Where Have I Been?!

There I was, thinking that when my 2 oldest would be in school that things around here would get a little easier.  How on earth are they more busy and complicated when I have one less in the house for a good part of the day?  Guess I have been slacking some in the blogging department.  As I said before, my TWO oldest children are in school.  How on earth did my middle girl get old enough to be in school all day?  I know a lot of people say it but it is true, they grow up way too fast!

She is loving kindergarten and has many stories at the end of the day!  She had me walking her to her line on the first day and by the end of the week, she wanted me to just drop them in the car line.  Not only is she becoming more independent but she is showing just how courageous she can be.  On Friday I got a call from the school nurse, who also happens to be a good friend, who told me that a kid in her class had pulled out one of her earrings.  It was bleeding pretty good yet my small one only wanted a band-aid and be sent back to class.  I was able to talk to her on the phone and she told me about all the fun stuff that had happened, nothing about her bleeding ear.  So, once the bleeding was controlled and band-aid in place, she went back to class.  A couple of hours later I get a text from the nurse saying a kid on the playground pulled out her other earring.  Same thing, no tears, no crying, just a quick "please band-aid me".  I can tell you one thing, my oldest would have been home with the first one milking it for all it was worth........I think I would have done the same thing.  I am learning my middle is thick skinned and can handle what is thrown her way, I am so proud of her!

Something else I am proud of?  People standing up for what is right.  A couple of days ago, a good friend of mine posted a link from Talk About It.  The Talk About It site was created by actor Greg Grunberg.  His son has Epilepsy.  We had the honor to meet him at our Walk To End Epilepsy last year.

He is a strong advocate for the Epilepsy community and is spreading awareness day in and day out.  Recently he saw a trailer for a movie where a guy calls another guy "little seizure boy" as a way to make fun of him.  The actors are not small named actors and they also happen to be friends of Greg's.  Standing up for some people can be difficult especially in that line of work.  If you stand up and say something you may not get another gig again, you may tick just enough people off that you become headlines for all the wrong reasons.  But he didn't think twice.  He automatically tweeted to let people know and for them to ask the production company to re-think their ways.  Some may say standing up doesn't work.......this time it did!  The production company issued an apology and was re-editing the part in question.  How amazing is that?!  It doesn't matter what your cause, what makes you want to make this world a better place, standing up for what you believe in can and does make a difference!  Yes, some may say, words don't hurt.  but try to be on the other end of those words.  Seizures are no laughing matter, they are life altering and the people suffering don't deserve to be made fun of.  This year we are not able to attend the walk but we will be there in spirit.  If you live close enough, please consider joining a team or making your own and walk to find a cure and spread awareness.  If you don't live in CA and can make it to Pasadena on October 16, please consider sponsoring someone who will be there.  My good friend who told me about the above story will be there walking with her son and many others.  If you want further info, you can always go to the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles website or ask me for more info :)

I hope everyone has an great extended weekend!!!

