A Thank You and some Drivel

I just wanted to thank everyone for participating in Fun Monday yesterday. Cassie had a great time hosting and visiting everyone.





Don't forget to enter my Give Away....the winner will be chosen on Thursday and the next Give Away will begin that day.





This is a picture of my baby Tucker....he is the feral cat we rescued at 2 weeks of age and bottle fed for months....isn't he gorgeous!! He is also pretty dumb...definitely missing some brain cells. He never would have made it as a feral cat. We are both lucky to have each other.

Fun Monday

We are hosting Fun Monday this week....actually Cassie is hosting.....and here she is.....





My assignment this week was to see inside your closet, without your organizing it before the picture!! Here are some pictures of my closet.

I told you that yours could not be messier than mine.
That is just how teenagers are..messy rooms and messy closets.


Yep, I am the Queen of Messy Closets!! Now, let's see if any has a messier closet than me. Here are the other brave participants for this week:

1. Sandy

2. BS

3. Heather

4. Jan

5. Bermudabluez

6. Chris B

7. Angela

8. Cynthia

9. Hula Girl

10. Sayre

11. Bee Dancer

12. Narice - new to Fun Monday!!

13. Big Momma

14. Herb of Grace - new to Fun Monday!!

15. Faye

16. Olive

17. Jessie

18. Hootin' Anni

19. Lil Mouse

20. SwampAngel - unfortunately her camera died.....

21. Janet

22. Gattina

23. Mommy Wizdom - our host for next week!!

24. Grace

25. Sauntering Soul

26. iPost

27. Tiggerlane

28. Karisma

29. Tanya

30. Judy

31. Melanie

I hope I didn't forget anyone...please let me know if I did. Cassie will be by to visit everyone when she comes home from school!!

I am having a Give Away....see here!!

Garden Visitor

I found this little guy last night in my garden. I was walking home from my neighbor's house when I happened to glance up at just the right moment to see him. He is gorgeous and his web is huge. I quickly called out to my family and we all admired him for a few moments. We stared at him while he stared back at us.

Have you ever watched a spider build his web? Many years ago Dave and I had the privilege of watching a web creation. It is truly a scientific marvel. I love spiders, as long as they are in my garden....I don't much like them in my house. I feel the same way about ants and mice.

Fun Monday sign ups are here.

Don't forget to enter my Give Away here.

Give Away....enter here...

For Fun Monday sign ups go here.



Do you know what time it is?? It is time for another give away. I have the newest 3 Chicken Soup for the Soul books to give to 3 lucky bloggers. These books are brand new, hot off the press, ready to find a new home. I will be giving away a book a week. The give away begins today for the first book - Moms Know Best. All you have to do is leave me a comment and I will randomly pick a winner. See how easy it is??? The give away for this book will be open until next Thursday. At that time I will pick a winner and we will start the next book giveaway.

Here is an excerpt from a Chicken Soup for the Soul book:

Excerpt for Reprint
Title: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Moms Know Best
Editors: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Amy Newmark
Publication date: Aug. 26, 2008
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-935096-08-5
Story Title: “In Mom We Trust”
Contributor Name: Rebecca Woolf


In Mom We Trust

The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.
~James A. Garfield

My mom embarrassed me. In fifth grade, she was the mom interrupting sex education with my birthday cupcakes.

In seventh grade, she picked up the phone and told me it was bedtime at 9:30 on a Friday night when I was on the phone with Eric, the cute boy in art class.

And after Sam stood me up on the night of winter formal, my mom stormed into his work
and made a scene, demanding he pay for my unused dress and shoes.

Although (I must admit) it would have been classic to see the look
on his face had I been there, I was furious with her for making matters
even more humiliating.

Mom was always there to serve and protect. She was like a superhero who just seemed to make everything worse.
During the middle years when every month brought changes
in bra size, boyfriends and hair color, my mom was as impossible to
hide from as puberty. She was like a supernatural force, a divine spirit
with psychic abilities. If I made any sort of mistake, she knew about
it before I walked through the front door. She had a sixth sense, and
it wasn’t fair. My friends could experiment and lie and be out past
curfew, and their parents would never in a thousand years catch on.
As for me, if I were to even sample a beer or inhale one drag of a cigarette,
my mom knew. As a result, by high school I had learned that it was best for me not to lie — after all, I knew better. I had a mom who
knew everything, anyway.

