Now that you've all stopped laughing from the sight of this lovely 80's flashback I will give you a little information regarding this picture! It's from my 8th grade Gifted and Talented class who also got the privilege of being the yearbook staff at my middle school...and yes, I know that from the looks of this bunch the title of Gifted and Talented is quite questionable! How crazy is it that I still remember this particular day? And to give you a hint as to which one I am, I'm the one with the big hair and tight rolled jeans. Oh yeah, that's all of us! Let's just say I already knew how to strike a pose for the camera...or at least I thought so!!Friday, November 7, 2008
Flashback Friday
Now that you've all stopped laughing from the sight of this lovely 80's flashback I will give you a little information regarding this picture! It's from my 8th grade Gifted and Talented class who also got the privilege of being the yearbook staff at my middle school...and yes, I know that from the looks of this bunch the title of Gifted and Talented is quite questionable! How crazy is it that I still remember this particular day? And to give you a hint as to which one I am, I'm the one with the big hair and tight rolled jeans. Oh yeah, that's all of us! Let's just say I already knew how to strike a pose for the camera...or at least I thought so!!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Respect
Finally the election is over. I wish I could say that I was thrilled, or surprised for that matter, with the results. I fell asleep early and missed most of the coverage including McCain's speech. I heard it was completely gracious. I DID however see Obama's. Was I in awe? Yes. Who couldn't be? We were watching history unfold. And I wished in my heart of hearts that I could be more optimistic about an Obama presidency, but I can't. I am what you would consider a social moderate, but a fiscal conservative. However, there are MANY social issues of his that I 110% am opposed to, but I won't even get into that. I will however cover two of my biggest issues with Obama...and then this will be the last you hear of the politics from me. One is the war. I think it should go without saying given some of my former posts, we are military people. Hubby is no longer enlisted, but my brother in law is. My baby sister was in tears last night. Worried. Worried about the funding. Worried about the support. Worried that her Husband was going to be sent into another Somalia type situation. If you don't see my point of view on this, please refrain from leaving a comment, because quite frankly to me there is no compromise on it and we will just have to agree to disagree.
My second issue is the financial redistribution. To understand me completely would take far too much time, but I will give a short back ground. I am the daughter of a man who is a high school drop out in addition to a recovering alcoholic. The cards were stacked against him early on. His parents divorced when he was only 4 and in that time it was unheard of. I hate to even type this, but my grandfather abandoned them. They were poor to say the least. He HAD to get a job. He HAD to contribute. My mother had a completely different background. She came from what was considered an upperclass family. Her mother (my grandmother) was given a life of leisure. My mother was also extremely intelligent and could have done whatever she wanted after high school. But being the rebel that she was (and still is) she eloped with her high school sweetheart from the other side of the tracks. As crazy as they are, their love is undying. Her parents weren't about to give a hand out. They made their bed, now they could lie in it. My grandfather after all, vividly remembers the Depression. My father's parents didn't have any money to give. They relocated to a small town and rented a single wide trailer, where they got the surprise of their life...they were pregnant with me. My mother being all of 18 and my father 19 when they found out. Nine months later they had moved back to their hometown and began the daily grind that would become their lives. One trailer, another trailer, and then they had enough saved to actually buy a double wide. They felt rich. All the while they were doing it FOR THEMSELVES. When I was in 7th grade my mother, myself and my grandfather (her father) were at a beloved Clemson football game. And I still remember this like it was yesterday, my grandfather looked at her in a moment of cheering and said, "if you will go to school here I will pay for it". I will never forget that moment. My mother was speechless and I was shocked. But even at the age of 12 I knew what this meant for us. And for my grandfather, it was the opportunity to watch his extremely (like, crazy!) smart daughter get a college education. The next fall my mother was enrolled in dear old Clemson and my sister and I were left to pick up a LOT of the slack around our home. Remember, my father was an alcoholic and they aren't big on change. Those four years were probably the worst of my entire life. We were poorer than we had ever been seeing how my mother had to quit her job to become a full time student. My father was always agitated and my mother took it out on us, but someway, somehow we persevered. While this was going on, somehow my father, while working in a plant, was socking money away for his retirement, for a rainy day, and for my and my sister's college educations. He didn't have one single credit card. He never took a government hand out. Part of his agitation in those days came from feeling as if he couldn't provide for his family and he was my grandfather's charity case (which the ONLY money my grandfather gave was for tuition and books). Years later I still am in awe of what my father and mother have accomplished...ON THEIR OWN. I could continue on with the story of Hubby and myself and how our story goes, but I think I've laid out enough for you to see where I am coming from.
