Welcome to my Ramblings Spot

Going to Camp Dubois today…

Today we are heading to Camp Dubois (Illinois) today, around 1 pm, as my brother in law is doing stuff with them.  I’m definitely taking my camera today!!

Gotta run.  Need to feed the kids lunch and jump in the shower. 

Things I've done....

I thought I'd post this fun "Things I've Done" instead. The items in RED are things I've done. 1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band-- the clarinet in elem. and middle school 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland/world 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis-- many times!! 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch -- does scrapbooking count? 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbin 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Gotten flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check *thankfully that hasn't been the case for over 10 years!* 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someones life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee It's fun to realize all the things you've done in your life...and then to see all the great things left to do...

Stuff to do!!

I have quite few things to do today -- things have somewhat taken the back burner due to the surgery I had on 12/10. My things to do today are:

• Dust
• Vacuum
• Laundry
• Mop
• Clean the bathroom
• Fix the movie bookcase
• Dogs bath
• Clean out the icebox
• Make shopping list for Wednesday
• Work on the calendar for crop nights/classes.
• Start working on December's and January's KOTM.

*sigh* there are not enough time in the day to do all fo this, but I will manage somehow! It may take me till tomorrow to finish all of it!  I have all my 3 boys back home as of last friday! They were staying at the in-law's from December 10th till 19th due to my surgery.  I'm so happy that they're home, even though they cause havoc on the house, LOL! ;)

Cops, bikers take kids Christmas shopping

Cops, bikers take kids Christmas shopping

Twenty-six children participate in Shop-with-a-Cop program

December 14, 2008 - 7:51 PM  By CYNTHIA M. ELLIS The Telegraph

Direct link to the website

WOOD RIVER - Six-year-old Breanna Belfield smiled as she hopped from one clothing rack to another last week at the Wal-Mart Supercenter. "Look at this," Breanna said as she held up a pink T-shirt imprinted with her favorite pop star, Hannah Montana. As the precocious Eastwood Elementary School first-grader continued picking out items Wednesday night, she showed them to her mother, Michele Belfield of East Alton. "(Breanna) loves Hannah Montana," Belfield said. "She really is enjoying this. She never gets new clothes. She always gets things secondhand or from yard sales and thrift stores." Breanna was one of 26 children who took part in the seventh annual Shop-with-a-Cop program, sponsored by law enforcement agencies from East Alton, Wood River, Roxana, Bethalto, Hartford and South Roxana, along with the Madison County Sheriff's Department and Dream Weavers Motorcycle Club. Belfield stood back as Breanna walked alongside the cart with East Alton police officer Mike McCormick, his wife, Ashley McCormick, and friend Megan Koelker of Glen Carbon, who is also the fiancee of Glen Carbon police officer Jeff Blind. Mike McCormick kept a tally of the purchases, while the two women helped the young girl find the "really cool clothes." Each child gets to spend $300 - $100 for clothes, $100 for toys and $100 for household essentials, said Sgt. Brent Wells of the East Alton Police Department, the organizer of the event. He said the program is especially beneficial to disadvantaged families during the holiday season. Wells said half of the children were taken shopping on Wednesday night and the other half on Thursday night. "There are a lot of people who work hard but can't quite get their kids what they would like to for Christmas," he said. Wells said besides helping families afford Christmas, the event benefits the police department. "Some of us look forward to this all year," Wells said. "It allows us to have positive contact with children." Wells said underprivileged children come across more negative experiences with police than positive. The same goes for those in motorcycle clubs. "Most people don't think the two mix," he said. He said the program allows everyone to interact with children in an uplifting atmosphere. Belfield agreed. "Breanna is at the age she doesn't know quite what to think about police, and this is a really positive experience," she said. Belfield said she appreciates the kindness. "We're not used to something good happening," she said. Belfield said she and Breanna's father are divorced, and he lives in Iowa. She said the two live on her disability payments, and it makes it tough getting by sometimes. "Words really cannot express how I'm feeling about all this," she said. "It's probably the kindest thing anyone has ever done for us." She said she volunteers with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to keep herself busy. "I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year," she said. Belfield said her oldest son, who is 23 and in the U.S. Army, will be home for the holidays. "He's in the honor guard at Arlington National Cemetery," she said. "I'm just so proud of him." She said she also has a 21-year-old son. Debbie McNeal, a member of Dream Weavers, said it was her first year attending the event. "This is so much fun," McNeal said. "I had a ball taking these kids shopping. The look on their faces makes it all worth it." Deana Bantle agreed. She said shopping with the children truly brings out the "spirit of giving." McNeal said she is co-chairing the event in 2009 with Deana Bantle's husband, Bob Bantle. "We are already accepting donations for next year," McNeal said. "It takes us that long to raise the money and get everything together." The motorcycle club holds events throughout the year, including an auction, dinner and dance in the fall. McNeal said anyone interested in making a donation can contact her or Bantle at (618) 541-2522 or (618) 741-0878. Besides the thanks and hugs police officers and motorcycle club members received, the sweetest gesture came Wednesday night from 10-year-old Brennen Bazzell, son of Sgt. Lee Bazzell of the Roxana Police Department. "When I told (Brennen) the purpose of what we were doing, he asked if he could give all the money from his piggy bank," Bazzell said. Brennen carried a plastic bag filled with loose change and dollar bills with him through the store as he and his family shopped with a group of children whose father died in early November. When the group checked out, he handed the store's clerk all that he had - $37.61. "That has to be the sweetest thing any kid can do," McNeal said. "How many kids would give up money from their piggy bank to give to someone else so they will have a better Christmas?"

