A very sad incident happened yesterday.  I group of senior citizens from Trenton, MI were on a Fall color tour in New York when the sail boat they were on capsized and 21 perished.  Twenty one people being lost from such a small town is going to have a huge effect on that community. They don't yet know what happened to cause the boat to flip.  It seemed like absolutely perfect boating conditions.  It happened so fast that noone had time to grab a life vest.  Adults ar...

Tonight I am having a scrapbooking party after I drop my son off at baseball practice.  We will probably scrapbook until late. Tomorrow morning my son has a baseball game and then I am having a "Game Widows" get together.  My husband and a bunch of friends are getting together for "Game Day" which means they all agree on a multi player game, get together where they can all have computers, and have a virtual kill fest all day. I like to have the ladies (widows) over to hang out ...

I don't know if anyone out there happened to watch the TLC special "Half Ton Man" but I caught quite a bit of it and was absolutely boggled how any human could become quite literally a big pile of fat.  This man weighed over a thousand pounds.  His wife kept feeding him even though his skin had stretched beyond what it could handle and he was leaking his bodily fluids onto the bed.  He also couldn't move or wear clothes.  He couldn't be on his back because his own weight woul...

I was just thinking about Halloween since my boys have been talking about what they want to be this year.  My favorite costume, although I had a lot of great ones, had to be the alien costume my mom made in 4th grade.  It had an arm made out of dryer tubing with a rubber glove sewed on the end sticking out of the middle of my back.  People kept shaking the hand on my back   My put crazy braids in my hair, painted extra mouths and eyes on my face and I loved it! So what wa...

I'm not saying there is ever a wrong time to give someone roses, but getting them just because you are loved and appreciated is the best.  My husband brought me two dozen red roses today for that very reason.  Not because of a birthday, anniversary or Hallmark holiday.  He didn't need society to say "Today is national "Good Husbands Buy Flowers Day". A lot of people who don't know my husband, and even some who do, give him a hard time because he doesn't usually do a lot on thos...

I didn't really take note of this until after having dinner out with some friends from the Netherlands, but every single time my husband and I go to a restaurant, they sing some form of a happy birthday song to someone.  Of course they can't sing the actual "Happy Birthday" song due to licensing issues so each restaurant has its own annoying version.  Every time we are in a restaurant! We have heard Spanish, Italian, Middle Eastern (La Shish) and even Korean versions.  The...

I don't know if your community has this but ours starts football and cheerleading at the 4th or 5th grade.  Our neighbor friend has a 5th grade daughter who is in cheerleading.  She is a beautiful, sweet little girl.  I had concerns about the peer affect of such a thing but figured since it wasn't school related that it probably wouldn't be too bad. Well, today this little lady showed up for me to take her to school in her cheerleading outfit.  I was a bit shocked.  S...

Our air contioner wasn't working and I checked everything on the check list they gave us with the unit before calling.  One thing that wasn't on the list and didn't occur to me was to check for signs of freezing.  This little tidbit would have saved the AC guy a trip out and would have saved me about $60. Aparrently our AC unit has a freon leak and froze up solid.  The guy came out, took one look, switched the unit off and told me he will have to let it melt over the weekend an...

I know it sounds cliche but I truly love my family so much it pains me.  When my husband is gone I have an empty ache.  I usually try to soothe that ache with chocolate but during this particular trip of his I have been having oatmeal, banana bread and snuggling the boys until they start complaining. Today is school picture day and I helped my 8yr old get dressed (casual but cool according to him) and do his hair.  He wanted it to spike up in the front and be neat in the back.&...

I was reading yet another bit of junk regarding TomKat (the Benniferesque name given to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes) and came across this wonderful bit regarding the Cruise vs Shields battle over the existence and treatment of post-partum depression: Cruise wisely sidestepped any topics smacking of controversy during his "ET" sit-down (Jann Carl also avoided being labeled "glib"), but his point of view was still heard, as fellow Scientologist Leah Remini wrung the very last drop of public...

This morning my oldest son said something on his way to school that really made me feel "I have the best life ever!"  He was holding the praying mantis he caught at Nana & Papa's house (that's my parents) with his backpack on and I was giving him a kiss and telling him I love him and to have a good day like I always do when he turned and said "I love you too mommy.  You know you are the best mom I know of".  How great is that?! My husband is my best friend who I love more t...

I don't know about anyone else but I think Gradparents' Day is just another Hallmark day conjured up in an attempt to guilt people out of their money.  How many people even know about it?  Who is the jerk who came up with it? You have to be a parent to be a grandparent, correct?  As a parent, you already get honored on Mother's or Father's day, correct?  Why should you then get a "Grandparents'" day? I am pretty sure my mom was making fun of the "holiday" by saying "I s...

I am trying to figure out what made my mood yesterday so different from today.  Yesterday I felt energetic and determined to get things done.  Today I feel down and bummed. The weather is gloomy today but it was a bit gloomy yesterday too.  I got up earlier yesterday.  I think that and the fact that my husband was in a terrible mood this morning put me in a funk.  When he leaves for work mad I just feel like going back to bed for the day. Yesterday I just got going...

Like most, my day usually begins with the sound of an alarm clock.  Sometimes that sound repeats depending on how many times the snooze button gets hit.  Then comes grumblings from my husband about how he is dying.  Seems he is dying every morning The sound of the shower running is usually the first really awake sound that registers.  That is my signal to go start breakfast and pack my man a lunch.  Cooking and showering sounds are soon accompanied by the radio and ...

I haven't listened to country music since I lived in Northern Michigan but I caught a performance on TV and fell in love with the song.  My favority song right now is "Whiskey Lullaby" by Brad Paisley and Allison Kraus.  It has haunting lyrics and touching music.  It is a very beautiful song that I think anyone could like even if they don't like country music.