that they live in only has two daycare centers, one of which is closing down. So if Tiffany wanted to she could get her license and really make some money. I think that she is going to think about it for a while though and see if she likes it. I am still trying to decide if I want to put flyers out that I will do house cleaning. It sounds like a good idea, but it just makes me feel nervous. I worry that people would think I was being dumb. I know that odds are they wouldn't, but I worry about it none the less. I have a big fear of people thinking that I am being stupid, and of being embarrassed. I am sure that stems from somewhere, but we don't have time to delve into that. lol Anyway, so far James is winning this game.   Not surprising either. So, that's all from me...till tomorrow folks. Bye.

Well, I just stepped in dog urine. Yuck. I was in one living room, and James was in the other. Evidently James (being in the living room next to the back door) did not see that my mom and dad's dog needed to go out. It's not surprising that she needed too, it's been raining all day...and I am sure she was holding it in. I got up from my seat on the couch in the family room, and what do you know, nasty wetness on my foot! Figures. Anyway...so I got James to clean that up while I cleaned my foot. Like I said, I am not surprised this happened, James does not pay enough attention to the dogs. It may be due to the fact I am always the one letting them out, so he just doesn't think about it, or it may be that he just doesn't think about the dogs much at all...who knows. Today was a good day, even though it did rain constantly. I like that though, my grass gets watered, my plants...everything gets that extra chance to grow. So far so good with my laptop. I had looked at Pastor Robs pictures he had on his page recently and noticed that one of them was of someone's arm using a laptop....it is the same exact one that I have!! I hope that who ever that belongs to that they have better luck than me. Anyway, like I said...it was a boring day, but still nice. Of course that just means I don't have anything else to write about...or at least...nothing that I can share. Because the fact of the matter is that if this was a journal that only I read, I would have a lot more to say...alas...you are out of luck. :-( ttyl. Bye.

8.27.06
1:11am

     Wow it is late, I am going to try to write this out fast, so I can go to bed. The reason for this lateness is that we went to a late movie (Nacho Libre....it was HILARIOUS!!) and then when we got back we talked on the phone with James' mom for like 90 minutes. So...I just got off the phone with her and now I am gonna try to attempt this. Last night was so much fun. We had Elliot over and talked the whole time. It was great getting to know him and learn more about his ministry...and just about him in general. We sat down and played two games of Scrabble...I won once, and so did James. Turns out that he is a big fan of the board game Risk (which we love also) and so we are going to try to get together with some other people here and have a big night of playing that. Since it can take hours to play, that is the best way to go at it. Start when the kids are all in bed and go on till whenever. Anyway, so he was really cool and we enjoyed having him here. Hopefully we will get to do it again.
     I am doing great on my diet right now. I have lost 15 pounds now, and it's continuing to come off. I am going to have to buy some new pants soon, but I am trying to wait because I will hopefully just have to end up buying even more later. Evelyn really needs some new pj's though. I need to figure out how to get her this stuff. Don't get me wrong, even with my mom and dads money problems affecting us, we are still doing good, which I am thankful for...but it is hard to decide what to buy and what not to buy when looking over all the extra stuff that we need. We did however get her a new jacket for this winter, and so that is one thing that's done. I think Isaiah's jacket still fits. Or at least I hope so.
     Anyway...it is super late, and I should go. It's my night for Evelyn, and although I hope she sleeps in, I am not gonna get my hopes up. Oh, and in regards to sleeping...I have been having a hard time lately...I wake up and feel restless, and can't get comfortable...it makes it hard for me. If you can, say a prayer for me...I have been tired lately because of it. Well, that's all. ttyl. Bye.

Wow, it is really late right now...I didn't realize until I just typed in the time. I am going to bed...we had a great time tonight, I will tell you all about it tomorrow. ttyl.

Last night I had an amazing experience. As I wrote before, I have been trying to make more time for God, since I realize that he has not been the top priority like he should be. So last night I was reading a bible study type book and also had my bible out...when I finished reading the section I was on I put it and my bible away. Immediately after doing that I had the overwhelming urge to pray. I knew that it was God telling me to pray, but I had no idea what I was supposed to pray about. So I looked over at James, and told him to come sit with me because I needed to pray and I wanted him to join me. He came over and as soon as I tried to start, I couldn't. I could hardly even get one spoken word out, I felt like I would cry any moment. I managed to though, and after I prayed, and James prayed...I was sitting there....after about 1 minute my whole body was just overcome with feeling...I started crying, bawling crying...and I had no idea why...I just cried. I then realized the most incredible thing...God was there with me! I just KNEW it, I knew that God was literally sitting there next to me on the couch. I just kept crying because it was so awesome...God was in the room with me...it was like I could feel him on the couch, just being with me. Then the laughter started...I started laughing with the crying...uncontrollable laughter along with the crying. The joy, utter joy that God was giving me came out in laughter. I can not even begin to tell you how amazing this whole thing was. It took awhile, but I finally calmed down, and I just sat there praising Gods name and being so thankful. There is nothing going wrong in my life, no major worries or anything like that to explain why God should come to visit me...except to say that God made his presence known to me...just because he loves me. It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced, and I will never forget it. Thus, I wanted to share it with all of you.
Well, I don't really think that anything else I could write would be able to top that...but I will tell you about my day anyway. It was another one of those gloomy days, and although it wasn't raining, there was just no desire to do anything. I tried to call all of Isaiah's friends, to see if they could come over and play, or vice versa. But of course no body was home, or they were gong to be leaving soon. That is always what happens to me. Every time I want to call his friends, they are never there. I must have the worst timing ever. Anyway, so I went up stairs with him at one point and we just played, then a little later after Evelyn woke up from her very long nap, my dad and I took the kids to the park. It was fun and we went on that same nature walk again for a little bit. We couldn't stay long, just because my dad still had to go to work. But, besides all that it was a boring day. I mainly just talked on the phone. Truth be told, it's almost midnight right now and my kitchen is still dirty. Anyway...so that is that. Hopefully tonight will end half as well as last night did. But somehow I doubt that would be possible. ttyl. Bye.

