Good Morning

Good Morning Everyone,
I have not been having the best of mornings. My son is in emergency, he has been there since last night. He also went on Sunday night. He is in terrible pain and they can't figure out what is wrong with him. Last night they ended up keeping him and they are arranging a consult with a surgeon. He has had ultrasounds, MRI's and catscans and they have not found anything. His white blood cell count is very high so there is something going on. He is in ALOT of pain. I hope they find something out soon. My husband and I were up there last night and I am going to be heading back up there in just a little while. Right now it is just a waiting game. Please keep him in your prayers.
I finished my book "Message from Nam" by Danielle Steele. I liked the book but towards the end it got to the point where I just wanted to find out the end result. (which is always the same in a danielle steele book but...) so I ended up skimming though the last 50 or so pages and got to the finish. I am half way through my new book it is "Sinners" by Jackie Collins. I really like this one. I have made a deal with myself that I will finish all the stacks of books that I have around here before I buy another book or before I go get any more from the library. I am a self admited book addict. I have books that have been sitting here for years that I haven't read yet because I keep getting more . I have 8 books that I have started but not finished, not because I didn't like the book but because I bought another and started it. So I made the deal with myself to get rid of the piles. I did manage to do it with the magazines! That was another whole mess there! I think I had 20 subscriptions and then I would still buy more at the stands. Bad huh? Well they would sit and sit and sit because I had so many I just didn't know where to start and I couldn't bring myself to throw any away before I had gone through them! While I was on vacation I managed to make a huge dent in those magazines. I only have one bag left and as new ones come in I sit down with them and go though them so they are not being added to the piles. It is starting to look much better next to my bed now! Not as many piles! I also have not renewed any of the subscriptions that have come up for renewal. That was tough. I am only keeping a few. The ones I really like, Runners World and Shape. Those are the ones I am keeping. The boys love Runners World too so that is a good choice, it gets read by three people.
Well I am off to the hospital. Hopefully I will get to finish my book. And then get to work on one of the others that I have started at some point! I pinky promise I can do this!!!

changes......

I guess we are going to be traveling down a new road now.  AOL journals is closing.  So sad.  I have made so many friends here and I will miss them if they choose not to blog someplace else.  I hope you all do choose to continue blogging someplace else.  If you do please send me the link so I can continue to follow you.  Here is the link to my new one.

http://sangriatimescontinuehere.blogspot.com/

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Big day!

Today is the anniversary of Mom's death.  It has been 10 years.  It seems like yesterday in so many ways but in so many others it seems forever ago.  My mom and dad are the ones on the far right.  Her hair looks crazy in this picture! I hated this day for several years.  It was so hard just to make it through the day.  I honestly believe she hated how badly I felt every year on this day.  So four years ago she sent me a gift.  A beautiful, wonderful gift and his name is AIDEN.  Aiden wasn't due until November 7th (which is my birthday) so he came quite early.  He struggled for quite a few weeks in NICU but he pulled through and as most of you know he is the light of my life!
I still cry on this day.  I still struggle but I know she doesn't want me to.  I know she wants me to be happy so in just a few hours I will call that little boy up and I will sing Happy Birthday to him and he will talk to me and my day will be wonderful after that.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!!  Grandma loves you more than words can say.

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Is it true?

Ok I am wondering.....if you consider yourself a democrat or if you vote democrate mean that you are not a Christian?? 

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Ok I admit it.....

I admit it.  I love love stories.  I know I told you all that I was reading a book and I just could not get into it.  I really tried to like it, I swear I did.  The book was a book by the name of "Magic Hour"  the author is "Susan Isaacs".  A murder mystery.   I know that the book is a good one because I did not want to put it down but I just could not get into it.   Just not my kind of book.  I read 130 pages of 450 page book and still was not into it.  I swear I tried but it just wasn't there for me.  So tonight when I came home I read a few pages and said  "this isn't me".  Set the book down and went and picked a book out of my pile (and yes I do mean PILE)  Hummmm....Danielle Steele....... I could feel the vibes of goodness (LOL) as soon as I picked it up...."Message from Nam" .......................I swear to you, I tried to reform.............I tried to love or at least LIKE  a different type of book but I am hooked........and I am only on page 17!!!  I must leave you all to go read.................

Feeling better

Good Morning.  I am feeling better this morning.  I still have nothing resolved with my family but it is amazing what some sleep will do for your spirits.  I still have no idea what I am going to do about it but I do know that I am going to give it some time before I decide. 
I am working some crazy hours this week.  One of the supervisors where I work is off for a few days and I am covering.  I am working from noon till 10pm each day.  I do 10 hour shifts and have Monday's off but I normally work from 6am till 4pm.  This shift is much different.  I feel like I do not get anything done!  It feels like the only time I am home is when I am sleeping!  I am glad that is for only a few days.  If I had to work the afternoon shift for any length of time I would have to go back to working 5 days 8 hour shifts so that I could have some time during the day to get things done. 
This weekend Mark and I are going to the U of M game.  I am very excited about it.  We have season tickets but we have not been able to go to the first two games because of conflicts schedule wise.  We sold the first two games and now we get to go to this one!!  I am very much looking forward to spending some time with my husband.  We seem to be two ships passing in the night lately!   Life sure does get in the way of things sometimes.
We will be leaving for Talladega next week.  Thursday through Monday!!  I can't wait to see Linda.  Talladega is always so much fun.  (Nascar racing event for those of you that don't know!)  The only thing that I don't like about it is the drive.  It takes 12 hours to get there.  That is a long car drive.  Oh well it is worth it.  That is another 12 hours I get to spend with my husband alone right?
Well I need to get out the door and get my run in before work.  Have a great day!

