11 Years Ago

I Will Never Forget

Expiration Dates...

For some reason this morning, right after I crawled out of bed I opened my freezer.  I am not sure why...I think I was checking on ice?  Who knows, I was still half asleep.

Anyway, while I was in the freezer I looked at the frozen Pina Colada mix in the door....no I did not decided to have a Pina Colada at 6 am...I usually wait until after my first cup of coffee.  I was thinking, "you know, that has been in there a while..."  So I picked up the frozen Pina Colada mix and checked the expiration date..

Okay, not too bad..September 13, 2002.  WTF??  2002??  I have something in my freezer that is 10 years old??  I then checked the Strawberry Daiquiri mix....not so bad 2009.   I wonder what else is hiding in those baskets in the bottom?

I am thinking a little freezer exploration is in order this weekend...

Oh, and those two frozen mixes?  I put them back.

Aging...

I attended a funeral for a previous employer last week.

While he was 77 years old, we all thought he was in great health.  He played golf and tennis several times a week, ate well, spent time with his children and grandchildren. 

His son found him dead in his home of a heart attack.

A month ago a fellow Rotarian was found unconscious in his back yard by his daughter.  She started CPR on him and brought him back.  He is 60  years old, semi good health, exercises.  He had a heart attack.

Two weeks after that another friend went to the emergency room with chest pains.  Heart attack.

I am looking at all these heart attacks in just the past month and I am getting a little frightened. Is this what happens when you get older?  All your friends start having health issues and dieing?  Is it ever too late to try and change your lifestyle?

Baseball....Meh!

I have never been a big baseball fan.  To me, it is just too slow....almost as bad as golf.  Sigh.

I had the "honor" of attending a baseball game this Sunday.  Yes, gave up my Nascar to watch the Rays play the Orioles...The Ray lost, 10th inning.  10 innings.... 10 innings of no scoring, no cheering...., 10 innings of a numb butt...

At least the wine was cold.

Comeback Kid

So, now that I have decided to start blogging more I need to find something to blog about...something that is profound, interesting, that will draw you all to my little corner and make you stay forever.

Yeah, not quite.  Instead I am going to entertain you with some pictures...yes..pictures aren't you thrilled? 

Meet my newest granddaughter Jasmine and her daddy Curtis!

Here she is again....Almost 6 months old, teething, crawling and being just darn cute.

And these are 4 of my 5 granchildren...from the left Jorden, Jonathan, Dominic and Jasmine.  (hmm..Dominic has the wrong name...it does not start with a J)  Missing from the picture is Morgan who lives in Ohio.

So there you are...an update to what has been happening in my life....Many more updates to come..Rotary, work, pool, hubby...dog..you know all the exciting award winning blogging material!!

Divorce Looming

Not mine...so you can take a breath. 

My daughter and son in law are divorcing.  Her choice, but after 9 years and a beautiful grandson....It is hard.  It is hard to have someone you love as your own child leave your life, turn on you, break you heart into a million pieces.

My SIL wanted to get back and hurt my daughter as much if not more than she hurt him.  He looked for a way to actually crush her, destroy her, make her feel like her world was ending.  He could not see that what was happening was also partly his responsibility...his lack of emotion.

So what does my SIL do??  He decides that he is in love with the birth mother of his son.  Yes, the birth mother of his adopted son.  The same woman that he could not stand to have around, did not want anywhere around his child.  The same woman that changed her mind and decided to keep the baby right after the birth, then 6 weeks later changed her mind again.  The same woman that for 6 years he complained about being involved in their lives.

He loves her now....he takes his son to her house when he spends time with her and her 3 daughters....

How can he do that to people he was supposed to love?

Ramadan

I was blessed to be invited to an Iftar Party by a friend of mine.

What is an Iftar Party you ask???

It is the breaking of the fast that occurs during Ramadan.  What a wonderful experience.  We were provided a tour of the mosque and educated on the different customs and observations.  I met some wonderful and amazing people.  I wish others would step out of their shells/fear and learn more about this amazing religion.   I was able to witness the prayers, the meals and the camaraderie among the women.  I am very thankful to have experienced this. 

Below is some more information on Ramadan.

Thank you Parveen for the invitation.

The Special Feeling of Ramadan

Ramadan brings out a special feeling of emotional excitement and religious zeal among Muslims of all ages. Though fasting is mandatory only for adults, children as young as eight willingly observe fasting with their elders. Children look forward to the excitement of sighting the moon and eating special meals with their families. Adults appreciate the opportunity to double their rewards from God and seek forgiveness for past sins. As Ramadan emphasizes Muslim brotherhood and community all feel a particular closeness.
Muslims have to change their whole physical and emotional selves during this 30 long days of fasting. A typical day of fasting begins with getting up early, around 4:30a.m. and sharing a meal called Sahur together before the fast begins at dawn, about 5:10a.m. As dawn breaks, the first of five daily prayers, Fajr, is offered.
As the day proceeds, fasting Muslims are constantly bombarded with messages from their stomachs that it is time for breakfast, snack, lunch, and so on. And each time, Muslims remind themselves that they are fasting for the sole purpose of pleasing Allah and seeking his mercy. They offer the second and third prayers during early and late afternoon, respectively.
Fasting helps one to experience how a hungry person feels and what it is like to have an empty stomach. It teaches one to share the sufferings of the less fortunate. Muslims believe that fasting leads one to appreciate the bounties of Allah, which are usually taken for granted – until they are missed!
Throughout the day Muslims are encouraged to go out of their way to help the needy, both financially and emotionally. Some believe that a reward earned during this month is multiplied 70 times and more. For this reason, Ramadan is also known as the month of charity and generosity.
To a Muslim, fasting not only means abstaining from food, but also refraining from all vice and evils committed consciously or unconsciously. It is believed that if one volunteers to refrain from lawful foods and sex, they will be in a better position to avoid unlawful things and acts during the rest of the year.