     Well, there is a big big storm going on right now outside of my house. I am talking very loud, crackling thunder and lightening. It feels like it is shaking the house. And of course there is also the rain...I am amazed that all of this noise has not woken up the kids at all...I mean it is seriously loud. Anyway...so today was such a boring at home doing nothing kind of day. Because of the rain that was off and on all day long, we just stayed inside. I tried to call some of Isaiah's friends, but at the time no one was home...which I have noticed is a trend whenever I do call. But luckily later on, like 30 minutes, Johnny came over to play and wow did they play. They were on my bed and they were wrestling all over the place. I even took some video of it because it was so dang funny. I am going to be posting that on my MySpace page later. Or at least I am going to try to. I need to have James put it on his computer also because we are going to be reloading my whole computer. As in reloading Windows XP and everything, starting from scratch. I am hoping this will help solve some of the problems that my laptop has been having. This thing is barely 5 months old, so having problems at this stage just seems stupid. Everything else though that I have is backed up, and I shouldn't be losing anything of importance.
     So I talked to a few friends today and that was nice. Lorenda found some stuff online that was a slight shocker, I won't say what exactly. Tiffany is doing good. She has been going to the beach and trying to keep busy. Her husband Eric seems to really like his new job a lot. They are very homesick though...I think that it is hitting them that there is a lot they will be missing...family moments, stuff like that. One in particular is her sisters wedding that she missed. That was hard. I know how she feels. I miss my Grandma Wright a lot. It's hard when you have grandparents that you know won't be around forever, I know that I don't have 20+ years with her still, and now that I live so far away...it just makes it worse. I try to always make sure that I call her once a week.   I try to also make sure that I write people, whether it be by email or hand written letters. People like to know they are remembered.
     I am sitting here watching the Ultimate Fighter reality show. I don't understand why these people want to be in these sort of fights. I mean they get their butts kicked, they are getting their heads punched all the time....why would you want to risk your health like that, for what? Just so you can say that you are the best fighter???   Who the heck cares? I just don't get it. When men end up doing fights for a living, they never end up having their heads on straight when they are older. Kevin is a Tae Kwon Do National Champion 3 times over, he is like a 3rd degree blackbelt. He has had so many injuries to his knees. It is crazy. Don't get me wrong, I am sure being in the fights is a rush, but is it really worth all the pain??? Guess I will never know.   And yes Kevin, if your reading this...I know I might have gotten some of that info wrong. Well, that is all for now. I am done. James will start working on my laptop, and I am gonna get a drink, I am thirsty. ttyl. Bye.

     RockStar Supernova. I love that show. Things are getting very dramatic on it though. It sounds silly to say that I am worried about people that I have never met, but I like these people, and since there is some drama happening I feel that tinge of worry. I think that is the sign of a good show though you know. I like when a show can make you "feel" something. Same thing with any kind of media, music, movies...it's all about feelings. What evokes them and what doesn't. I find that music can evoke lots of emotions in me. Depending on the topic, the type of music, the rythm. And it isn't always a crying emotional thing, sometimes music just puts me in that calm/happy mood. Where everything feels just right.   There are a couple of songs that really do that for me.
     What is most important in my life? God/Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.   That is number one. But what is second...duh, my kids! And you know, that is a hard thing sometimes to truly feel. Of course I know that I am supposed to love God and Jesus more than anyone...but how easy is it to forget that, to just set that aside and only focus on what is right in front of you; your family. I mention that because I have noticed I have been having that extreme focus on my kids lately...in my need to ensure that I am raising them right, and that I am spending enough time with them...and that they are getting enough activity...I have not been spending enough time with God in prayer, in reading the bible, in just talking to Jesus as a friend when I am alone. Instead when I am alone with nothing to do, I get on this computer, and browse the web and answer emails. I need to fix this...I need to continue with what I am doing with the kids...but make sure that it doesn't come before spending time with God.
     Well my show is over now...and I am now on to my soap opera. It is now after midnight and who knows how much longer I will be up now. James actually went to bed an hour ago. He had a pretty tiring and long day of work. Since we went to the water park today he didn't have to go to the coffee shop to get peace and quiet. We had a lot of fun though. Jenn got here at around 11am or a little after, we had lunch and after feeding the kids too we headed off. We had a great time. The weather was great and the kids wore themselves out really good. Evelyn had a blast playing in the water and sometimes just sitting on a blanket with us and relaxing. I really liked sitting with Jenn too. Just talking about whatever came up...enjoying the sun. It is so nice to have a friend who has already known you for awhile, someone that you have a background with...old stories you can tell or talk about. LOL I guess you can say I am a big fan right now of anything familiar.
     Well, I am about done I think. I am just going to finish this show and then go to bed. I am going to try to do some stuff with the kids and keep the house looking good so I can have more free time in the evening. I'll tell you all about my day tomorrow. Bye for now....   :-)

     I am so tired. I took Isaiah and Evelyn to the park, the big park as Isaiah likes to say. After letting them play at the park for quite a while and following Evelyn around like a crazy person, I had the bright idea that we should go on the nature walk that they have there. BAD IDEA! That nature walk was sooooo long. I ended up cutting it short simply because I was worried if I went much further I might get lost. I had no idea where it ended at, or if it just circled all around. Turns out (according to Tammy) that is does NOT circle around, it comes out on a major street which is not where I wanted to be. Either way, I was very tired.
     I came home, stuck the baby in her crib for a nap, and then stuck Isaiah in the bath. I would have preferred he also take a nap, but he was very against it. I hate that kids out grow naps. I would love to nap everyday. Lorenda and I had a discussion about time frame consists of a nap. She says that 20 minutes is a good nap, and that a nap shouldn't go over an hour. I say that an hour is in no way good enough, and that the minimum is 2 hours, but I would rather have 3. She says that 3 hours isn't a nap, it's sleeping. I say that any time you are sleeping during the day...when you normally wouldn't, then that is a nap. What do you think?
     Anyway...so tomorrow we are going to the water park...I say we as in me, the kids, Jenn, and maybe my mom and dad. I am happy to be getting out, but I need to make sure I put lots of sun screen on, I don't know how much more sun my shoulders can handle. I just hope that it isn't too busy there, I mean it is the middle of the week after all, I would hope not.
     Well, I am going to end this for now...although I have Isaiah tonight and will probably get to sleep in, I should still go to bed now. It is just about 1:30am now. I will have lots to say tomorrow though, and I will try to take some pictures of the water park tomorrow too. ttyl. Bye.