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Brain dead

I think my brain is on overload.  The last two days have been filled with stress and I just don't get it.   Sometimes family can drive you just about crazy.  I'm not talking about my kids either, cuz they do thier own little number on me, but I am talking about my brother and sister.  I still am not sure how the whole situation spiraled out of control so quickly.  But one thing led to another very quickly and harsh words were spoken, unfortunatly to me.  I didnt' deal well with it.  I am not sure how we are going to mend this one but it is going to take awhile.  Maybe, if ever.  Not sure at this point.  My brother is a very stubborn man and I am not sure it will ever get worked out.  I have cried for the last 24 hours about this and I can't cry anymore.  Who knows what will happen.  I just know that I am exhausted from the whole ordeal and am left wondering what the hell happened to make this all so crazy.
I wish I had some happier things to talk about, oh wait I do have one really happy thing.  I made another 247.00 at the bucket drive this weekend!  THat did make me very happy to get that email telling me that.  I am very excited about going to San Franciso for this marathon.  We are leaving on Oct. 15 and we are staying for a week.  We have lots of things planned for the week.  It will be fun and I am looking forward to getting away that is for sure. 
I am worn out I am going to go to bed and hopefully sleep much better than I did last night.
I do have one question for you all though.
How many pages do you continue to read into a book when it just isn't getting it for you?  I am on page 106 and am not sure I like this book yet?  Do I give up on it?  Just throw it out?  (that seems a so hard for me to do!!)  Or do I keep reading and hope it gets better???

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Hello

Now just look at that picture.  I look awesome don't I?  Ok so my husband will tell yo that I look awesome now, but he is my husband and he loves me no matter what.  I, on the other hand, need to love myself again.  No I am not wanting to be the skinniest thing on earth.   But I do want to have the shape of something other than an apple again.  I am not sure an apple is the right description, an apple doesn't  have skinny arms and legs.... so what would that be? 
Tuesday is weigh in, and yes I am looking forward to it.  I want to know if what I have been doing is right or wrong.
This weekend has been good so far.  I did the "bucket drive" today.  Something really sad happended to me today when I was doing the bucket drive.....  when you are doing the bucket drive you learn to ask EVERYONE who walks by if they would like to make a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  And I do that NO MATTER WHAT.   Today a lady was walking into the storee, she was dressed, very nicely,  skirt, nice shirt , heels.
I asked her if she would like to make a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  She stopped and looked at me.   I guess if you have never done a bucket drive you would not understand how odd that was.  Sometimes people stop and take out their wallets and donate, sometimes they say sorry  I can't right now and sometimes they just ignore you.  They don't ususally stop and just look at you.  But she did.  She said " I am very sorry, I have no cash on me, I forgot to go to the bank to get money for the minister."  I said "it's ok, have a nice day" .  She still stood there.  She looked right at me and said  " I am going to my son's funeral and I forgot to get money to pay the minister, so I have to stop at the ATM inside the store to get the money to pay him, I wish I had some cash to give you" . 
HELLO!  What do I say to that??   It was so obvious by this womans demeanor and her words and her dress and everything about her that she was not lying to me................................
I hugged her.  Maybe she could of hit me.  Who knows what I would of done if a complete stranger hadhugged me the day of my son's funeral.  She didn't, she hugged me back. 
All is right with my world right now.

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Isn't he just he cutest?? I just love this boy.  He loves to come to my house to go in the lake. I am not sure he remembers that it freezes.  Could be tramatizing this winter.
So my girlfriend and I joined a biggest loser culb on line. It is a free one.  I really like it.  I lost one pound this past week. She lost two. How come the other person always loses more?
So we texted back and forth all during the season preimere of The biggest loser (which I had never watched before but she has been a devoted fan forever) and of course I feel in love with the show and now I want to be "THE BIGGEST LOSER" but of course you must remember,  she lost more than me the first week!!  You all need to cheer me on here, she is not a part of jland so you won't be betraying anyone!!
I will keep you posted to let you know how I did next week.  The best part about this whole site is that it is FREE!!  Gotta love that.  Aiden needs to have the hottest gramma around right???

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Good Morning!