I respect the position of the President of the United States and for that he will have my respect. However, I am still worried about what lies ahead.
Moving on to a new day...
My second issue is the financial redistribution. To understand me completely would take far too much time, but I will give a short back ground. I am the daughter of a man who is a high school drop out in addition to a recovering alcoholic. The cards were stacked against him early on. His parents divorced when he was only 4 and in that time it was unheard of. I hate to even type this, but my grandfather abandoned them. They were poor to say the least. He HAD to get a job. He HAD to contribute. My mother had a completely different background. She came from what was considered an upperclass family. Her mother (my grandmother) was given a life of leisure. My mother was also extremely intelligent and could have done whatever she wanted after high school. But being the rebel that she was (and still is) she eloped with her high school sweetheart from the other side of the tracks. As crazy as they are, their love is undying. Her parents weren't about to give a hand out. They made their bed, now they could lie in it. My grandfather after all, vividly remembers the Depression. My father's parents didn't have any money to give. They relocated to a small town and rented a single wide trailer, where they got the surprise of their life...they were pregnant with me. My mother being all of 18 and my father 19 when they found out. Nine months later they had moved back to their hometown and began the daily grind that would become their lives. One trailer, another trailer, and then they had enough saved to actually buy a double wide. They felt rich. All the while they were doing it FOR THEMSELVES. When I was in 7th grade my mother, myself and my grandfather (her father) were at a beloved Clemson football game. And I still remember this like it was yesterday, my grandfather looked at her in a moment of cheering and said, "if you will go to school here I will pay for it". I will never forget that moment. My mother was speechless and I was shocked. But even at the age of 12 I knew what this meant for us. And for my grandfather, it was the opportunity to watch his extremely (like, crazy!) smart daughter get a college education. The next fall my mother was enrolled in dear old Clemson and my sister and I were left to pick up a LOT of the slack around our home. Remember, my father was an alcoholic and they aren't big on change. Those four years were probably the worst of my entire life. We were poorer than we had ever been seeing how my mother had to quit her job to become a full time student. My father was always agitated and my mother took it out on us, but someway, somehow we persevered. While this was going on, somehow my father, while working in a plant, was socking money away for his retirement, for a rainy day, and for my and my sister's college educations. He didn't have one single credit card. He never took a government hand out. Part of his agitation in those days came from feeling as if he couldn't provide for his family and he was my grandfather's charity case (which the ONLY money my grandfather gave was for tuition and books). Years later I still am in awe of what my father and mother have accomplished...ON THEIR OWN. I could continue on with the story of Hubby and myself and how our story goes, but I think I've laid out enough for you to see where I am coming from.
I respect the position of the President of the United States and for that he will have my respect. However, I am still worried about what lies ahead.
Moving on to a new day...
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
VOTE!
I'm still sitting here at home waiting on Hubby to get back so we can do the child swap and I can have my turn voting! He's been gone for almost two hours!!! How is it in everyone else's neck of the woods?
eta: It took me two hours and twenty minutes to vote!! When I left at 4:00 the line was longer than when I first got there!!! Glad I took a book!
eta: It took me two hours and twenty minutes to vote!! When I left at 4:00 the line was longer than when I first got there!!! Glad I took a book!
Monday, November 3, 2008
a new weight loss plan...