     Today I ended up waking up at 9am because for the second day in a row Isaiah slept in. And keep in mind that Isaiah didn't even wake up at 9am, I woke up and realized what time it was. After I showered, I then went in his room and luckily he was awake but he was just laying in his bed still. I guess kids just go through those phases you know. I like it, but hope he doesn't get too used to it, after all he is supposed to start that speech therapy program this September, and I don't know what time he is supposed to be there yet. Hopefully not too early in the morning.
     I did great on my points today. After the BBQ I didn't gain a lot of weight back, just one pound. So I think I will get rid of that just by how I ate today. I did really good. I am still hungry right now, but I am not gonna eat anything, it's just because it's so late and my body is running on empty. I can hold out till breakfast. James is on his own odd diet, he says he is just eating way less, and exercising. He has lost like 5 pounds now and he seems to be building up more muscle too. I guess we are all on some diet or another here in this house. My dad is doing weigh watchers also, along with his working out routine, and my mom says she is, but really...she isn't. lol The kids on the other hand are always hungry and the way they run around who can blame them. They burn so many calories it's crazy. Evelyn especially, she is always on the move.
     I talked to Jenn and she is definitely coming with me and the kids on Wednesday to the water park. My mom says she wants to go too with my dad, but it all depends on if he gets enough sleep or not the night before. He hasn't been sleeping well again. He has however been playing the piano (on his keyboard) really well. He has learned songs now and almost everything he plays sounds good. That's nice too since you can hear it up here when he plays. I haven't even heard him play the drums in a while.
     James went to this coffee shop called Primo Coffee where they provide free wireless internet today. He figured he could work there for a while and avoid the noise that is usually a constant in this house. He was there for 5 hours, and only bought one drink. I was a little bit surprised considering that they sell sandwich's there and he hadn't had breakfast to start, and so that meant that he skipped lunch too! Lucky him I was making dinner tonight. Which I might add, was excellent.
     I talked to a couple people today. Lorenda, Tiffany, chatted with Tammy at her place. It was a good day. We went grocery shopping this morning and while there bought Evelyn a new jacket, and Isaiah used his piggy bank money to buy a very loud an obnoxious toy.   It was a super store incase you were wondering why the grocery store had all of that. Meijer. It's basically like a Super Wal-Mart, but nicer I think. We got all our bills paid tonight. Amazingly we were able to tithe to church this month. It wasn't much, but it was all we had. We won't be able to put anything in the savings account, but one month won't hurt. Plus James gets paid again in less than two weeks...so no big deal. We will just be starting all over again. Do you realize that I will be 56 years old when we pay this house off and it is all ours?? 56!! I told James that there is no way we are EVER selling this house because I am not going to sell in 10 years, but another one, and then be 66 when that gets paid off. I want to be able to have us retired and owning our home. Why would I want to be in my late 60's and still making a house payment??    I want to be debt free, and able to use whatever money we have to then do whatever we want. Like sleep in till 10am!!! That will be the day.
Anyway, that's all for now. Talk to you all tomorrow...bye.

Well, I was going to write a bunch tonight, but then James decided to go to bed...and I figure that I might as well join him you know. Anyway, I will tell you all about my day tomorrow, and hopefully I will remember to tell you about the fish incident. You will laugh. Nite.

     What a night. We just got back from Jeff and Jen's house a little while back. Isaiah and Evelyn played really hard with the dogs and outside, so they went to bed right a way. Their dogs put up with the kids really well, and Isaiah even ate his food pretty good. We got to talk a lot and just hang out, and of course had some good desert. Cherry pie and ice cream. yum. :-) Jenn has Wednesday off work, so I invited her to come with me and Isaiah and Evelyn to the water park that day because I think that the weather is going to be good. Should be in the 80's. I will call her and let her know. It will be nice to get out though with her and do something. I want to get out again...the last two days have been raining, so we have been stuck inside.
     Tonight when I got home I noticed yet again that the kitchen floor was very dirty, and not just needing to sweep dirty, but needing to be mopped dirty. So, I asked James if he would help me, I said that I would do one thing, mop or sweep, and he could do the other. He didn't answer. Then when he got up a little bit later he said he was gonna watch his cartoons, and I said, "Um, no...we are gonna clean the floor." To which he decided to start complaining about how he hates cleaning the floors and he doesn't want to do it at all. To which I said that I hardy ever ask him anyway and it won't kill him to do it this time, well...he gave in, hesitantly, and agreed to sweep the floor. I swear you would think that I was asking him to remove an arm...it is such a pain to get him to do any kind of floor cleaning. Either way, it got done, and then I mopped the floor.
     Anyway, so that is all for now. The rest of the day has been pretty boring, it was full of naps and relaxing. And right now I am trying to sign up for the website Gametap.com You can play a bunch of video games there for only $9.95 a month. They are games that are over 5+ years old that are cool but aren't really sold anymore. Anyway, so that's what my day was today. ttyl. Bye.

Do you all remember a while back when I wrote about that cover picture on a baby magazine that was stirring up all that controversy, it had a pic of a baby breast feeding? It was crazy, but one thing it showed is that the public does not respond as it should to breastfeeding. People are too busy, they think it's gross...even I have a hard time being around a woman who is doing it. Why? There is nothing at all wrong with it. It's natural. It shouldn't even be given a second thought. Yet according to the new article I just read, more and more woman are NOT breastfeeding. Why? What is happening? I don't know the answers. But I wanted to share the article.

(CBS) Experts agree that breast milk is the healthiest food for babies and that breastfeeding is good for moms, as well.

But many mothers in the United States aren't doing it as long as physicians recommend, says The Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay.

She was told by Dr. Lori Winter, who helped develop the American Academy of Pediatrics' breastfeeding recommendations, that breastfeeding "by itself, without the addition of any foods or other fluids, (should be done) for about the first six months of life, and then followed by the introduction of nutritious, complimentary foods at about six months, and (we urge) continued breastfeeding for at least the first year of life and even thereafter."

But, Senay points out, current U.S. breastfeeding rates fall far short of those goals.

According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, 70 percent of women start breastfeeding in the hospital but, by six months, only 14 percent are exclusively breastfeeding.

Some moms simply choose not to breastfeed. But for others, Senay observes, it's more complicated.

"The problem," comments Winter, "is that, in the United States, we don't necessarily have a culture that supports breastfeeding in the way that we recommend. � So, that means that the culture, both in terms of the community, families, there's not a lot of experience from mothers who have breastfed, supporting their daughters to breastfeed their children."

Cristina Boswell wants to breastfeed her newborn for nine months, and Senay says that goal is easier for Boswell to reach because her employer completely supports her efforts to breastfeed, with an office specially set up for her.

Other companies, such as professional services firm Deloitte & Touche subsidizes breast pumps and provides counseling, and even a lactation room for women such as Princy Jacob. Refrigerators are provided to store breast milk in.

