Thursday, December 8, 2011

Child of the 80's

If you can identify with at least half of this list then you, my friend, are a "Child of the 80's".



  • Partying "like it's 1999" seemed SO far away.

  • You can sing the McDonald's Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, Quarter Pounder, French Fry song while jump roping.

  • You ever wore fluorescent, neon clothing.

  • You know that another name for a keyboard is a "Synthesizer".

  • You know who Fat Albert is.

  • You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.

  • You HAD to have your MTV.

  • You watched Purple Rain over and over again.

  • You actually thought "Dirty Dancing" was a REALLY good movie.

  • You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game system.

  • You own any cassettes.

  • Poltergeist freaked you out.

  • You know what leg warmers are and probably had a pair.

  • You had Wonder Woman or Superman underoos.

  • You still occasionally hum a Debbie Gibson tune.

  • You remember when they actually played videos on MTV.

  • You see teenagers today wearing the same clothes you wore at that age and they still look bad.

  • You can remember a time when "going out for coffee" DIDN'T involve 19,000 selections to choose from.

  • You're starting to realize that getting carded while buying alcohol is a good thing.

  • You know who shot J.R.

  • You had ringside seats for Luke and Laura's wedding on General Hospital.

  • The phrase, "Where's the beef?" still doubles you over with laughter.

  • Finally, this rings a bell: "...and my name is Charlie. They work for me."

Saturday, December 3, 2011

New uses for...Applesauce cups

Don't throw away those applesauce cups. Reuse them:

Use for single servings of something like salsa or dips.

Cut off the bottom and use for a cookie or biscuit cutter.

Use to clean paintbrushes when the kids are painting.

Use them for holding little items like buttons, loose change, safetypins, paper clips,etc.

Use for soaking small items in cleaning solutions.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Christmas Decorating

It's that time of year again....get out the Christmas decorations! I love the holidays....Christmas has always been my favorite though. It takes me a full day to decorate because I have lots of stuff. I like to decorate inside and out. I've made a few of my decorations.I've even made lots of snowflakes with and without colorful glitter. Here are a few of them:







It's a lot of fun to create new things...especially with children. Every year I pull out my decorations and I see so many things I forgot that I had made. I made this stocking for my oldest son, Jared (the third one down that says Jared Griffin)(After I made it, I thought to myself...Why did I put the last name on it?...I have no idea why, but I did and I don't feel like fixing it):



This sad little tree is now something I treasure and I will use it until it falls completely apart. This was given to Jared by his now deceased great grandmother (Gi Gi). It was Jared's first Christmas when he was in the hospital and we wanted to give him his "1st Christmas" so we did and we stuck this on his bedside table. I have put it out every year since then, and here it is 14 years later:




I like to add more to my collection every year so I try to get at least 1 new Christmas decoration, ornament or something Christmasy. Here is what I got the other day:




This will be going along my archway between the dining room and the living room.
(I actually need it because I had one that is in old condition and I wanted a brand new one with prelit lights.)

I was told by my 9 year old, Logan, that I couldn't start decorating until he came home from school, so I promised him I would wait. Right now I am just sorting through the decorations and listening to some Christmas music.


Well.....onto the decorating that'll take me into tomorrow to finish.



Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving Forecast

Turkeys will thaw in the morning, then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 190 F. The kitchen will turn hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.
During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.
A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway. During the evening, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34 F in the refrigerator.
Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming trend where soup develops. By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Today I am Thankful for...

I LOVE the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas have always been my favorite times of the year. I love everything about them (YES...even the hectic in Christmas!)

Well, since it is now just about Thanksgiving...I decided I wanted to think about some of the things I'm thankful for.