Breaking The Daily Fast During Ramadan

The fast is broken at sunset. The Prophet Muhammad recommended breaking the fast with dates. Muslims are urged to invite others to break the fast with them. These gatherings are called Iftar parties.
Just after breaking the fast, and before dinner, Muslims offer the fourth of the five daily prayers, which is called the Maghrib prayer. After dinner, Muslims go to their houses of worship, called Mosques, to offer the Isha prayer, which is the last of the five daily prayers. The day ends with a special voluntary prayer, the Taraweeh, offered by the congregation reciting the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam.

On My Way Back

I am thinking that I want to get back to blogging.

I am having issues that I am not comfortable sharing on Facebook.  Issues that I can share here and know that those that will find my issues will not belittle me...

I know I have said this before, but I am coming back. 

Once I figure out the whole new Blogger thing....

In Memoriam....

He is 4 Years Old

I started this blog to join into the blogging world. Which I thought was a bunch of fun people who would support you and join with you.

I've supported bloggers who have lost sons, needed help for their grandparents, just been good people who have been caught up in this damn recession. I've made friends that I talk to on the phone and those I have had the tremendous pleasure of being invited to their homes.

I have been a bad blogger...I blame it on FB...but I have been bouncing all over reading my friends blogs..rarely commenting (because I am doing it at work and I can get away with google reader on my computer when my boss walks in...but not your sexy header) LOL

My blog is going to change...I am in the midst of some life changing and scarey things. Things that I am not sure they are going to ever be right. The scarey part is they are not mine...they are what my 4 year old grandson, his mother and his father are going to have to learn to live with.

My 4 year old grandson has been diagnosed at Bipolar. I will share the rage incidents later, maybe. Godbless his current day care....they have been amazing, unlike the two before...

This blog is going to change, I need to be able to be there to help my daughter, her son, my SIL..and educate the rest of the world. My grandson is not a monster..he is a child with a mental health illness.

The short one in this picture...he is Bipolar. He has Rage incidents at his daycare that are scary. Rage incidents....these are not temper tantrums, these are destroying rooms, total loss of control.

He is an amazing little boy and will be an amazing person.

He is 4 years old.

Meeting Fellow Bloggers

I had the privilege of meeting two bloggers today.

I know that is not a big thing to most of you..and it probably was not a big thing to them either, they have gone to blogger get togethers...Halloween parties....meet ups...

It was a HUGE thing to me.

Thank you Cher and Thank you Angel!! You are both amazing women and have amazing families.

Meet....Not Your Typical Floozy!

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work last night. We needed a few essentials.

I am walking down the aisle with a 6 pack of beer in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other when I see them. A mother and teenage daughter walking towards me. Mother pushing the cart filled with groceries, daughter trailing a few paces behind (as teenage daughters do), frantically pulling down her T-Shirt.

Mind you, teenage daughter is a cute little blonde thing. Thin as cute little blond things are, with her hair in a pony tail.

I am, as I said, carrying the few essentials that we needed and I am wearing my black dress slacks, a knit top with 3/4 length sleeves. Said knit top has been washed a few times and it did shrink, I am also wearing my blackberry on my waist band.

Mother says to daughter, "...keep your shirt down, I don't want you walking around with your belly hanging out like some floozy."

"Sorry Mom", says cute teenage daughter.

They both glance at me as we pass...both their eyes drop to my waist area, where my belly is peeking out between my top and my slacks.

Mother frantically glances away and is now almost running down the aisle, daughter blushes and looks away and I? I burst out laughing, loudly. Good thing I had taken out my belly button ring...guess I was not your typical floozy.

Forever In My Heart

Miss you Daddy!

William "Bill"Applegarth
November 18, 1932 - January 12, 2009

Letter to My Sister

Dear Debi,

I do not know what is happening with you anymore? Where are you?

I remember when you were a baby....you were my baby..I was 3 and you were 5 months old we watched Romper Room on our black and white TV in the living room. Later when mommy would put you down for a nap...I would sneak into their bedroom where your crip was to watch you sleep. Then when you woke up..I would run to mom and tell her you were awake. She would take you out of the crib...nurse you and then let me hold you.

When you learned to walk...you walked to me and mommy and daddy...I was there when you were potty trained..(actually I remember rushing you to the potty..)

Later is school, my friends were your friends.

Now..I do not know you.

I wish I could understand where you are at...what is driving you to the decisions that you are making. But I cannot. I cannot understand why you are doing these things to our mother. Why you are still blaming her for your circumstance.

Every decision we make in our lives affects where we go. Each and every way we interact with someone affects our future. You have made your choices...

My job now is to protect our mother from you. You have made bad choices and bad decisions. You have decided that our mother is how you are going to survive.

That is not going to happen. You are not going to use, abuse, threaten our mother anymore.

She bailed you out of jail this time. It will not happen again.

I loved you and I am hoping that I can find it in myself to love you again someday. But right now all I can wonder is where is my "Debbie"?

No title, no spell check..just me spouting off.

Death is not right...it never comes when you are expecting it. It never gives you enough warning. It really sucks when you find out through a FB post. Especially when that death could have been prevented. You feel helpless when you work in the field..even if it is on the outside..but they had the contacts.

I even wonder..."why didn't she leave?"

We gave her all the information...we gave her everything she needed...why? Why? WHY??? Did She Go Back???? She is DEAD!!!

Damn...I can't take this...I cannot stay doing the fundraising when we are not doing anything...

I need a new job.