"I just bring the (breast pump) machine to the office, and then other times, you know, I'm feeding at home," Jacob says.

Kristina Jahaly, who plans to breastfeed her baby daughter, Claire, as long as possible, says support from pediatricians and other nursing moms is key to achieving that goal: "Women need help, they need support, they need encouragement. It's not an easy thing to do the first time around for some women, and it was very difficult for me with Madeline."

So, there you have it. I am willing to bet that the people who make baby formula, like Enfamil, GoodStart, and other ones, are making a WHOLE bunch of money. I guess some one always has to benefit from change. Speaking of change...I have now lost 13 pounds. I am constantly amazed at how fast it is all coming off. Once I hit 20 pounds lost, I think I will look significantly different. Tomorrow will be a hard day though. We are going to Jeff and Jenn's for a BBQ. I am making potato salad, and they are having hamburgers and chicken. Don't get me wrong, I am excited to eat some good greasy food, but I know I will gain a couple pounds back...and that is sad. I am going to try to eat very little up untill the BBQ and then just try to regulate my portions as well as possible. Wish me luck. ttyl, bye.

     I cleaned my house really good today. I mean almost from top to bottom. Some things were already good, and James has agreed to clean the half bath. I felt like I hadn't cleaned up really good in a few days. And doing this will help me to keep up for when we have guests. Which we might be having soon, so I want to keep things looking nice. If I could, my house would look nice all the time. I imagine that someday there will come a time when our kids actually keep all their stuff in their rooms, and I will have the pleasure of having a grown up house all the time.
     I just got done talking to Pastor Rob. They are in my time zone!!! Yea!! Right now they are in his home town Coldwater, which I do want to drive to someday and check out. They are about an hour or more from where we live and although I don't know if they will be staying here for the night or not, he said that they will definitely be coming to visit. I am so excited about that. It will be nice to have another visitor. And then in hardly no time at all my Grandma will be here. I am going to recommend to her that she NOT wear black pants...after all Dusty is just a shedding freak. I don't think that James and I even own black pants. lol
     Anyway, so I don't really have a lot more to say today. It wasn't that exciting. But I did stick with my plan of having the TV off almost all day. I was super proud of that. And Isaiah wasn't bored, we had fun...and, it was nice to have the radio on for a while.
So...that is all for me...I will write more tomorrow. Bye.

     Good evening. Today was a much better day.   I didn't want to punch any walls, or leave my house and not come back for hours on end. Evelyn did have some crying moments, but they didn't last for nearly as long, and I made it a point to be outside with the kids more today. I am invoking new rules as of today. I decided that Isaiah spends way too much time in front of the TV, which is mainly due to the fact that James watches Cartoon Network all day, but is also my fault as well. I plan on having the stereo on a lot more during the day...and I am going to take advantage of the fact that it is summer in Michigan and take the kids outside more. I know that this is all going to really affect my house cleaning, and my own TV watching, but I don't care. I don't want Isaiah or Evelyn to be couch potatoes at such a young age like I was and then....possibly go on to have weight issues that can somehow stem back to that. Because the more in front of the TV you are, the lazier you get, and when you get lazy, you certainly are less likely to be active in sports and have that exercise as part of your life. I am determined to not let any of that happen, that's for sure. Although Isaiah is super active most of the time, I have seen that lazy part of me in him, he has that ability to just veg out in front of the TV and pay attention to nothing around him.
     On another note...JonBenet Ramsey's killer may have been arrested!!!!! Aren't you all super excited about that??? lol Don't get me wrong, I think that the little girl does deserve justice, but how long is this going to go on. I mean I feel like I have seen something about that case every week in the junky tabloids...you know, the same ones that tell us that "Bat Boy born to woman in Kentucky". Come to think of it, I recently saw a HILARIOUS cover story on a tabloid and it was something to the affect of "Osama Bin Laden captured by rednecks". LOL Now if that isn't hilarious I don't know what is. I mean, I guess that Osama must have been living somewhere in the US then, because I doubt that rednecks would be hanging out in Afghanistan. Those papers are just so hilarious...I almost want to buy them just so I can read all the other crazy stuff they must have inside.
     What would it be like, if you could hear peoples thoughts? On the show I am watching right now that is one of the things that is happening. I imagine, that if you could do it at will, then it would be fun/disturbing, but I think that if it was something that happened all the time and you couldn't control it, then it would drive you insane. Hearing all of the deep dark secret thoughts that people have, hearing all the evil that is in our head...even though there is lots of good, I am sure that the bad would stick out a lot more. How would a person deal with that? Not to mention I am sure you would want to help some people, and stop them from doing certain things too. Good thing the odds of that happening are a billion to one. It's like that whole question, "If you could have one super power, what would it be?" That has got to be one of the hardest questions...because there are so many cool ones out there. But listen to me...rambling on, blah blah blah....I'm done. Gonna watch my show and go to bed. Good night all.

8.15.06
12:11am

     Well, here we go again, I didn't write last night...why? Because I have been having computer problems with my BRAND NEW laptop and we were on the phone last night (yes, even around midnight) trying to figure things out. This is my second time calling them, the problem is still not solved, although another one is. Now, today another problem started. I am so sick of this! This computer is brand new, I bought it in February, there is no reason for any of this. I am starting to regret buying a Compaq. The lady I talked to was so annoying last night. I would tell her my problem, and all of a couple minutes later she would say something about it that was ALL wrong. I would then have to repeat it again to her. This happened at least 3 times. And instead of FIXING the problem, she wanted to do things that would make the laptop AVOID the problem. It was driving me crazy...so much so that I had to give the phone to James and let him handle it. In the end...one problem is fixed, and the other one is not. But, it is a mild issue, that James thinks I can live with, and so for now I am going to do that, and James says that if it is something serious, I will know because it will get worse. Let's just hope that doesn't happen, since it's only a year long warranty.
     Tonight Tammy offered to stay at the house while the kids were sleeping so that way James and I could go to the movies...it was $.50 Tuesday. So we went to see the movie The Break Up. You know what I hate??? I hate it when movies decide to end realistically. The couple doesn't get back together, they stay apart...you don't know if they are really happy or not, you just have to assume that they are...and all I end up feeling is like I got ripped off because no one goes to the movies to watch a romantic comedy and hopes that the couple doesn't stay together. NO ONE DOES THAT!! It is no wonder to me why that movie didn't do great in the theatres now.
     Anyway though, so today was fairly uneventful. That is of course you count the part of my day when I felt like I wanted to punch a hole in the wall. I am not kidding either. I really felt like I needed to hit something, very hard. My computer problems were frustrating me so badly, and then at that same moment, Evelyn decided to start screaming for no apparent reason. Well, I take that back, there is a reason, it's usually that she wants your food, or she wants the thing that she shouldn't have, or this, or that...whatever. It's something and when she doesn't get her way she screams. Generally, I don't care if babies cry or scream...but Evelyn must have the highest pitched scream in the world. It's really more like a shriek. It's SO LOUD. I can not even explain it to you. Because of this, I wanted to punch something. It just seemed like peace and quiet would never come. Thankfully, it finally did when she went to bed at 8pm. So, there you have it folks. It is now 10 minutes till 1am and it's my night to have Evelyn. So I better go to bed. TTYL. Bye.