Good Morning Everyone! 
It is very cloudy and dark out this morning.  While I was driving Kristen to school it looked as if it was going to rain some more.  It hasn't  yet but it sure looks like it is going to. 
I didn't get much cleaning done yesterday.  I didn't feel so well when I got home from the bucket drive yesterday so I laid down on the couch when we got it.  Well that laid down on the couch thing turned into a four hour nap.  I didn't feel any better when I woke up either.  I did manage to get the dishes into the dishwasher and running and a load of laundy into the washer but that was the extent of my cleaning.  I went to bed at 9 and slept the entire night.  Either I am trying to come down with something or I was very tired.  Feels more like trying to come down with something.
I have been looking at the recently updated journal entries lately, and the most commented ones.  I have found alot of journals that I am really likeing!  I love going though journals and finding new ones to read.  I just don't seem to have the time to do it often. 
I only have a few more weeks till my marathon.  I am so excited about this one.  My husband and my daugther and her best friend are going with me to San Francisco.  I booked our flights and our hotel and rental car last week.  The girls are so excited for this trip.  I am not sure when the last time they have been on a vacation.  We are staying there for an entire week.  It should be alot of fun.  My girlfriend, Brenda and her husband Rick are going also.  Brenda is running the marathon with me.  I have a partner this time.  That makes it so much nicer.  Not easier, just nicer!
I got an email this morning, telling me that i had made 206.00 for Saturday's bucket drive.  That is awesome!  Now I am waiting to hear how much I made for Sundays. Hopefully it will be around the same amount.  I could use it, I am very behind in my fundraising but that should help.  I also have another bucket drive that i am doing next weekend.  Every little bit helps that is for sure. 
Well I need to get my butt in gear.  I have to get to the gym today and I really need to do some cleaning around here. 
Have a great day.

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Easy like Sunday morning......

I made it though the long day yesterday!  I may have been soaking wet by the end of it but I did make it. 
The bucket drive went well.  We made almost $700 yesterday and we had four people throughout the day so that will be a little over $100 dollars each for our fundraising.  It will be added to today also but I am not sure how many are working and if it is the same people as yesterday.  So it will end up being a bit more than that.  I have to get through my three hour shift today and then I will be free.  Free to clean house I guess!
After the bucket drive I went to Kristens game.  The football team won 32 to 0.  It has been raining and raining and raining some more here since Friday.  Yesteday it was raining when I started the bucket drive and it was raining four hours later when I was done.  The rain did not stop once in that entire time.  It slowed but it never stopped.  The football field was a mess, the boys were covered in mud.  I wasn't sure they were going to make the girls cheer but they did and they stood out there for the whole game and cheered.  I brought Kristen and her friend home for a shower right after.
Kristen was spending the night at her friends and I was going off to the party for Suzanne.  My drive there was horrible.  I am surprised that I drove the entire way (it is a 40 minute drive on a good day)  It was raining so hard at times that you couldn't see any farther than right in front of you.  The freeway was flooded in several spots.   It was very important to me to be at Suzannes 40th.  The rain was stopping by the time I got to the bar.  The bar we went to is called Boogie Fever.  I love Boogie Fever!   I danced ALOT last night.  I didn't drink last night (well I did drink water) it is just to long of a drive home and the weather was so bad.  The drive home was not anywhere near as bad as the one there.  It was still drizziling but not pouring.  I got home around 1am. 
Now I am just having some coffee, trying to wake myself up a bit and getting ready to head out to to the bucket drive.  Hope you all have a great day!

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Busy day

Today is going to be busy for me.  I have to leave in a few minutes so work a "bucket drive" to raise money for the marathon for the leukemia society.  I will be there for four hours asking for donations.  I have done lots of bucket drives and they really are  not that bad, just alot of standing around.  Tomorrow I will be working it for three hours.  After the bucket drive I will have to run home and pick up Kristen and take her to her football game.  She is cheering today.  Looks like we are both going to be getting very wet since it has been raining for two days and it doesn't look as if it is going to stop any time soon.  Tonight after the game is my girlfriends 40th bday party.  It is going to be at a bar called "Boogie Fever"  I just love this bar.  They play 80's music, which is my favorite and they have a huge dance floor and I love to dance!  Any one want to come with me??
So from the minute I leave the door today I will be moving!  Tomorrow after the bucket drive (9am till noon) I will be done with all I have to do for the weekend.  I will be coming home from there and doing some cleaning.  I also have Monday's off since I work 10 hour shifts tuesday thru friday so Monday is going to be a relax day for me since I should have all the housework done by then!! 
I only have a few more weeks till we go to Talladega for the Nascar race and to see my bestest friend, Linda!  We have been planning for quite awhile, we go every year but we have to make it bigger and better each year.  So we are tossing around drink ideas right now.  Trying to find something good.  Any one got any ideas on good drinks?  Well I am off to do the bucket drive.  Have a great day.