And then there was a night when I couldn’t be honest. All my
friends were making a journey down to Mexico for the evening. The
boy I especially liked invited me to come along. He was older and
had a car. I really, really wanted to go. I had resisted in the past,
but this time I found myself agreeing to the invitation. (My parents
thought I was spending the night with my best friend.) We went, and
it was fun and dangerous and stupid, and GREAT! Luckily, we made
it home safely that night, and I spent the night at a friend’s house.
His parents weren’t home, but if they had been, I have a feeling they
wouldn’t have cared that ten high-schoolers were gathered in their
living room after a night in Tijuana. They were the type of parents
who just didn’t seem to care all that much about anything, which at
the time I thought was pretty cool.

The morning after my little rebellious experience, my dad opened
the front door to greet me.
“Hi Bec,” he cheered. My mother put down her dishtowel and
kissed me on the cheek. I waited for her to notice something different
about me, something that might lead her to believe that I had been
up to no good.
“I’m gonna take a shower now,” I began.
She didn’t say anything. She just hugged me tightly and asked
me not to forget to clean my room. I spent twenty minutes in the
shower wondering what I should do. My mom would surely figure it
all out sooner or later. Should I tell her?

I decided to stay rigid. I was a good little actress. I could cover
for myself if I needed to. A lie (just this once) couldn’t hurt anyone.
When I came down for breakfast, I waited for the inquisition, but to
my surprise, it never came. Mom’s crystal ball must have been cloudy
that day, and for once, she didn’t suspect a thing. I was in luck. I was
relieved. I was shocked. I was guilty.

My conscience caught up with me after a few days. I couldn’t
stand it anymore and I told Mom everything, every detail. She cried,
of course, scared for my life, afraid of what could have happened to
me, and through her gentle tears she grounded me — for an entire
month! Why, might you ask, did I tell her? Trust me, I asked myself
that same question every day of that miserable month. I could have
gotten away with it. I know that for a fact — or do I?
Sooner or later she would have probably found out about everything.
And if that had happened, she would have not only grounded
me, but would have lost all of her trust in me, as well. You see, after
the Mexico incident, after I had confessed and then served my sentence,
I eventually earned back my parents’ trust. In return, I was
given a later curfew, not to mention more privileges.
I didn’t tell my parents everything after that. Instead, we had a
system. I told Mom and Dad where I was going, when I would be
back and the important things that were happening in my life. It
turned out that superpsychic mom was cooler than I had originally
thought. I liked that she cared about me and my life, and I really
liked being able to share with her.

Over the years, Mom’s embarrassment factor has dimmed like
an old night light, but she remains the raging superhero she always
was. Even though I’m living one hundred miles away, she brings me
soup if I’m sick, helps with my work when I’m swamped and makes
sure that boyfriends are treating me right. She still has her crystal
ball on hand and will often call me on a bad day to cheer me up even
before I tell her that I was just fired, dumped or just plain lonely. She
has grown to be my best friend, and even though I don’t live at home
anymore, I still confide in her and tell her everything. Well — almost.


~Rebecca Woolf
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Love & Friendship

The Fear Factor

Fun Monday Sign Ups are Here, or just scroll down....Cassie is hosting!!!

Every Wednesday evening Cassie has a tutoring session for an hour in Berkeley. I always bring our dog and go for a walk while she is learning Algebra. The tutoring center is near the University and I love walking in the area. There are some beautiful homes and gardens and sometimes I walk through the campus and people watch. If you have ever been to Berkeley, you know that it is a very interesting city that has a large homeless population.

Normally, I am not scared of a homeless person, but I am very aware of my surroundings at all times.

Tonight was a normal Wednesday night. Michael came with us and we dropped Cassie off and went on our walk. When Michael joins us we always cut our walk short by about 15 minutes so he can have some play time at the park nearby. We had a very nice walk and Michael was very excited to have his park time. He ran to the park and immediately began swinging on the swings. Next to the park are basketball courts and there is always a group of men/boys playing, usually more than one game is going on and tonight was no different.

We had just arrived at the park and I was just about to sit down when I noticed a man walking across the street. He was obviously a homeless man and he was looking at me and began to walk towards me very purposefully. I did not sit down, but remained standing and had my dog standing in front of me. As he came closer I realized that he was a very large man, over 6 ft. tall. He walked right up to me and we had the following conversation:

Homeless Man (HM): What are you afraid of?

Me: Excuse me?

HM: (getting agitated) What are you afraid of?

Me: Nothing. I am not afraid of anything.

HM: You are afraid of the dogs fighting. They were fighting yesterday weren't they?

Me: Yes they were.

HM: They didn't mean to, it was not on purpose.

Me: No, it was an accident.