Aiden's 5 today!

new hair color :)

I had my hair colored again.  I normally get it colored every 6 weeks or so.   It has caramel tone underneath it, but the highlight is normally plaitum blonde.  This time, I decided to do what Jeff want me to do PARTIALLY!  I had the highlights switched out to "Flame Red" streaks :)  However, the picture make it look "orange". It is NOT!

Today's ramblings :)

The shipping has been very good for CTMH!  I put in the order late Saturday afternoon, fully expecting that it wouldn’t be able to ship out till today or tomorrow since the weekend usually get packed, so I figured it’d be here NEXT Tuesday..  WRONG!! Well I got the notification yesterday afternoon around 1 pm and it is scheduled to be here Thursday afternoon!!!   It was JUST picked Monday then be here Thursday!? Talk about fast shipping! :) I caved in and bought the CTMH's Original Card book. SO now I’m all done with the books.   Will be working on December’s Kits of the Month. I'm really looking forward because the first set is going to kick butt!! I really worked my rear off yesterday – Now that I got the new vacuum on Thursday – Jeff put it together for me.   Yesterday, I pulled all of the furnitures away from the wall and cleaned the walls and got everything out of the way. Vacuumed everything. OMG!  It was sooooo dirty!!  I can’t even tell you when the last time I did that for the living room!  I’m thinking 5 years?!  EWW!! It was so nasty!  I had to dump the vacuum container FOUR TIMES!! Just for the living room!!  That’s how dirty it was! I started in there at 10 am and finished at 2 pm!!  Yeah, that’s how long it took me to really clean everything out. Now my back’s paying for it. It’s just very very sore..  not threw out.   Today I’m just going to tackle the bathroom; something easy.. – Tomorrow I plan to do either my scrapbook room OR the front room.  I’m not sure yet..Hopefully by next Sunday I’ll have everything really cleaned then it will be easier to clean it up afterward.Then I wouldn't have to freak before the surgery about what I need to do. Oh yeah that reminds me!! I got the paperworks for the surgery date.  The surgery is December 10th at 1 pm! YES, at 1 pm! I was like uh oh, I'm going to be so hungry!  UGH!  So it DOES look like at this point, that I will be spending the night at the hospital, which I was hoping to avoid!!   So my pre-op is Dec 3rd and post-op is Dec 18th.  So it does look like I'll be activated sometime after Christmas to the first part of the year.  I'm hoping to talk to Brenda today and see if we can go ahead and set up the schedule for the activation for the left side so I can work around the kids since they will be off from Dec 19th till Jan 5th for their Christmas Break. Well, It’s gonna be rainy day today. EW!   Kids have no school today!  I have appointment in STL at 11 am. So, I am dropping the kids off at Jeff's mom’s at 9:30 am.  Thankfully soccer is done!! :) I’m gonna let the kids sleep in today. I made Jeff get me up because I’m not doing good with getting up with the alarm clock anymore… so hopefully after Christmas, I can get back on that and don’t need Jeff to wake me up. It sucks!! Okay I’m off to hop in shower before kids get up so I can have some quiet time to myself, hopefully. LOL!

LOST premiere date!!

Jeff got me hooked on the tv show, LOST right when they started showing the repeats.  The new date is January 21st!!  WHOO! You can find it on their offical LOST website.

KIRSTIAN! :) For ya! Recaps on Ghost Whisper

I found a blog that does recaps on GW.  Here's the link.  Hope this helps ya!!

Ghost Whisper! OMG! (11/7/08)

OMG!! I did not get to watch it until Saturday afternoon. Friday night I was busy working on my websites. When I got ready to watch it, my oldest son, who is 11 years old had warned me to make sure I had some Kleenex on it. I said Oh really, so something's going to happen and he said Yes mom, just watch it. If you read my original post about this. You can see I had some hunch about this. I'm still in shock about this!! At the same time, I wonder what the heck the writers were thinking about writing him out, but having him show up as ghost?! That's not fair to Mel!  She was ready to make a baby with her hubby and they do this!? ARGH! I guess we'll find out next week!   I'll check back in a few days on line to see if I can find the full video and post the link here.