Up on my soapbox

I like to think that I can hold my own in a political or world view conversation.  I may not be the brightest bulb in the box but I feel like I can hold my own.  However, I rarely like to get political, it can turn the best of friends into enemies and in this case, the most loyal of readers who decide to never read again.  If you are reading this blog because you found me on the UBP, let me apologize for the following statements in advance and promise you that I am not on here as a political blog and this is a very rare occasion, I just feel as if I am being called out and need to step up upon my old, creaky soapbox that is rarely used and make a statement.  Ok, now that the disclaimer is over, here goes..........
This whole government shut down is a pain in my ass!!!!!  yes, I said ass, that too is rarely used on here but it defines exactly how I feel.  I get that there are differing views and people want to see things go one way as opposed to the other, but those very same people make hundreds upon thousands if not millions per year and can go without getting a paycheck for a couple of weeks.  They may just need to eat at home and not go to the mall for a bit but it wont hit them hard.  The people it will be hitting hard are people like me.  Military families who make as little as $23,000 a year fighting for your freedom.  No, I am not one of the ones who make $23,000, luckily it has been years since we have made that little but I can tell you we don't make a heck of a lot more.  So, to think that maybe next week when we would be getting paid and heading to the commissary to do some grocery shopping and hopping online to pay bills, that instead we will be sitting ducks without a penny coming in, it scares the heck out of me.  I have been getting messages from people who want me to stop being so negative and look on the brighter side and realize that the military is not the only ones who will be out of pay and possibly out of a job.  Trust me, I feel for everyone who is in this position but I don't see a brighter side.  And I don't see the people who make the big bucks who are the ones deciding whether or not I get a paycheck offering up any of their millions to help subsidize for those who will be getting nothing, or even offering a pay cut, maybe instead of making 2 million a year they can opt for 1.5 million and have the rest go back to help stimulate the economy.  It makes me mad that the "small" people of this great nation will be the ones who are most affected and the ones who are in the most need.  So no, I will not stop being "negative" about this.  I think that I am a very positive person who has taken a ton of crap thrown on her plate and turned it into something pretty.  I feel like an emotional magician most days but on this, well, it just stinks and you cannot turn something stinky into a good smelling rose no matter what you do.  Ok, thank you for your time, lending me your ears, now can someone give me a hand and help me down form this dang box, it is a little creaky and not used to having someone on it :)

Christmas Lessons

On Christmas Eve we go to my Grandmothers house on my moms side of the family.  It takes a good hour or more to get to her house form here and the girls are never loving the car ride, I think we hear a lot of "are we there yet's" from them even though we make that trip a lot and I am sure they know where they are by what they see out their window.  This time, and I blame it on the holiday that had my mind crazed, but we left the house around 1pm and 1 mile down the road I realized I had yet to feed my kids lunch.  I knew they would be complaining before we got there about how hungry they were and since we wouldn't be eating for another 4-5 hours, I knew I had to stop.  So, we stopped at a grocery store out in town and then hit the road.  The snacks I picked up weren't as big of a hit as I thought they would be and 2 out of 3 girls were passed out within 10 minutes of driving down the road.  I sat with a bag of flavored toasted crackers within my grasp and was not happy.....I am trying to eat better and lose weight, those will not help.  I proceeded to only eat a couple and was pretty happy with myself but kept wondering why on earth I even bothered to get snacks if no one was going to eat them.  This normally does not go through my mind because with 3 kids, I know things will eventually get eaten.  Yet, that thought kept coming to mind.
And then it happened.  We pulled off the freeway at the exit to my Grandmas and there was a homeless man standing there with a sign that read "anything will help".  I knew I didn't have any cash on me and was quickly wondering how I could help.  Not only because I felt compassion for him but for goodness sakes it is Christmas Eve and no matter what has happened in someones lives, they don't deserve to spend that day on the roadside watching happy families who are more fortunate drive by.  That's when I saw the snacks, the snacks that were not getting eaten.  We rolled down our window and he came over.  I told him I was sorry I did not have more but that I hoped that he had a blessed Christmas.  He said that was more than enough and thanked me.  As soon as we started driving off my girls asked me why I did that and I got to explain about giving to others and those who are less fortunate.  I was so happy that on such a blessed holiday, I was able to speak this lesson to my little ones.  And then it hit, not until Christmas night, but it hit me.  I know some of you may not be religious but I believe that God disguises himself as people in our lives and tests us on how we will react.  He can be a poor person on the side of the road or he can be a sales person having a hard day.  You never know but I believe he tests us to see how we handle those situations and how we can be blessing others in our lives.  Now I am not saying I know that God was standing there on the side of the road disguised as a homeless man just to see what I would do.  But what I do know is that I have never been upset that I bought food and that no one was eating it right then and there and that 45 minutes later we got stopped on an exit right next to a man who needed food, that to me is a sign.  We all need to show some compassion to one another.  I don't believe that it can fix the world, there are people out there who would much rather use violence or harsh words instead of kindness, but I do believe that if everyone showed one another kindness and stepped into there shoes every now and again, the world could be a much nicer place.  I pray you were all blessed this Christmas with family, good friends and memories that will last you a lifetime!!!