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I don't mean to be pushy

I don't mean to be pushy but I am begging!  I am so far behind in my fundraising, it's making me a little nervous.  So if you would like to check out my page to decide if you would like to help I would appreciate it so much!  If you would like to help me and pass this along or post it in your journal that would be great appreciated also.  Even a dollar will get me closer to my goal.  Thanks Linda
http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/nikesf08/llawrenmqo

First college cross country meet

So after the funeral Kristen and I drove to Grand Valley so we could see Josh's first college cross country meet.  Josh is "red shirted" which means that he basically a fresman and his time and place is not used in the calculation of the race.  There are over 40 boys on the team and Josh came in 12th for his team, which is AWESOME!  He may get to wear one of those Grand Valley jerseys this year!  They are only allowed to compete for a certain number of years in college, and Josh is in a 6 year program so the longer he is "red shirted" the longer he will be able to be on the team.  Does that make sense to anyone but me?  I am not very good at explaining it although I understand it.  It was so good to see him looking so happy.  He really does like it there.

This is at the finish of his race and that is his high school coach who wanted to come see him run his first race.  I think that was awesome that he would be there for Josh.  The team had a cook out for all the parents and family and friends that showed up for the meet so we were able to eat with Josh also.  That was nice.  I hated to leave him again, but I think that is what life is going to be about now.
After Josh's race and the dinner, Kristen and I drove to Muskegon to see my girlfriend, Linda.  We didn't get there till late so we didn't do much but sit up and talk till late that night.  We went out to see Lake Michigan Friday morning.  Kristen had never seen it before and she just loved it!  We did a little bit of hiking though some dunes and walked in the water a bit.  It was COLD!  We had a great time but didn't get to stay long since Linda had to work and we had to get home.  We want to go back up there and camp next summer, they had an awesome camp ground that was in the state part, right on Lake Muskegon.  I can't wait for that trip!

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where have I been??

Yep, its a residence hall.  I saw way to many of these in the past few weeks.  My life has been totally crazy for the past two weeks, I am amazed that I have survived it.  But I did and I am here to tell about it!
On the 17th I took Josh off to Grand Valley.  I thought I was going to not make it through it but I did.  I left knowing he had everything he needed and that he was happy where he was.  Cried like a baby all the way home but hey it was done.
On the 18th I took John off to Central.  Tough tough tough!  But he loved it there too.
I only needed to make it through work on the Friday and I would be on vacation for a week!  I thought it was going to be such a wonderful week. 
It all started on Sunday night.  I had enjoyed Friday night and Saturday and all day Sunday at the camper with our friends and family.  Sunday night my SIL had a bit to much to drink and fell going into her camper and messed up her nose, her lip and her chin.  It was a mess.  Long story behind all of that with the drinking.  I got up out of bed and went over there to help her.  Finally got her into bed and went back to my own camper.  My phone started ringing.  It was my cousin telling me that my Uncle had passed away.  So now I knew I would be traveling to a funeral for my vacation. 
My step daughter and I left on Wednesday.  There was viewing on Wednesday night and the funeral was on Thursday.  I took Kristen by the house that my grandma lived in and where I spent many of my weekends in the summer when she was alive.  It was very strange seeing the house again.  It looked so run down it made me a little sad. 
My aunt and uncle have owned cottages on the lake for ever since I can remember.  The cottages were made available for family to stay in so that we would be able to be close to the funeral home.  I have always loved their house and those cottages.  I spent alot of time there when I was growing up.  My aunt and uncle lived closed to my grandma but my mom and my other aunt had moved closer to Detroit, about 3 hours away from grandma.  I know the occasion was sad but I really loved seeing and staying it those cabins again.  My uncle had been in ICU for about six weeks before he passed and I think he was in pain, so his passing was almost a blessing.  He knew the Lord and he is in heaven now, so he has no pain anymore.

Cabins on the lake!

Lake during the day.

Lake in the early morning while I was sitting on the bench drinking coffee.

After the funeral they had a luncheon.  It was very nice.  My cousin, Mary, invited us over to her house after also.  I had been to Mary's house last year for my uncles 80th bday party.  ( I know there is an entry about that in here somewhere)  Her house then was amazing, but they had a new house built this past year.  It is in the same sub division as the other one but this new house took my breath away!  Kristen kept saying "this is my dream house!"  LOL!  Mary is the sweetest girl alive and I can't think of anyone who deserves such wonderful things more than her.  Even Kristen told me that she always thought rich people would be snotty but Mary and Tim were sooooooooo nice.  I couldn't agree more.  Here is a picture of the new house.



Well Kristen and I decided to make the most of a sad time and go on a little "mini-vacation" for a few days.  I will post more about that tomorrow!

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UGH

This is a part of the group that Mark and I camp with.  There are ALOT of couples that camp with us and we have become good friends with.  This weekend, starting as soon as I leave work tomorrow, is GIRLS WEEKEND!  I can't wait.  I work to much and need a damn break.  All these girls will be there plus some more.  FUN FUN FUN!!