HM: I thought so.

He then walked away to bother the basketball players. To set the record straight...I was very scared....bravado was what kept my knees from buckling. He had the most gorgeous eyes, in color, but his eyes were full of anger, confusion, and madness. He was definitely "not all there". He was definitely capable of violence, and I was definitely scared.

I called Michael to me and we left very quickly. I did not want to wait around to see what would transpire between Homeless Man and the basketball players.

Looks can be deceiving. Although I appeared nonchalant and maintained constant eye contact with Homeless Man, I was petrified and had massive amounts of adrenaline coursing through my body. I was not aware of what my dog was doing, or Michael, or anyone. I was completely concentrated on Homeless Man, waiting for him to attack. As I look back on this incident I can't believe my behavior. I am afraid of my own shadow. I don't like to walk at night, I don't like to be alone, I am a chicken. You never know how you are going to react until you are thrust into a situation. You may just surprise yourself.

This reminded me of the time my wallet was stolen....I will save that for another post.

Sign Up for Fun Monday Here!!!

I think I may have to change the name of my blog...or let Cassie have her own!! She had a great idea for a Fun Monday, so she is hosting this week....I may help her out a bit!!


Calling all Bloggers!! I'm hosting the next Fun Monday and here is my assignment:


I want to see the inside of your closet!! I want to see if your closet is as messy as mine!!! You can't organize it before you take the picture!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think I have created a bloggy monster!!! She is very excited about hosting this week. Sign up in the comment section...I still can't figure out the Mister Linky thingy. BTW....her closet is a disaster!


The brave Players:

1. Sandy
2. BS
3. Heather
4. Jan
5. Bermudabluez
6. Chris B
7. Angela
8. Cynthia
9. Hula Girl
10. Sayre
11. Bee Dancer
12. Narice - new to Fun Monday!!
13. Big Momma
14. Herb of Grace - new to Fun Monday!!
15. Faye
16. Olive
17. Jessie
18. Hootin' Anni
19. Lil Mouse
20. SwampAngel
21. Janet
22.

Back by Popular Demand

Back by popular demand....a guest blogger.....the one....the only.....Cassie!!!!



I'm back. I received another present in the mail today. It was from Jan. This is my present below.
When I ripped it open I saw two books. They are called "Paper Towns" and "Discovering Pig Magic". They sound very good.
Now to get a closer look at the covers.

This is the package after I opened it. Empty.

Thanks Jan!!! Now to talk about different things. Like you. I have a question for all of you. What is your favorite constellation? Mine is Cassiopeia. It is my favorite because it sort of has my name in it. She also is my favorite because she was a queen.


About my Young Authors, it is going great. I think my favorite poem I have written is called "The Sun".


Thanks for reading my second blog post. Bye!!!

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Swampy....do you want me to send you the empty envelope???

Fun Monday

Our wonderful hostess this week is my good blogging friend Heather and here is her assignment:

The topic: Sports. More specifically, the sports team that you are rabid about. Maybe you love the Dallas Cowboys. Maybe you never miss a Cincinnati Reds game. Perhaps you follow every goal of the Fighting Illini Water Polo team. Or maybe nobody can tear you away from a Manchester United game. I want to hear about whatever sports team(s) that make you cry tears of joy when they win and tears of sorrow when they lose.

I am not much of an American sports fan but I LOVE the real football...also known as English soccer. I can watch American soccer, but I prefer the English Premier League. My favorite team is Manchester United. I have been known to set my alarm clock in the wee morning hours to watch a live game. Most weekends I try and watch the game or I will catch a rerun of it during the week. My favorite player is Wayne Rooney, if fact our orange tabby cat is named Rooney after him!!

Don't forget to check out the post below to see what we did yesterday!!!

Happy Monday!!!!

Race For The Cure

Today we walked for you, your wife, your mother, your sister, your friend, your daughter. Today we walked for women everywhere....for survivors, for their families, in their memory.

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco. Perfect weather for a 5K walk along the Embarcadero. We walked along the water with thousands of others. We saw women wearing pink shirts and scarves on their heads, their baldness not hidden, their fight not complete yet. Women pushing their infants in strollers while proudly wearing their pink shirts and scarves on their heads. We saw groups of families and friends with their loved ones imprinted on their shirts, their battles have ended, but the hope is still there for future generations.

We were a family today. We were a united front. We remembered our family that we lost, our friend that we lost, our family and friend that have survived, their battle won, for now.

The color of the day was pink.....the symbol of hope. Hope for my daughter, for your daughter and granddaughter. Hope that in their lifetime there will be a cure. Their battle will be easier than ours.