     What a whirlwind of a weekend. Saturday was so much fun. Tammy and her kids joined us for a trip to Independence Lake. It was the first time for all of us. The last road that we had to turn down though was Jennings Road, you had to take a right on it, but as it turned out, you only could go right. So we are driving down this road and it looks like it would be impossible that this road leads to anywhere but houses. I mean it wasn't a dirt road, but it certainly wasn't a regular road. So we are driving there and we can't help but think we are going the wrong way, I mean we are in the country, only houses around us...but yet we couldn't have gone the wrong way because you can ONLY turn the one way, right. So, we keep driving, and sure enough, all of a sudden, there is a sign that says "Independence Lake Park Entrance". I am telling you, it is so odd how everything is arranged here. It's like I expect everything to be in a city type atmosphere, but instead everything is built around the forests, and the country. I love it. Everything is just surrounded by nature. They just make big parks right in the middle of nowhere. It's awesome. I love how beautiful everything is here. I feel like we picked the best place to live. All of the cool places to go are no more than 30 minutes a way from us, and most of them are 10 minutes away. The newer part of our town, which is where we live, is growing a lot too. I feel like we picked a great time to move here, and a great area.
     But back to the lake...it was so much fun. They have a wonderful beach and the lake is gorgeous, plus, they have a spray park area that is for kids to run around through all these giant sprinklers. And then they even had a regular park that was huge for everyone to play on, and then some old fashioned ones too. The kids loved it. Isaiah played in the lake so a long time, and oddly enough even though Evelyn HATES baths (and I mean hates as in you can barely keep her in there for 1 minute) she loved the lake. She wanted to be in there constantly. I plan on either going back there this weekend or maybe back to that water park at Rolling Hills County Park. Either way, I want to go somewhere. The awesome thing is that at the lake yesterday all we had to pay was the $4 parking fee. If all of the people we loved moved here too, this place would be perfect. lol But, that won't happen.
     AH, it's Godfather night. Yep, we are watching the Godfather Part III. I really like it. I am constantly amazed though at how long these movies are. I can only assume that they are trying to stick very close to the book. I would love to read the book though, I bet there is still lots of stuff they left out. So many books that I want to read still, if I had the money I would buy every book I ever wanted. I love to read them, to have them, just like how I love to have paper, and lots of pens. Anything to do with words basically. It brings me that comfort. Anyway, that's all for now. I am gonna finish this movie and contemplate possibly eating something, I am STARVING. Maybe popcorn, since that's only one point. Bye.

8.11.06
10:33pm

     Good evening. I had written on here that I wouldn't be writing anything tonight, because Tammy was here. But now she is gone, she was getting too tired. So I brought this back up again and deleted what I previously wrote. Now...I don't feel bad about being on the computer. All of the kids are sleeping in Isaiah's room. I have the air mattress in there that Isaiah and Johnny decided to sleep on, Emma is in Isaiah's bed, and Ally is on the floor in a sleeping bag. It is a PACKED room right now. Tammy is going to come back here in the morning though as soon as they wake up and get them all ready for the day. Incase you somehow forgot why they are here...it's because they are having a big retreat type thing at their house, leadership stuff, and they will even have church there Sunday, and then in the evenings it will be all fun and games. Which is why James is there right now, to enjoy in all the fun. There is this cool game called Mafia, that they all play...I had never heard of it before we moved here. Maybe it's just a game played over in this part of the country. Who knows, maybe Pastor Rob has heard of it. I'll have to ask him someday.
     Tomorrow, in response to our new decision to "go out" more, we are going to Independence Lake. There is a beach there too and you can go swimming. Tammy might go with us and bring the kids of course. It will most likely be around lunch time, that way we can have a picnic there too. I am VERY anxious actually to see what a beach on a lake looks like, sounds dumb maybe, but there you have it. James is supposed to go play basketball with "the guys" tomorrow though too, so hopefully this will all come together well.
     Today was such a GREAT day. The weather has been awesome, nice cool breeze, sunny, it was great. I took Isaiah for an hour long walk this morning which I might add he didn't even get tired during. It felt so good to have the wind blowing through my hair. I loved it. Later on I even took Isaiah and Evelyn to the park. It really was a great day. Talked to Lorenda, which made me feel good, talked to Tiffany and helped her with some stuff. At least I hope I did. :-) Anyway, just a fun regular day...I hope tomorrow is too. ttyl Bye.