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Busy Week

This week was really busy for me.  It seemed like we had something to do every day this week. 
Sunday night Mark and I went to see Melissa Ethridge with some friends of ours.  She was awesome.  This was the 2nd time that I have seen her in concert.  The first time was right before she was diagnoised with breast cancer.  She came out with the awakening album after that.  That album is great.  I still love Lucky the most though.  Her concert was really cool.  She made the concert into a little story of her life and the songs she sang were about each stage in her life.  Funny I never realized that alot of her songs were so real to her life.
Wednesday night I went to see my favorite of all time perfomer.  I have seen Rod at least 10 times.  Rod Stewart and the Faces were my older sisters favorite and I grew up listening to him.  It carried over into my adult life also.  I just love seeing him in concert and I never tire of seeing him.  If any of you have ever been to a Rod Stewart concert you know that he kicks soccer balls out into the audience each concert he does.  They are autographed by him.  I caught one of those socceer balls on his 2004 tour and it is one of my "prized possesions"!  That was the highlight of my week for sure.

These are a few of the pics that I took at the concert.  I took my older sister with me since she is the one that introduced me to Rod to begin with!  That is her and I at the concert.  I took so many pictures! 
The other really exciting event this week was the new addition to our family.  Her name is Maggie May (yep after Rod Stewarts song, it has always been my favorite)  She is 8 weeks old (born June 9th) and she is a multipoo.  I am totally in love with her already.  So is everyone in the house, oh yea all my neighbors too!

I think she is just so cute!  Our other dogs and our cat have all adjusted to her being her already.  Diva (the cat) did not like her at all for the first day or two but now they chase each other around the house.  It is comical to watch.  House breaking is going alot better than I thought. 

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Wow I didn't realize that it had been that long since I had made an entry in my journal!  I guess that means that nothing exciting has happened around my house.  That probably isn't true but I have no other excuse.

John and Josh are getting ready to leave for college.  Josh leaves on the 14th and John leaves on the 20th.  It is coming up fast.  I am not sure I am ready but I know that I don't have a choice.  Getting everything they need and taking care of all the financial aid forms and all the stuff that goes with that sure does take alot of time!  I think we now have everything in place for both of them though.  I hope!

We have been staying at the camper alot.  We just brought it home this past week (Monday) and I am enjoying my time at home.  I love the camper but after two weeks I am ready to come home and stay there for awhile.  We won't be taking the camper back until the 14th.  It is "girls" weekend.  Only girls allowed at the camper that weekend.  We will bring it home that Sunday (the 17th) but will take it back up there on that Tuesday (the 19th) and it will stay there for at least two weeks after that.  I will be on vacation the last week of August so it will be fun. I can't wait.  Ineed one!

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25 things I love about my husband

For some reason I can't add pictures today.  Oh well I guess  I will have to do without

1.  He makes me feel loved.

2. He makes my children feel loved.

3. He was brave enough to date a woman with 5 children, who were all teen agers at the time.

4. He loves working at the church as security for the babies.

5 He loves working at with the high school youth group at church.

6. He loves his Mom and Dad.

7.  He loves his brothers and sisters.

8. He enjoys his job and likes to go to work each day.

9. He never calls in sick to work.

10. He loves to go camping with me.

11. He pays all the bills.

12. He cleans the house.

13. He likes to go see my boys at thier sporting events.

14.  He is a great dad to his daughter.

15. He likes to cook.

16. He sits in the hot tub with me and listens to me complian if I need to.

17. He doesn't feel the need to "fix" my problems he knows I just want to vent, and he lets me.

18. He gets me a glass of wine so I can unwind when I have had a bad day.

19.  When he knows my feelings are hurt by someone else, he always asks "what can I do to make you feel better?"

20. He always asks if I need money for lunch, even if he just gave me money for lunch the day before.

21. He is very good looking!

22. He loves our animals.

23.  He is letting me get my new dog Maggie.

24. He goes to all the football games his daugther cheers.

25. He volunteers to be the "team mom" for his daughters cheerleading team!!

 

I could go on, but it said 25 so I did 25!

Been along time since I have done one of these

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?  Yes

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Sunday

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Not so much lunch meat but I love tuna fish

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes, 1 daughter, one stepdaughter and four sons

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes on most days
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? sometimes but I try not to

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS Yep

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? NO WAY

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? oatmeal
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?  YES

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Lots of them are my favorites!

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Depends on the person, I don't notice the same thing about everyone

15. RED OR PINK? Red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Weight

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST My mom

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? not worried about that so much

19. WHAT COLOR  SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? purple and white asics running shoes

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? omlet

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? nothing on in here

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?  Blue

23. FAVORITE SMELL?  freshly cut grass

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? debbie

25. FAMOUS PERSON YOU WOULD LIKE TO MEET?  can't think of one
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?  yes
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Nascar
27. HAIR COLOR? blonde
28. EYE COLOR? blue

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? I have but I don't anymore
30. FAVORITE FOOD? mexican

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPYENDINGS? Happy
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? blades of glory

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? I am wearing scrubs

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? summer

35. HUGS OR KISSES? both

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? hot fudge ice cream cake

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? not sure

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?  not sure
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I can't remember the name I will look when I get home and post it

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Leukemia and lymphoma society team in training