As we crossed the starting line in front of the Ferry Building I had tears in my eyes. The amount of people coming together from all walks of life for a united cause blew my mind. Cancer does not discriminate.

We walked down to AT&T park and back. The walk was easy, the mood was light. The views were incredible. I was struck by the joviality of the crowd. Cancer may have taken a part of them but it did not take their soul. The cancer did not win in the end, their essence of life remained. It remained in the people they left behind, the people who impacted their lives. Their souls were vibrantly alive in the survivors and the remainders. The cancer did not win.
My children had a wonderful experience today. They were a part of humankind at its best. The love in the air was palpable. The hope was tangible. We were making a difference.
After our walk we let the children choose the direction of our day. They chose the Rainforest Cafe for lunch.....
....and a drive down Lombard Street before we crossed the bridge to home.

I had a dream two nights ago that has affected me ever since. I dreamed I was having a mammogram and a doctor was doing it. He took film after film after film. He was taking different shots of the same lesion and was coming back into the room to tell me the results of the films....and I woke up. I don't know if I had this dream because of this walk or because of this. I am almost due for my 6 month recheck so I think I had better make an appointment.

My Presents

I have a special guest blogger today....my daughter Cassie!!!!



Hi this is Cassie. Tonight I am writing my mom's blog. I am writing because my mom said I can. I received some presents in the mail today. They were from Karisma. She sent me them because she loves my poetry. I am writing more poetry every day. I hope you are enjoying them. For Young Authors this year I am doing a nature poetry book. It has poems about trees, the sun, clouds, and a whole bunch of nature. Below you can see some pictures of me getting my present in the mail.
When I opened the present, this is what I found. A book, a body wash, a card, earrings, bath foam, and a fairy booklet.
When I opened the card, which by the way was very cute, inside was a note telling me to keep writing poetry.
This is me with all my presents. Earrings in my mouth. Book, card, and fairy booklet in my left hand. My body wash and bath foam in my right.
This is me wearing my pretty earrings. I love the way they look. They are one of my favorite earrings now. I have alot of earrings!!

Thank you Karisma!!! I love all my gifts. Big fairy kisses to you!!


If you want to read more of my poetry tell my mommy to post more on her blog.
Thanks for reading my first blog post......it was fun!!

Fun Monday

Our wonderful hostess this week is Rayne, who is on the crunchy side, and her assignment is the following:





Almost everyone I know keeps things that others would consider junk. Twist ties, used wrapping paper, etc. What thing or things do you hang on to, and why?

I cannot bear to throw away my children's school work. Cassie's shelf in her closet is filled with her old schoolwork, she has a box for each grade, including preschool. Michael's is getting just as bad, but it is not as organized as hers. Obviously this is not junk, but the reality of it is....it could be weeded through and some of it could be tossed....but I don't have the heart to do it yet. Maybe in a few years!!!

Now head on over to Rayne's crunchy place to see all the other hoarders....and don't forget to think of us on September 21st when we are walking a 5K for Breast Cancer!!!

Breast Cancer Walk

Dave, Cassie, Michael, and I will be walking in the 5K walk on Sunday, Sept. 21 in the hopes of raising money to prevent and/or end this horrible disease. We will walking for our friend Kim who we lost last April, Dave's Aunt Mary who also succumbed to this disease, and for my aunt, and my friend Fiona who are survivors and for all women and all people whose lives have been affected by breast cancer.

Please support us in our walk with your thoughts and good wishes on September 21. If you would like to support the Race for the Cure monetarily here is the link:

Our pledges page

If your lives have been affected by Breast Cancer, please let me know so we can walk for you also.

Back to School

School has started!!! We have been in full swing for the past 2 weeks now. Where did summer go? My alarm is set for "school time", I am making lunches, and we have started Homework Hell. What? You don't know what Homework Hell is? You have not lived until you have experienced Homework Hell....the tears, the anguish, the drama, the emotions, the threats, the insanity of it all. Why can't children just get their damn homework done and get over it? Why can't they realize that they will have play time after it is done and that the longer they whine and cry the less play time they get?? Ahh...School has started!!

Don't let that smiling face fool you...he is the king of Homework Hell!! But, in his defense, today he was awesome. All homework was done without any tears, whining, or threats. It was true Homework Heaven. It was so good that he was given back his beloved Pokeman cards that were taken away yesterday in Homework Hell. This little monster (whom I love dearly) is now in the 3rd grade. He has just signed up for the basketball team and is very excited about that. He also had his first cub scout meeting tonight and both him and his father (his den leader) are looking forward to a great scouting year.