     I am hungry. I have 3 points left but I don't know if I want to use them yet. I am on day 8 of this diet and so far have lost one pound per day. That's right folks, 8 pounds. Crazy huh? So far I am losing the weight really well. Next time I see you all I will look so different, assuming that is that I can keep this up and not stop all together. I am pretty confident though that I can do it. Tonight I even made myself a yummy salad, which if you know my eating habits at all, you know that eating a salad is a VERY big deal. I pretty much hate all veggies. But I made the salad good, with chicken and stuff, I actually liked it. For everyone else I just made chicken quesadillas, which I wanted to have a bite of sssoooooo badly. Even when I was grating the cheese, I wanted to snack on it. It is so hard to resist those habits. I am just used to snacking while I cook. But I am proud of my self...so far, I am doing good.
     When I started the day I could already feel the laziness creeping in on me. I wanted to just sit and do nothing, which of course means that my kids then end up doing nothing at all too. So, I decided that Isaiah should go to the library. I took him and left Evelyn here with James since she would be going down for a nap soon anyway. Turns out that Tammy and another lady from our neighborhood were there with their kids too. I guess the library was having some sort of story time. I didn't care much about that though, Isaiah and I just sat down and read a bunch of books, and then we played with some of the activities they have there. After we got home though once again boredom set in. What should we do??? I hate it when it's summer time and I can't think of anything fun to do. So, I invited Tammy's kids over to swim with Isaiah, and they did, and after that they all went to their house to play too. So at least he got out and had stuff to do. I wish we had a sandbox. I want a sandbox. Isaiah loves them.   I WILL get one eventually. Really.
     So, we now have The Godfather Part 3 here at the house. I don't know if we will be watching it tonight or tomorrow or what, but I do know that it will be good. I am anxious to see how they end it. I know the Catholic Church plays a big part in this one. We have been movie crazy lately. Watching them all the time. Honestly, if I had the money, I would go to the movies everyday, but alas I don't, so I settle for Netflix. Which is practically everyday anyway.
     Do you ever associate smells with people? I do. For instance, when I smell Old Spice cologne, I think of my Great Grandpa Harold, who passed away quite a few years back. There are others too I am sure, but I just can't think of them right now, and don't ask me why I even brought it up, it just popped in my head. Anyway, so the kids are all in bed now, and the house is calm, almost quiet even. I am still hungry, so maybe I will use some of those 3 points. ttyl. Bye.

     Good evening. What a fun day. We went to that water park this morning. It was awesome. Not as cool as say, Water World USA, it's much smaller, but still really fun and the rest of the county park was so nice. For winter they even have a ski and sled slope. You can bring your dogs on a leash too, not that I would want to take Dusty in my car though with all of that hair that she is shedding all the time. It's like a never ending hair fest. I could brush that dog all day, literally, and I would still get tons of hair off her. It's gross. Because of this insanity I vacuum the house almost everyday. I REFUSE to have my home smelling like dog. I know some one who has quite a few dogs in their home, and when you walk in you can instantly smell the dog pee. One time I layed Evelyn down on this persons carpet, and as soon as I did I could just smell the urine. Not to mention the fact that the general dog smell was in the air. I NEVER want that to be my house. It's bad enough that Isaiah's room as a slight smell from the turtle tank water. The dirtier it gets, the more it has an odor, not a bad one mind you, but a noticeable one. That bugs me. I don't know what to do about it though. Every good idea has a bad side you know. Turtles were a good idea, but the smell is the bad side. Oh well, as long as it is only in his room, and like I said, it's not bad, you just notice it, and once you are in his room for a minute, you don't notice it anymore.
     I talked to Tiffany today. She is doing really good. She really likes her house and although she is having a hard time adjusting to life in the city again she seems ok. I think she is starting to feel the loneliness though, not having any one around. I wish I had the money to just fly down there right now and visit her you know. It would be nice to go visit anyone right now actually. Have some of that familiar contact. But my Grandma Sheila will be coming to visit us in September, and there is a chance that when Pastor Rob and his wife and his son come to Michigan in a couple weeks that they might stay with us for a couple of those nights too. So I will be seeing some people...that is going to be exciting.
     Anyway, so besides all that, nothing much going on. I just got the whole house cleaned up with the help of my wonderful husband James. James had a bad kind of day, he got a lot done, but it was all tedious work, that left his brain feeling very drained. He is super tired and says he wants to go to bed, yet here he still sits, doing I don't know what. I am glad that tomorrow is Thursday, because that just means it's one more day closer to Friday, and that means the weekend is oh so near. I was talking to James about the fact that we don't go out enough on weekends. We are such homey people, and I want to take the kids out more. There is no reason that we can't take the kids to Independence Lake and have a picnic and go swimming while it is warm. Or go to Canton where they have a free sprinkler park for kids. Just go and do something you know. Even go where we went today once in a while. And it doesn't even have to be stuff that costs money, there is plenty of free stuff to do. Anyway...that is my pet peeve for the week. So...have a great night, and if your reading this tomorrow, have a great day! ttyl, bye.

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day. In the morning I am going to Rolling Hills County Park with Stephanie and some of her friends. I guess it is a great place for the kids and it even has a small water park. So I am excited about that. I am not excited about the fact that we will be there during the time when Evelyn should be napping. It is times like this when I wish I had more friends here. I wish that Tiffany was here, or Lorenda, or my Grandma's. I wish I had my usual support system. I miss Ca still. I want to go to Denny's at midnight with Lorenda and have hot cocoa. I want to go to the park with her. I miss doing what feels normal. I love all my friends here, but I feel like my heart is still back with the people who know the real me. There are still so many things about me, my personality I mean, that no one here knows about yet. Aspects of who I am that I don't bring out. I miss being able to say what I want around my friends, I miss being affectionate with them, hugging my friends, laying down with my girlfriends to watch a movie...feeling that comfortable safe feeling that you do when you are with a friend who has known you for 10 years. Knowing that no matter what dumb comment you make, they instantly forgive you. I don't know why I am being so sappy right now. (Great, now I am starting to cry.) I guess I have just been really missing Lorenda, and now that Tiffany is living in Oregon, I won't even get to see her the once a year that we go to CA for a visit. It felt so good when Kevin was here...I got to say what was on my mind, and I knew that he wasn't going to be shocked and surprised...it was nothing, it was just us, talking like normal. I miss that normal... casual... just us hanging with the people who know us best. I hope that eventually I feel like that with everyone here...I really do...I need it. I really really need it. So much so that if I had the money, I would fly all my friends here one at a time every week. aahhhh, well, emotions abound tonight I guess. I think I am actually gonna end with that...anything else I write will just be blah now. ttyl. Bye.