Ok, it's TMI, but I swear we've all lost weight this week with our stupid stomach bug! Lovebug is still experiencing some of it's effects and it feels like I may have caught it back from her!!! By the time this ends I may be back to my wedding weight!!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
a little from the party!
Thought I'd share a few of the pictures from Lovebug's birthday party! I've only seen a few of them and I can't wait to see the rest! The first one is from the "graveyard" where our little party goers retrieved their third clue. The second picture (which should have been first, but whatever!), is the first clue they received that got the scavenger hunt started. And the last picture is the dry apple bob. Once they completed the bob they received the clue that led to the graveyard. We had a little girl lose a tooth in the process here!! Our last challenge was a food challenge where we blindfolded one member of each team and let them enjoy treats of witches eyes (peeled grapes), goblin fingers (vienna sausages with a pretzel stick inside of it to give that bone crunching effect!) and spider eggs (pop rocks) that they were warned may start hatching in their mouths!! No one got too grossed out during the challenge, but we did have one child get a little queasy when it was time to reach their hand into the scarecrow brains to retrieve a clue!! Man, it was such a good time, but we ran like crazy!! Those kids worked off any of their sugar intake!!
These pictures are from my same fantastic photographer and if you are located in the Upstate I highly recommend her!! You can check her out at http://www.momentscaptured4u.com/
Saturday, November 1, 2008
stop the madness
Let me begin with, we had the BEST time in Charleston for Halloween. The girls enjoyed trick or treating around the Battery and I enjoyed the rare opportunity to get a little peek inside the homes!:) After our hour of going door to door, we met up with my long lost friend and her cutie patootie boyfriend at Rue de Jean--LOVE it! We have been there several times and I've yet to have a bad meal. Fried goat cheese salad, sushi, oysters on the half shell, lobster tail, chocolate pate, chocolate martini, Shug wine---yum, yum, yum!!! Lovebug wasn't acting herself at dinner, but I honestly thought she was enjoying the attention from it. I was wrong...more on that in a bit! We all left dinner and hopped on rickshaws (one of my favorite modes of transportation!) and headed towards the Market to start our ghost walk tour. Lovebug made sure she was front and center with our guide so she could hear everything he said. That child is like a little sponge soaking up information!! We all walked to our hotel after the tour was over---at 11!! (Hubby had already made an exit with Baby Girl to go put her to bed, thank goodness!)
On our way back to our hotel we passed the fire department where they were giving out candy. They were SO sweet to Lovebug and even let her get up in the fire truck after letting her help herself to as much candy as she wanted and a fireman's hat!! After we thanked them for their service and got out of their hair we continued our walk which included a stop at a convenience store, where my sweet Lovebug paid it forward! She offered up her goods to the folks working the Halloween holiday to help spread some cheer! She also offered a treat to the police officer sitting outside the store and you could just tell how shocked he was by the offer! I was so proud of her! We were lucky enough to be placed in a two bedroom suite at the hotel so were able to continue the evening with our friends until 2 in the morning!!Woke up today and guess whose stomach virus decided to rear it's ugly head again? Lovebug's!! Mind you, I didn't let her enjoy one single piece of her candy because I wanted to make sure she was out of the woods for one solid day before consuming all that sugar! After several potty breaks we were finally able to get out of the hotel and enjoy some brunch at Hominy Grill. Lovebug couldn't even make herself eat a bite of banana bread, but she still wanted to walk around a little and enjoy the beautiful weather and take in Charleston. We returned to some of the sites from our ghost tour and did a little window shopping and then headed to the car. We had every intention of driving out to Kiawah. We were almost there and it happened....Lovebug threw up all over the back seat!!!! After pulling over, putting on the hazards, doing a clothes change, wipe down all surfaces with anti-bacterial wipes we turned that car around and headed home!! She still feels awful now! We have NEVER had an illness take up residence like this in our home and I'm ready for our visitor to leave, like yesterday!
eta: Baby Girl is obviously Tigger, while Lovebug is a dentist. And yes I did a very quick wardrobe change between the trick or treating and dinner. I decided the heels weren't cutting it!!
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