PUFF PUFF

Smoking has been a way of life for my husband's side of the family. Ralph started smoking quite late considering that brothers smoke at around 16. He didn't smoke at first and would even refuse to let any of his family smoke in his car. That all changed when he started dating this woman who smoked. From that time on he was hook line and sinker. He enjoys it smoking and its his only vice. Ever since the prices of cigarette have gone up he has tried different kinds of cigarette. I don't know if he has ever tried smoking a cigar but I want to see him try. Since our 4th wedding anniversary is coming up, I was thinking about getting him a few Black and Mild cigar. I don't know about cigars but it reminds me of my grandpa, brings back memory of my childhood. Anyway, if Ralph likes it I may even get him more if I get pregnant so he can pass some out when I have the baby. He knows that his smoking will be cut significantly when I do get pregnant and have a baby in the house and car.

S-SLUSHY

Have you been out today? Let me tell you its a slushy, slushy day today. School opening were delayed 2 hours due to the icy road condition early in the morning. I got to sleep in a little bit, let me rephrase that. I got to lay in bed a little bit and move a little slower, lol. The snow that was left from last week is slowly melting into slush and may turn into ice. At least it wasn't that cold out when I finally walked my eldest daughter to the bus stop, just wet. I don't like, getting wet and the mud that goes with it. To those who had to work and commute early this morning I hope you arrived safely at your destination.. Drive safe and pay attention to the road!

HARD TIMES

The economy is still in turmoil. Many people are still loosing their homes, jobs, business and getting buried in debt. I thought the recession is over but that is not the case. People are still struggling and its specially hard when your disabled. I should know, my BIL Angelo has been on disability for many years due to his back injury when he still worked. Its been really tough but I admire my BIL courage and strength. He has been to court and has fought for his right to get disability. Last Summer his disability was cut off due to the fact that he did work part time and made to much. I asked my husband is Angelo will be able to get a disability insurance that he deserves. Angelo had to fight and did his research and as it turned out, he was still eligible for disability even though he worked part time. If he can find a job with great benefits he will certainly be glad to get off disability and claim his life back. I do hope that he will find that perfect job.

GOALS

One of the many goals I would like to achieve this year is hopefully loose about 10 lbs or so. I have been talking about wanting to loose weight and slim down but I never really do anything about it. My husband has tried several times dieting on his own but falls back on his old ways. Let it not be said that I didn't try, I have tried dieting and exercising but I never stick to it. I lack not only motivation but dedication and had no goal. I have read so many weight loss medication, pills, how to exercise but this is my first time to hear about chromium picolinate and weight loss. Sound effective and scary at the same time. Since our first goal of this year is trying to get pregnant within the next 3-6 months, taking any medication for weight loss will be put on hold. If I do get pregnant and gain a lot of weight I am hoping that breastfeeding will help loose the baby weight. The rest will have to be shed the hard way and that means exercise. This time around I am going to do my best.

LOVELY BRIDE

I was looking through all the pictures I posted on FB and I came across this one. A picture of my mom on her wedding day. Isn't she just lovely? Guess how old my mom was in this picture? Can you guess? Well, she was 15 years old a month shy of turning 16. Yes, my mom got married way, way, way to young. She was the popular girl in school that guys just go after, the star dancer in the dance troupe. I think my dad was also popular but not as much as my mom. Like most young girls that married young, she was already pregnant. They had a very grand wedding, it was basically the wedding of the year of her time. I have pictures of my moms wedding day, people flocked to see her get married. My parents marriage was doomed from the very start. They end up separating and eventually got divorced. Still, I think my mom is one of the most beautiful bride ever. The first time my husband saw my parents wedding picture he assumed it was me. What a laugh, my mother is way to gorgeous and I am way to plain to even look like her. He insists that I look like her so I will take it since I know that my mom is indeed not just lovely but gorgeous!