This precious angel had her 9th and final "first day of school" at her current school. She is in 8th grade and will graduate this year. She has been attending this school since kindergarten....time flies!!! She just signed up for the volleyball team, is still doing karate (hoping to test for her next belt soon) and we had our first girl scout meeting last week. We are also looking forward to a great scouting year (I am her leader). The best part about her is that she is slowly weaning herself away from Homework Hell!!! We still have some setbacks but it is getting much better!! The end is in sight!!

Life is busy over here right now...but it is also good!!! You get an added bonus today...another poem from my budding 13 year old poet.....

My Parents

My parents are awesome.

They love me all the time.

They are so cool,

And tell me not to whine.

They help me with my homework.

They say I'm oh so smart.

They tuck me in at night,

And don't kill me with a dart.

They say not to be a bad person

They get mad at me when I lie.

I try to make it better

So I make them a pie.

They keep me safe from harm.

They always say they love me.

They tell me to do my best.

They are as nice as can be.

They always want a hug

I pay them back

With lots of

Love.

Written by Cassie

Ok...I have no idea about the dart thing....and a disclaimer....she picks the poems for me to publish, I don't pick them....but you must admit, this one has a good ring to it!!!

Fun Monday

Our wonderful Hostess this week is WoodlandMama and her assignment is:








to write the 1st paragraph of an unusual love story. I admit it was hard, but I am look forward to seeing the results.

I am so sorry WoodlandMama but I must break the rules this week. All my creative juices are being sucked up by making school lunches and nightly homework battles with my son. Alas, I will not leave you empty handed....so....last week I had a number of people ask me the same question regarding my FM post. I thought I would answer your burning question this week...

What is in the aquariums in the corner??

As you can see by the picture we have 3 aquariums in the corner. One of them houses our fish, nothing fancy, just some goldfish. We tried raising fancy fish, but they always died so we have resorted to plain old goldfish!!

The next aquarium houses Sammy our corn snake. We acquired him last March and he is still a baby. He will probably grow to about 3-4 feet in length.

Isn't his coloring gorgeous?? I love his red eyes. He is very tame and likes to be held. He will wrap himself around your wrist and is very content there.

The last aquarium houses Leo our leopard gecko. He came to live with us a year ago last February. He is full grown now and is also very tame.

His favorite place to "ride" in on your head especially if you are wearing a hooded sweatshirt. He will crawl up there and just his head will be sticking out watching everything. I don't know if you can see that hole behind his eye but that is his ear. Because their brain sits in front of their ears you can see all the way through the hole and out the other side.

So there you have it....not quite a romantic love story...but a story nonetheless!!!

For more romance head on over to WoodlandMama's site....

The Front Fell Off

This was too funny not to share. I recieved it in an email from my wonderful husband and we have been laughing about it ever since. It is not a real interview, it is an actual comic routine....Enjoy...

Awards!!!

I think last week was my lucky week....maybe I should have purchased lottery tickets!! I received not one, not two, but three awards!!! How fortunate can a gal get???



My first award is from my wonderful friend Chrys. I love her blog. She has a wonderful family, gorgeous children and her life is full of love and laughter. She is also an extremely talented photographer, she amazes me with her artistic eye. Thank you so much Chrys!!!

This award is from my favorite blogger from Down Under, the one and only Karisma. I am sure we are twins separated at birth, we have so much in common it is scary. She shares a love of fairies and all things mystical. She is an incredible mother, she inspires me to be a better one. Thank you Karisma...fairy kisses and hugs to you!! I also received it from Coffee Bean, one of my original blogging buddies!! Her blog is candidly honest and I love that about her. I have laughed and cried many a time while reading her posts. She always sees the positives in every situation, I greatly admire that. Thanks Coffee Bean!!

This award is from a very special blogging buddy...someone I just had the pleasure of meeting IRL!! The one and only Marmite and Tea. She just had an incredible road trip..check out her place for beautiful photos and wonderful commentary. Alix is just as lovely in person and she is on her blog. Thank you so much....I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet you, it was a very special day for me.

I will pass these awards to the following blogging buddies:

ConverseMomma - if you have not read her blog, run now and do so, you will not be disappointed. Her talent is immense and her posts are always thought provoking.

Karisma - I can't help but give you these awards also....even though you gave me one of them!!

Deb - my favorites Angel's Momma...another insightful blog with thought provoking, beautifully written posts.

Three awards from three beautiful women and given to three beautiful women.