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Twilight zone

42. FAVORITE SOUND? Aiden's voice

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Stones

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?  Mexico

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? hummmm

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? MI

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?  All of them

Cant think of a title

I don't know how many of you read my old journal before I deleted it, but in that journal I wrote about the day that I was baptized.  It was a wonderful day for me.  Before we were dipped in the water we were allowed to say something first if we wanted to.  All of my children were there with me that day. Only one of my children, on that day, had the same beliefs in Jesus Christ, that I did.  They did go to church with me and I prayed that they would understand the way that I had come to understand.  That was the only thing that I said that day.........that I hoped that my children would understand someday what it was that I believed.   I didn't want to be pushy and slam the things that I had come to believe down thier throats.  I had not gone to church when they were little so thier Mom going to church was a new thing to them.  I wanted the to explore and make thier own decisions.  Oddly enough, the only son who was interested in even exploring was my son, Robbie.  Robbie is gay and he had had experiences with "religion" that had left him feeling........not so warm, shall we say.  Robbie had many talks with our teaching minister.  He really was an awesome man.  The pastor of the church at the time refused to baptize Robbie because of Robbie "lifestyle" as he called it.  The teaching minister came to our house and baptized Robbie in our lake.  The teaching minister, and us, are no longer at that church. 
Well anyways back to the picture.  My youngest son, yes the youngest of the twins came home with this tatto.  I was surprised that he got one.  He had never shown much interest in one.  He has been involved with the  youth group of our church for awhile bit I wasn't sure where his beliefs were headed.  He went to a camp for a week in January and when he came home he told me it was "awesome".  OK, that sounds good, I was thinking.  The tatto is a cross (duh) with his favorite bible verse ( I didn't even know he had one) and the date 1-19-2008 is the date he accepted Christ into his life.  That would be while he was at that camp.  That would be why it was so awesome.  Ok Lord, two down, three to go....................Thank you Lord.  

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Thank you

I want to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.  Let me tell you first off that no one in my family is hurt.  One of my kids did get into trouble though and it is going to be a long road of repair.   Although I was very disappointed and scared and angry, I do know that what happened happens to alot of people.  I don't want to go into detail, it wouldn't be fair but I wanted you all to know that everything is ok.  I had just hoped that they would of listened to me better!  Don't all Mom's say that?
On to better things.  The picture I posted today was taken at the twins graduation party.  It turned out wonderful.  I will post more pictures soon.  We are camping this weekend so I probably won't be able to post more pictures till I get home to that computer (the one with the pictures on it!)  till Sunday.  I hope you all have a wonderful 4th and that you take all the rest and relaxation that you need.  I know that i am going to!

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Prayers Please

Please keep me and my family in your prayers.  There have been some very bad things that have happened to us since last night, I can't go into detail but my heart is broken right now. 

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Crabby

Crabby, bored........not a good combination.  We had tickets to go see Chicago and the Doobie Brothers, we didn't go cuz of many different reasons, none to my liking but.......my neighbors are having a party and it is LOUD.  I want to be at the concert not sitting here listening to others having fun.  Yep I am not in a good mood.

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Ok I will do it!!!

As I was driving to work this morning my head was full of things that I needed to do.  One of the things that has really been on my mind is the party that Brenda and I are going to be having to raise money for our marathon for the Leukemia Society.  I had spoken with the youth pastor from our church last night about getting the teenagers involved with us so they can sell some tickets for us also.  We will be having all kinds of food, drinks, games, boat rides, bouncy houses, dunk tank at this party and we will be selling tickets to it.  The youth pastor thought it was a great idea.  I was having doubts because there would be adults there who would be having drinks that were not "suitable" for teenagers, so I was torn.  Should Brenda just sell the tickets ourselves or should we get the youth group involved?  So here I am driving to work, the radio is on but I am not listening to my either of my normal morning stations (one is a christian radio station and the other is like a top 40 station) for some reason my dial was on a classic rock station.  There were two announcers on and they were talking about some event that was going to be happening, I caught the announcer saying "Sell the tickets"  I was like "Wow, guess that answered my question"  and then just to make sure I knew what my answer was the other announcer said something about "doing the Lord's work"  Now mind you this was not the Christian radio station, it was a classic rock station. 

So guess what?  I think those kids are gunna be selling tickets.

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Me and my babies

Yep there they are, taller than me, much taller than me I guess!  I never noticed that so much till I looked at the picture!  They are so excited to be graduated and to be going on to college.  John has less than two months before he moves and Josh will be right behind him.  I am starting to get used to the idea and starting to realize that I just might be able to enjoy my free time!  I just might be able to lose that weight that I am fighting so hard to lose when I don't have to make dinner (well teenage boy kind of dinners!)  every night.  I would be happy with grilled talapia or chicken breast.  Not these boys, they want all the calorie filled carb filled stuff they can get!   And when they come home next spring they will say "where is my mom?"  I will be so skinny they won't recognize me.  LOL ummmm yea I bet.