Today, I am thankful for:

#1 The life that I was given (because someone has to do MY LIFE, right?!)
#2 My beautiful family who I love soooo much. My boys and my husband are my whole world.
#3 Jared.....Jared.....and more of Jared! My Angel who now watches over our family. I feel
so much JOY when I think about him and the life he led while here with us. I really never knew what JOY meant until Jared left....but now I understand PERFECTLY! All I can say is
Jared is my meaning of JOY! I hope all of you can and do experience what I have had. (A
feeling like no other.)You know what....you should have seen his SMILE....absolutely LIGHTS
up my world just thinking about it, like right now....I see his smile and it can turn my day
from bad to good just like that. It really is an AMAZING feeling!
#4 Eric....my husband....the guy I met at Giant 18 or so years ago....fell in love with his whole
being. For those of you who know him.....you can see why I wanted him all to my self...you
know how good of a person he is and always will be.....no matter what...even after the loss of
his SON...his BOY...his HERO. I believe that's one of the biggest things I miss so much,
seeing the relationship that I saw with Jared and Eric. They gave so much to each other.
Eric was and is the best father that could have been given to Jared. I am so glad that I got to
experience their love for each other because by seeing what I've seen, I grew in SPIRIT.
AWESOME.....AWESOME human experience!!
#5 Logan ....Logan is only 9 years old....and he has been throught a lot in his young life.
He experienced a tragedy (watching his brother die) He was at a loss of words, you could see
so much sadness in his eyes and it hurt like HELL to watch. I couldn't bare it....my kids were
and are my world. Now, one was leaving me and the other was hurt beyond belief and there
wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.....but SUFFER and try to make it through. I was
suffering inside myself....so much I wanted to crawl out of my body. Luckily.....here we all are
today.....beautiful family as can be...YES...with one less member, but, not really because he is
still with us...just in a different dimension....I feel him all the time....protecting all of us in one
way or the other.
#6 Aidan...my last baby of our family. Yes...no more, I'm done! Thank you. It's been nice but I've
had my share....5 pregnancies is enough for this little body. I had my tubes tied with my
Caeserian (spelling??) section. Aidan is our TOUGH GUY!. He is not as sensitive as Logan,
(probably because he didn't exprience the stress of having a special needs child around...and
for that I'm sad that Aidan never really knew Jared. He was only 1 when Jared passed
away.) Aidan is a handful in a way that Jared and Logan were not. He is Mr. Attitude with an
extra attitude....needs attitude adjustment as he storms away right now because he can't
have his way. He wants to go play Dragonball on the X Box. This kid is 3 and a half...and he's
video game addicted. He follows his brother on that. We've now decided to make the game
playing once a day, if that. We've let it go too far now. Aidan used to love doing Jigsaw puzzles
and it seems now like he couldn't care less. I know what Santa is bringing him for Christmas...
lots of Jigsaw puzzles, although I do want to get him the Leapfrog Leap Pad....at least then
he could learn while having fun, right?! I'll tell ya....gotta love him...because he's a riot!
#7 The times I actually get to sit down at dinner to eat and enjoy my family. I'm only home in
the morning and afternoons because I work all evening and night. I come home when my
family is in bed. I am grateful on my days off when I actually get to be with them.
#8 My love of jewelry and card (scrapbook) designing. Although lately, it's been just jewelry
because I only have so much time to CREATE! Also, I get in these crafting MOODS, where I
want to do one or the other and sometime (although rarely anymore) it's crocheting.
#9 My friends and family who mean so much to me. You all know who you are and I love you all
like brothers and sisters that we all are!
#10 The people I meet each and every day at my job. I love to spread kindness with each and
every one of my customers that come through my aisle (I am a cashier at Giant.) I have
found some really decent people out there. Although, sometimes my inner bitchiness comes
out and YES I want to lash out at the ones who are selfish and mean....but I bite my tongue
and proceed with KINDNESS that they (don't really) deserve! There are a few couples that
I actually enjoy their company! It makes my job worthwhile.
#11 Lots of everything else...i.e. FOOD, BOOKS, MUSIC, and of course TECHNOLOGY and the
things that are and is to come because I know I've not listed half of all there is to be thankful
for....and that.....my friends, is what life is all about...the reality that everything is what we
ask for either in this life or another....because God is good and that's what it all begins with!


Thanks for reading and until next time.....Enjoy the holiday!