     That movie I watched last night really was good. Yesterday at some point I asked James to hang up the dart board now that the garage is all clean. We got it all up and last night I went out to throw some darts for a while. Wow, I am NOT good at it anymore. I used to be ok...but I haven't played in so long that when I throw the dart you can see it wobble while it flies. It was just sad. It wasn't until after 15 minutes that I stopped hitting the wall with at least one of them. I would love to be able to throw the dart and actually hit what I am aiming at. I don't know how those pros do it.
     James made me feel like today was supposed to be a lazy day. He stayed in his pajamas the entire day (and is still in them) so it made me feel like I should just be lazy too, and do nothing. I had a hard time making myself do anything. You could say that Isaiah was bored out of his mind. I think it was just one of those days you know. We all have them. But by the evening I did manage to make myself useful, I cleaned the kitchen, and even gave Coco a bath. She really needed it. Dusty needs one too for that matter, she stinks.
     I heard from Tiffany today. While at her in laws house her dog was outside in the yard (which has no fence) and wandered over to the highway, he was hit. Not killed, but his back legs were very messed up. The vet says they aren't broken, but the need to do x-rays to see if they are fractured or not. Unfortunately, Tiff and Eric don't have the money for this...but for now the vet is holding the dog and they have to come up with the money. From what Tiffany has told me, her experience with the people of Oregon has not been pleasant. When people hear they are from CA their whole attitude towards them changes. People are rude, or just tell them they will call them back and then don't. According to Lorenda, it isn't just Oregon. Evidently people from CA are moving to Oregon a lot, and to Idaho, and the people in those states aren't too happy about it. A friend of Lorenda's is moving to Idaho, and drove their with her husband to check out some homes. On numerous occasions while there, they would come out to their car to find notes on their vehicle saying things like, "Go back home", "We don't want you here" , "This is our state".   Evidently, they don't want Californians buying their homes. The more the demand for homes, the higher the prices for homes. So they DO NOT want a bunch of Californians buying "their" stuff and making prices go up. Now, this isn't fact mind you, this is what I heard...but it all makes sense to me.
     I have a headache. I don't know why I do, but here it is none the less. On the plus side I have now officially lost 6 pounds in 5 days. Not too shabby. I feel good about it, and I went shopping today for groceries and bought some stuff that would be good for me. Oranges, apples, Weight Watchers Ice Cream, Popcorn, stuff like that. I think so far I have a really good handle on things. I am looking forward to hitting the 10 pound mark. Then my pants will begin to feel significantly bigger on me and I will have an excuse to go shopping soon. lol That's the best part about losing weight you know...shopping for new and improved clothes. :-) Well, that's all for now. It's time to pick up all these toys, just so they can all be brought out again tomorrow. Ugh, babies...they are cute, and crazy.

     Good evening. Well, here I am in my living room typing to you all. I am watching the movie "An Unfinished Life". Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Lopez, and a few others. So far, I like it a lot. I had a very dumb moment yesterday, and since everyone loves to hear stories about people being dumb, I am going to tell you all. We were driving home from a movie yesterday and we drove past a church that had one of those signs where they can use those letters to put whatever they want to say on the sign. Well, they had written, "A closed mouth gathers no foot." I read it and my first thought was, "Hey, they spelled FOOD wrong." So I sat there wondering why no one else noticed it in all the time that it had been up. Then...like a light bulb going off it hit me....."Duh, it was talking about being an idiot and putting your foot in your mouth by saying something dumb". I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I realized it. Which of course made James ask me what was so funny. When I told him he started cracking up laughing. I swear I do this kind of stuff all the time.   Sometimes my brain just doesn't catch things quickly.
     Today was a good day. Isaiah was good, and Evelyn was better than the screaming little monster that she was yesterday. lol Seriously, I wanted to pull off my ears.   I don't know what her problem is, but just incase, I am gonna look in her mouth tomorrow to see if she has any new teeth coming in. You never know. What I do know is that for the last couple days, I have been happiest while she is sleeping. lol I know, that's bad, but I can't help it. Today though Isaiah has been making me love spending time with him. He has been using more phrases, he even said "excuse me" when he burped. He makes me so happy. Evelyn had a couple sweet moments today too...although she also had a painful moment when the kitchen bench she was holding onto fell down on her and landed on her leg. It will leave a big bruise. She cried for a while. I felt so bad for her, thankfully after a lot of cuddling, she got better.
     Today we finally went to church. I swear it has been 6+ weeks since we have gone. It was nice hearing about how their China trip went and how everyone their treated them. It was like they were celebrities, literally. They wanted them to sign their arms, touch them, take pictures, anything...simply because they were Americans. It's hard to imagine being so cut off from everything and feeling like these American travelers are so super exciting.   We read about Martha and Mary today and discussed it, it was good and I joined in on the conversation. I can relate to Martha a lot, because when people come to my house, I am always very concerned about how the house looks, and making sure that everything is prepared and ready. Sometimes I will have a big get together and instead of socializing, I end up keeping my house clean the whole time and making sure everything goes smooth...when instead, I should be visiting with our guests. Just like how Martha should have been listening to Jesus, instead of being so concerned with things that were not of true importance. Anyway...it's late now, so that's all for me. I will talk to you all later....night.

     Isaiah is staying the night at Tammy and Nino's today for Johnny's birthday party. Tammy says he is having a great time and being very good. Her girls are sleeping here since it is so crazy there, the boys were up late and being VERY loud. Tammy's baby Matthew was upstairs screaming when it was almost 10pm because of the noise. It's like a house full of testosterone over there. lol I am excited that Isaiah is at his first sleep over. I hope he does ok with the going to sleep part. I think he will. I will feed the girls breakfast here and then they are going to do some painting on a couple canvases that I have. They are excited about that. I figure they can hang them up in their rooms or somewhere. Should be fun.
     My Grandma Sheila is going to be coming to visit us!! We are all very excited.    (Update: Isaiah is home, he told Tammy this, "No, no, I go home my bed, wit my mama." He wasn't upset, or crying, he was just very matter of fact about it. She tried to change his mind, but I think that since he knew his bed was right across the street, he was just like...why sleep here? lol ) So, my Grandma gets here on September 2nd and will be staying with us through the 6th. She will leave that morning, late morning. It will be fun to have her here. I think that if the weather is good, we will take her to the Toledo Zoo on the 3rd. That is of course depending on if we are all up to it also. After all, she will not have even been here for a full day by then. If it is still mucky feeling weather wise we will also get a ceiling fan for the guest room, that way she won't get hot, the air conditioner works great here, but a couple rooms always seem warmer than the rest. Probably cause they only have one vent. Oh well.
     James is sitting here playing his Fight Night 3 video game. He has been working really hard lately, on other peoples stuff too, and so he hasn't had time for any "fun". I don't mind right now, since I am writing this out anyway. Also, it's better than watching those dumb cartoons that he likes.   I am still doing good with my diet. So far I have lost 4 pounds. Usually I can lose 10 pounds a month on this diet. So far it looks like I am well on my way. I started getting a little bit stir crazy with it today, but pulled through and didn't go over my points at all. I hope I can keep this up...I think I can. Anyway, that's all from the crazy house. (Crazy because Evelyn drove me crazy by screaming almost all day) TTYL Bye.