I keep forgetting to tell you my miles for the weeks like I said I would.  I know I am forgetful sorry.  This week we did 4 Tuesday, 3 Wednesday, 4 today, fridays are off and then Saturday we do 8!! I can't believe we are already up to 8 miles.  I will have to take some pics of me and Brenda in trianing so you all can see us.  Brenda is my friend that talked into doing this with me.  I think she is regretting saying she would!!  She is doing a really awesome job though.  And she is doing great on her fundraising!  She has over $900 in her bank already.  Way to go! I just got home from doing my miles a little bit ago.  I have to wait till after work to do my miles except on the weekends.  I really prefer to do them in the morning and wish I didn't have to be to work so early or I would get up and do them before work.   But I have to be there by 6 so there just isn't the time! Well I need a shower so I am off to do that!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/nikesf08/llawrenmqo

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Last day of school party

This was from a few weeks ago but I have been busy and forgot about this party I decided to add them now.  The kids had alot of fun and they behaved really well.  There were alot more of them than just the ones pictured here but I liked these ones the best.  The boys looking so tough and the girls looking so...........skinny.  Yeah I hate them.  LOL

They grilled dogs and burgers, had lots of junk food and pop and played basketball, floated on tubes in the lake and took my paddle boat out.  Fun was had by all, yes even me. And best of all...............the twins said "thank you mommy"!

In case you haven't and want to: here is the link to donate

http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/nikesf08/llawrenmqo

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The graduation party

 

I was getting a bit worried, ok alot worried because I did not have a tent yet for the boys graduation party.  I called a few places and they were sold out.  I made a few calls this morning and found a place that had tents left.  Not only did he have tents left but he had a blue and gold one, that is thier school colors!  I got all the tables and chairs and the tent and they come and set it up and take it down!  Here is the best part.....it was alot cheaper than the other places that  had the smaller white ones (the ones I really didn't want) left.  I am so happy.  The invites are all out, have been for quite awhile.  We will go shopping soon for the drinks and food and we will be all set to have a party.  I can't wait!  The twins are going to be so excited that they are going to have a blue and gold tent!

 

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Yes it is a done deal!  My babies are "offically" done with high school, they are graduates!  Don't you just love the faces that they make so that Mom stops crying????  Seems like yesterday they were learning to walk..............time flys by.

Don't you just love the picture of Mark, Aiden, Kristen and the twins?  Aiden looks so cute resting his chin on papa's head!  So cute.  I better watch out or he will be graduating from high school when I wake up!!!

 

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Aren't they lucky?  This is what they get to do with alot of thier days now?  Sit out on the pontoon and lounge.  The twins actually work 36  to  38 hours a week right now but it seems like most of thier days are spent outside.  They do work on the weekends alot but that doesn't count!  I want to be out there on the boat all day during the week to.  No, I don't want to work weekends though.  LOL  I want my cake and eat it too! 

My sister is in town from Florida right now.  She came over to my house and spent the night last night.  We had a good time.  My son, Robbie, took us out on the boat and we enjoyed that.  Went swimming, had Mexican for dinner (yummy! went way over on calories last night!) had a few beers.  She stayed the night but she was still in bed when I left for work.  She won't be coming back till tomorrow morning and my other sister and my brother will be coming over then also.  So it should be fun tomorrow with everyone there.  Aiden will be here this weekend also.  So that is a big double YEAH!  To bad I lost my camera and won't be able to take any pictures unless I go got a disposable one.  Or find the one I lost, which is beginning to seem like a lost cause.  Well I just need to make it though this day and I will be good. 

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Senior Walk

We are getting down to the end.  The end of high school.  Acutally the twins are done, they had thier last day of acutal school two weeks ago.  This past Tuesday was thier last day of having to go to the school for any activites.  They had what is called "senior walk".  This is when they pick up thier cap and gowns and they walk through the halls of the school for the last time, while in thier cap and gowns.  I didn't do so well!  I still get teared up when I think about it.  The boys on the other hand thought it was great fun!  I hope I can maintain while I am at the acutal graduation ceremony this Sunday.  I doubt it.

Here is John, smiling away, you can see me in the bottom left, crying!  LOL. 

There they are together.  Yea Josh thinks this is just awesome!

And then this one,  I couldn't let go..........holding on and crying.  Yea that's me.  Someday I will get used to these two being grown up.......................just not yet.

 

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It is hot out

Today we have gotten the heat back here in Michigan.  And along with the heat comes the humidity.  All day at work I thought about how hard it was going to be to run today.  I knew I had to go to the track banquet tonight (which is held outside also) before I could run.  I was really hoping that things would cool down enough for me to run outside.  I got home from the banquet and put on my running clothes.  I took off down the road in the direction that I knew had the dirt road and lots of trees so the sun wouldn't be as bad, and a little cooler on that foresty like road.  As luck would have it, I realized that the dirt road was soaking wet.  It had just been treated.  I forget the chemical they put on it to keep the dust down but it is yucky.  So I headed back home.  Grabbed my car keys and went to the Y.  I did my miles, all three of them, on the treadmill.   It was even warm in there today but I did them!!!  I am so proud of myself.
The dinner last night was great.  Aleison is a wonderful little girl.  She is in remission but she has to have maintenance chemo once a week for two years.  Can you imagine?  She will be 9 by the time she is done.  She just turned 7.  She loves Italian food so we went to a great Italian place.  I had never been there before and I was impressed.  Good food.   I took lots of pics but I left my camera in my car so I will have to upload later.  She is a little doll.
Tomorrow is the Red Wings CHAMPIONS parade, downtown. I have the day off tomorrow and the boys want to go so we just might do it.  Crowds are horrible there and I get a little antsy in them so we will have to see how I feel about it in the morning.  I will let you know if I go. Have a great night.