TRAVELLING WITH KIDS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Posted by Gaylord Campbell

Travelling during the holidays can be a very difficult experience and travelling with kids during the holidays can make that even worse. Children are not used to crowds and hustle and bustle that travelling can be. If they are tired, it is more difficult for them. When planning a trip during the holidays, you should plan well in advance if you will have children with you. Make sure they have plenty of rest before leaving for your trip and try to explain to them what they might see and all of the people that will be there. Sometimes, if you make the trip sound like an adventure, children will be excited rather than afraid of travelling.

The holidays are full of people trying to get from one place to another and many of them have children with them also. If you remember to take along some travel games with you or if you can make some games up for your children to play, then you should have a much better trip with them. They will be preoccupied with their games and won't have time to think about how much they want to get where you are going and repeatedly say are we there yet. That phrase has been said by just about every child everywhere . But before you leave set your ADT SECURITY SYSTEM. You can avoid that by keeping your kids busy while you are travelling.

REHAD FOR TED

This is a follow up of my blog about the man with a golden voice that got a second chance in life. I have seen news that he is going to rehab, here is a video of his intervention with Dr. Phil.. Yes, he was sober but he has fallen off the wagon. Lets be clear, its not easy being sober from long years of doing vices be it smoking, drinking or drugs, It takes a lot of courage and discipline and focus to stay in the right track. I am just glad that Ted Williams is man enough to realize that in order for him to succeed, he has to ask for help and accept that he needs help. Maybe this time around he will actually make it and stay on top. The road will be tough for him but if he is willing to work through his problems and deal with them as they happen he will make it. I have faith in you Ted Williams.

HOME COOKED NEW YEAR'S EVE DINNER

Guest post written by Joe Huntington

Last year we decided to spend New Year's Eve in and just enjoy each other's company. As part of that, we ordered pizza and sat around in our pajamas watching different New Year's TV specials. But it took forever for the pizza to get there and when it finally did, it was kind of cold. Well, I talked my wife into staying home again this year and letting me cook her a nice dinner instead.

She was a little surprised and skeptical about me cooking dinner for her, but I've done my research and am only taking on things that according to difficulty ratings, should be within my cooking skills range. I found all of the recipes online and just have to go to the grocery store to get some of the last ingredients for the dinner. While I was online finding those recipes, I came across Kennewick 4g INTERNET deals, read up on them and decided to sign up for one of them for our home service.

I can't wait for our New Year's Eve dinner. My wife told me that she would help some, but I'm not going to let her help and just enjoy the nice (hopefully not burning) smells wafting from the kitchen.

AND IT SNOWED

Snow has finally come again and it was enough that the kids had a snow day, that means no school!!. We didn't get that much snow, probably around 3-4 inches as the weather reports said. I had to keep on checking the schools website before I went to sleep to see if there was any info. At around 5 a.m I woke up, thank goodness for Iphone I didn't have to go down to check the computer online. I was so glad to turn off the alarm on my phone when I saw that school was closed for Wednesday. I got to sleep for 2 more hours before the kids woke up. We woke up again to a blanket of white everywhere. Winter with snow is just so beautiful, clean and just so peaceful. If it was not dangerous to drive in snow and the condition I would wish for snow everyday in winter as it looks calmer. The kids had a wonderful time playing outside in the snow and stayed out as long as they could. Will be ever get as much snow as we did last year? Who knows, mother nature will just surprise us.

ALL GROWN UP...SORT OF

Guest post written by Peter Crawford

While doing some independent research for HearingAidsReviews online several weeks ago, I decided to search for baseball gear for my twin grandsons, Justin and Matthew. They are growing up so fast and theyÕre already playing in the little leagues! Their parents have really given them the means to privately train with the best, and at this rate thy may one day be great enough to play baseball at a big university. I used to throw a baseball in the yard with the boys as soon as they were old enough to really throw, and for Christmas I couldnÕt think of any better gifts than ones that could help them with their sport.

They know their granddad spoils them by now. I got them fielding mitts, batters gloves, Nike cleats, etc. They got two Christmas packages that really excited them. I want them do great, if baseball is what they want to do. While I do love the support, I would support my grandsons in any of their life endeavors. They knew that their granddad is always in their corner, no matter what!