     Well, so far I have already lost 2 and a half pounds. That is one thing that I love about Weight Watchers, you start losing weight almost right a way. It is exciting. I don't have any extra points today, because I was desperate for some apple juice. I usually live of juice...but it's not that cheap on points, so I have to be careful. Apple Juice isn't that bad, only 2 points for 1 cup, but orange juice, that's 3 points for 1 cup. I have been trying to drink a lot more water, especially since I know it helps with losing weight, but I hate water so much and so it has been hard. Also, I think our water filter in the fridge needs to be changed. The water tastes a little bit odd.
     I heard from Tiffany today. They made it to Oregon ok. It took a little longer than expected because they decided to stay over one night at a hotel because they were so tired. Eric starts his new job on Monday, and although they aren't sure if they will get the house that they were hoping to rent now or not, at least they can stay with Eric's parents until they do get a place. Tiffany seems to be going good, I am so proud of her. She said she has cried some, but over all things are too chaotic to really let it sink in that she has left the state that has been her home since 1997. I just hope that they can get a place soon, so she feels like she is home. I remember that what made me feel like home was hanging up pictures in my house. Once they were all on the wall, everything felt normal.
     Today was so much better in regards to weather. It was only 80 degrees (the humidity was still 88%) and it rained all day long. There was even a breeze. So much better. Also today I have noticed that ever time I am on www.cbsnews.com there is another thing about Mel Gibson and his drunk driving. Now I see this article                 ( http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/03/health/webmd/main1864620.shtml )
that actually asks the question of "does alcohol make you say what you are really thinking?" Wow. Is Mel Gibson like the very first person ever to get drunk, and make a mistake of driving, and also to say things that they didn't mean? Is he the first person to act like an idiot while drunk. If so then I must have been dreaming all those other times that I saw friends drunk. I can't believe how people are reacting to all this. The focus should be on the drunk driving...that's it.   Punish him accordingly...and be done.
Anyway...so it's getting really late now. I have been watching TV during all this typing and now it is 12:19am. Plus, I'm thirsty. Hope you all have a great night/day. Bye.

     Hi. Yet another gross day outside. I went to water the plants this morning at 9am, and although I don't think it was sweat, I did start dripping from my forehead!! It was crazy.   It is crazy what humidity can do. Where is winter???!!! I want the snow!!
Nino came back last night from his trip in China. He is having major jet lag. When it was 4pm here he had just woke up, and said it should be 4am! Isn't that nuts?! I guess he will be getting a lot of sleep tonight. He said though that the mission trip went really well...but they are very glad to be home. I don't think that I could go on a trip that far away. That is just WAY to far and way to long on a plane. I would go stir crazy.   Kevin has done that. He has gone to Ireland I think, and somewhere else too. I would be so incredibly scared of that plane...it's just too long of a trip. Speaking of Kevin...he left me a comment on one of my blog pages. It was yesterdays entry. He mentioned the whole "Working out/going to the gym" thing. AGH! I hate the gym. I hate being active...and I hate even more that it is practically a requirement for losing weight. Quite a few years ago, prior to Isaiah, I tried going to the gym. My dad bought me a membership. I went for a good amount of time, but I got bored, lazy, and just stopped going. I didn't like going alone, it was hard to motivate myself to even go there, let alone stay there long enough to get a real workout. I wanted to exercise, but didn't really know how. Didn't know exactly what exercises were for what I wanted to lose, where I wanted to strengthen up, and unfortunately I didn't seem to be motivated to ask for help, even though I am sure I could have. Even now, my dad has a virtual gym downstairs that I could use. He has a Bow Flex, a treadmill, and a boxing bad. Yet I don't use them...I make excuses. I have to watch the kids, I have other things to do, I'm tired, my dad is sleeping, the list goes on I am sure. I need to do the exercise though. My hope, is that I will lose weight on my diet (which I did great at today) and then I will be motivated to tighten everything up. But, once again, this is all assuming that I can keep myself doing this. I hope so. I am trying very hard. Like I said, I did great today. Yesterday and today I had points left over even. Come to think of it, I might go use a couple of those now, I am hungry.
     Anyway...so today James got paid. He said that when he got paid I could go to the pet store with Isaiah and get another turtle, a filter, and a couple decorations. I was so excited. We went there when Evelyn was napping and it was really fun. I took Nino and Tammy's daughter with us and she had never been there before. She loved all the dogs of course. I couldn't help but ask about what other water amphibians could live in the turtle tank too. Turns out that the African Frogs could! And they were only $5.98 each. So I got two of those. When we got home I put everything in the tank. The first thing that happened was the new turtle went over and grabbed a fish to eat, but Our second turtle that we bought, Mike, also wanted that fish, and went to take it from the new ones mouth...a fight ensued. It as hilarious. They were all over the place. I don't remember who won the fish...but it was so funny. Maybe you had to be there, who knows. :-) So, that's all for me. ttyl. Bye.

YUCK!!! What a nasty day. I am not kidding. It was 99 degrees today but they news said it felt like 110. Not to mention the humidity made the air so gross. It was thick, and I felt like if I continued to be outside I might get sick. I went to the grocery store tonight and was just praying for the air conditioner in the car to get cold. My moms truck has air conditioning too, but she was worried when she was driving because what seemed to be smoke, was coming out of the vent. Turns out...that the humidity can make that happen. Luckily the Ford Dealership didn't charge her for that information. It is just crazy to me though that the weather is so odd here. Is it the lakes that makes everything so odd??? I don't know. What I do know is that the less time spent outside the better. I even brought Evelyn's little slide inside the house that way she could use it. It is the one we bought her for her 1st birthday. She loves that little slide. She climbs up on it so good all by herself and then slides down. She has fallen off once, it actually happened today while I was on the phone with my cousin wishing her a happy birthday. She screamed her head off! But once I gave her "The One" (aka her elephant) she was fine.
I started something again...my diet. Today I did really good though. I have decided that the best way to use my points well is to eat cereal for breakfast and lunch. This was I can have a small dinner, and small snack later. Today I did great with it and even have 3 points left. I would have had 5 extra points, but I wanted to try one of my Weight Watcher Ice Creams that I bought tonight. I am very proud of my self though. I was doing something today and I thought to myself...."Am I willing to stick to my diet forever? Am I willing to eat 28 points or less for life?" Well, the answer is..."Yes." OR at least right now I am willing to do it. Who knows how I will feel later. But I am going to try very hard right now. I am getting sick of being sick of myself. If that makes any sense. Wish me luck...maybe say a prayer for me...I am gonna try really hard, but I could use the support. TTYL. Bye.