Please donate if you can

http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/nikesf08/llawrenmqo

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So much to do

I feel like my hands are going to fall off.
80 graduation party invitations
50 graduation announcments
30 thank you for the donation cards from marathon.
Lots of stamps!
I got the rest of the thank you's and the invites out today.  I stopped on the way home from work to get another roll of stamps.  Yeah that is done!
Last night I had to run three miles on the treadmill.  I hate the treadmill, it took me 45 minutes........15 minute miles, yeah I was not into it.  Tonight I had to do two miles, the running Gods were smiling on me since the rain held off long enough and it only took 26 minutes.  13 minute miles, I was much happier.
Now we are on our way out to dinner.  We are meeting with Aleison, she is the little girl with leukemia that was our honored hero for the marathon I did two weeks ago.  It is her birthday so we are taking her out.  Hopefully I will get some pics to share.  Later I will tell you about our honored hero for the marthon I am training for now!

Another one

 

Hello everyone.  I am so sore today, my feet hurt, my legs hurt, everything hurts!  LOL!  After training for the marathon and acutally running the marathon I thought I was good to go.  But no that is not to be.  The coach had me take a week off of running after the marathon.  I started running again on Saturday.  We did 4 miles on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.  Monday is our day off.  (so are Fridays)  yesterday was a 3 mile day.  It was raining so hard after work I had to go to the Y to do the 3 miles on the treadmill.  It is really hard to start running again after doing a marathon.  After the last ones I had done I didn't run again for a long time, months actually.  So this running again a week later is difficult.  Sore muscles everywhere.  I found it very interesting that when I finished the marathon my abs hurt!  Why would my abs hurt???  I guess every muscle in your body gets a work out while running that far.  Today is only 2 miles so I should be good!  Back to 3 tomorrow and then off Friday.  6 on Saturday.  Saturday's will be the long runs.  I will keep everyone more updated during my training for this next marathon then I did in the last one.  If I miss a training day I will say so in here so you can all give me an ear full so I will not want to miss it again!

The next marathon that I am doing is The Nike Women's marathon.  It is October 19, 2008.  I am also running this one for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I need to raise alot more for this one than I did the last one.  This one I need to raise $3500!!  That seems so scary!  But I have faith, I will do it.  I also want to finish this one in under 5 hours.  That is going to take some work!  That is why I can't miss workouts so I am going to make myself accountable!  So if I miss you all yell at me?  Deal?

If anyone would like to donate please do.  I need all the help I can get.  Here is the link to donate:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/nikesf08/llawrenmqo

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Ipod

Jimmy  had this on his journal and since I love my ipod so much and just wanted a chance to listen to it I decided to play along.

To use his words:

Put your IPod or MP3 on shuffle and list the first 8 songs that play.... tag 8 other people to do the same. If you don't have an IPod or MP3 then make shit up. You might think about moving into the 21st century by getting an IPod or MP3 player of some sort.

1. Why don't you and I?  Santan

2. Bubbly . Colbie Caliet

3. Legs. ZZTop

4. My oh My.  The Wreckers

5. Under your clothes. Shakira

6. It's raining men.  The Weather Girls

7. Would I lie to you? Eurythmics

8. Its all for you.  Janet Jackson

Now I don't want to put my ipod away...............probably won't go over so well at work so I have to put it away.

I am not going to tag anyone personally but if you want to play along please do so!!

Monday

I just love this picture !  It was made out of cherries!  Sue made it when she was out with her Mom and Aunt and took a picture of it.  I love it!  I can't believe that is how far we ran!

This is the whole Michigan team that went to Traverse city to run the marathon.  It was so much fun having a large team to run with.  It kept you motivated as you were running to hear someone else going by yelling "GO TEAM"  It really was alot of work to finish the marathon but it was so very rewarding to finish it!  All the fund raising (which is by far the most difficult part of it!) and training is worth it! 

Here is Sue and I finishing!  Yes that is a beer in our hands!  Sue ran the last 12 miles with it in her pocket!  A man sitting outside his house along the course gave us  each a beer and we shared one and she carried the other one so we could open it as we were finishing.  She also dumped it over my head when we crossed.  I didn;t know that was coming but, it felt good!  I was so hot and tired.  My hands, feet and face were all swollen and burnt!  But like I said, worth it!

I have already signed up to run another one.  This one is in October in San Francisco and to make it even better, I have gotten a friend (Brenda) to do it with me.  I will be making new donation letters and I have a new web site!  Why am I doing another one???  BECAUSE WE STILL DON'T HAVE A CURE!!!!  I will continue on with my mission until a cure is found! 

 

 

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