WHAT I MISS

I am excited beyond reason this month. Why? I hope to be pregnant by the end of this month or at least within the next 3 months. On my last appointment to my OB-GYN we talked about our desire to have another baby and the difficulty why we have not been able to conceive. What can I say, I miss being pregnant. I miss having a huge belly, feeling the baby move inside of me, taking prenatal vitamins everyday, the never ending hunger and trips to the bathroom. The one thing I don't miss about being pregnant is the nausea and the throwing up. The first trimester was just horrible, it was like hell. The nausea was so bad that anything could trigger the constant trip to the bathroom to throw up. Lucky for me that around 4 months I got over it and I didn't look back after that. I was a happy camper without the nausea. Would my second pregnancy be the same,would my labor be faster, and will I have the twins I have been longing for? Keep checking back for updates.....

SAYONARA SUNBEAM

I love recieving gifts from my husband. Last Christmas was no exception, I could not wait to see what he got for me. Even though I kinda knew what he got for me I was still excited about it. My list only consisted of one thing, a KitchenAid. We have been a little tight on money and I understood that. When my husband started talking to me about what if he got me a stand mixer but not the KitchenAid I wanted. I admit, I was dissapointed but the practical part of me accepted it like a trooper. Christmas day came and sure enough I got my stand mixer but it was a Sunbeam instead of a KitchenAid. I was still happy about it for the simple reason that my husband got it for me. I wanted to try it out right away but to my dismay the box didn't come with a beater attachment. I had to call Sunbeam and ask them to mail me one. And after about 5-7 business day it came. My impression when I first used it is not at all good. It didn't mix my cookie batter well enough. When my husband came home that day I had to tell him that I want it returned so we can get a KitchenAid. He was gracious enough and didn't get upset, I also explained my reason for returning it. So hopefully within the next couple of days I will have returned it and bring home a new Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

PLAYROOM

One of our projects for 2011 is to buy some affordable and elegant light fixtures. The home lighting in our house is not bad but it needs an upgrade so it will look more modern. And not only that, the living room/playroom has no light fixtures at all. We are currently using a lamp that serves as a light in the playroom. I feel like our house needs more lights and fixtures. I don't know how Ralph could have missed not telling the Realtor about it before he got the house. Not only does the living room/playroom need light fixtures it also needs a fresh coat of paint. We painted the house last spring but we didn't not include it seeing that the playroom will only be temporary. I would really love to paint the playroom bright colors for the kids. We will have to see come Spring and see what we can afford to do in the house.

NO CRASH AND BURN

Our computer has reached past its one year marker, lol.. I hope I din't jinx it by celebrating early. For the past 2 years we have been struck my the dilemma of having to replace our computer every year due unforeseen circumstances ( computer virus ). If within 3 months our computer doesn't choke and die on us, we will still be needing a new lcd monitor as the one we have is kinda old. If we can afford it I'd like to get one that has a bigger screen with a built in speaker. Something like the new lcd monitor that my MIL got about 6-8 months ago.Cross my fingers that our computer won't crash on us, if it does let it happen after tax return, lol.

A GRANDDAUGHTERS GIFT

One of the person that left a great impact in my life is my grandma. Growing up we fought like cats and dogs, I hated her with a passion. Everything I did was all wrong or I would do things wrong just to annoy her. My mom was torn between me and my grandma, me as her daughter and my grandma as her mother. I don't know when I started understanding my grandma. I think it was when I was in college and would spent summer in our hometown. We got so close and I really understand and love her now more than ever. That is why when I saw the news about an Omaha couple who chose to have their wedding at a nursing home so her grandmother could see her walk down the aisle really touched me. It was indeed a granddaughters gift to grandma, one that she really values. I would do the same thing for my grandma in a heartbeat. She is the glue that holds our whole family together. She is strong but compassionate, her words may sting but with reason behind it, she is one of a kind. I miss her so much and I was so glad to see her when I went home last July, 2010. It will be another 3 years before I can go home again but she will be in my heart forever.


pietrantoni