Beefy Or Peachy

We took some time today to go for a bit of a drive, and for me, down memory lane. We drove to where my aunt use to live and stopped to take pictures of her home that she lived in for more then 20 years. So many trees and flowers are coming into blossom so it was a really lovely day in a quaint New England town. I hope she likes the pictures of her home hubby took.

We did some shopping for toiletries and then returned home where company of was coming over to celebrate her birthday. So they had a cookout, a game of Texas Holdem (which I won, grin) and followed up with a great chocolate cake. All the adults and my granddaughter and her little friend Emma had a lovely day together.

Some more news about my brother's condition. He now has also developed the shingles and has been in so much pain he about can't stand it. They have put him on an anti-viral medication as well as an anti-inflammatory and pain meds, so of course his stomach is not great either. He sees the neuro surgeon Tuesday to discuss spinal surgery. He is so very discouraged. We will be there for him and his wife whenever they do schedule the surgery.

Well I hope everyone had a good Saturday.

Hugs and Peace,
Aly

We were all outside (it was actually 72 here today) playing abit of soccer and frisbee, and coloring with chalk. Mark was on bee patrol as  there is a bee's nest somewhere in the backyard. He killed 3 bees for us so we could stay outside and play with Haley.

Later she donned her artist shirt for painting and creating an original piece of art by hers truly. After that she was on to playing the drums a few minutes and then playing with her Polly's. It was a fun-filled day seeing her delight in her world !

I did hear from my brother tonight and the pain he's been having in his neck and down his arm is going to require surgery unfortunately. He's had 3 surgeries already in his back including a fusion. Now it seems C2 and C3 may require a fusion as well. I will know more in a day or two. We will of course go and stay with his wife while the surgery is performed. He sounded quite nervous tonight and I can't blame him.

We also fit in a game of Texas Holdem and a game of Phase 10 while the little one napped in the afternoon.

Well that's all folks,
Hugs and Peace to all,
Aly

It is only 10 our time but 1 am their time and the little one will be up early in the morning to greet us and we can't wait, grin .

This dialup and mouse are feeling antiquated to me so I'm not sure how much I'll be doing, or how much time I will have. Most likely only at night.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow..

Hugs,
Aly (glad to be on the ground again!)

Mood: upset

At the right time and place, I suggest people exchange answers to the following questions:

1. Kids or no kids?
2. Smoking or no smoking?
3. Drinking or no drinking? (Same for drugs)
4. Religious beliefs: Match? Blend? Clash?
5. Who works? Who stays home (especially when the kids come along)?
6. Who wants to live where?
7. Who controls the checkbook?
8. What is his/her personal relationship with his/her family? Too distant? Too close?
   Too weird? Appropriate to your standards?
9. How are holidays spent? At home? With family? Alone? Vacationing?
10. Windows opened or closed? Heat/AC on or off?
11. What side of the bed must you (he/she) sleep on?
12. Where to spend vacations? Leisure time?
13. Sick: Left alone or babied?
14. Appropriate gift giving: birthdays? Yuletide holidays? Special occasions?
15. Who does what around the house?
16. What is acceptable hygiene?
17. What are his/her hobbies, pastimes?
18. Preferences: Music? Movie? Book favorites?
19. Favorite foods?
20. Pets or no pets? What kind?
21. Decisions about the children: School, church, discipline, allowance,
    extra curricular activities, friends, and curfew?
22. Mealtimes: Early or late?
23. Furniture: Vintage or Contemporary?
24. Sleeping habits: Four hours or eight?

Three more compatibility factors

If this list is not enough to help you determine whether or not your new love is right for you, try these as additional ways to size up the compatibility factor: How does your new love handle a crisis? Behave in public places? Treat your friends and family?

I also think you can tell a great deal about your new mate by the way he treats his mother and how she treats her father. Observing how a person regards that parent is key in establishing how he or she will treat you!

If you are in love -- if you've finally met Mr. or Ms. Right -- step back from all that awe and wonderment for a moment and get answers to all of the above. You will find out whether or not this new relationship (the one you've been looking for all this time) is one that will or will not last. As they say, love can be blind, but if it is going to last, love also has to be practical!

I was testing the children
in my Sunday school class
to see if they understood the concept
of getting to heaven.
I asked them, "If I sold my house
and my car,
had a big garage sale
and gave all my money
to the church,
Would that get me into Heaven?"
     
"NO!" the children
answered.
"If I cleaned the church
every day, mowed the yard,
and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into
Heaven?"
                 
Again, the answer was, "NO!"
By now I was starting to smile.
Hey, this was fun!
"Well, then, if I was kind to animals
and gave candy
to all the children,
and loved my husband,
would that get me into Heaven?"

I asked them again.     
Again, they all answered, "NO!"
I was just bursting with pride for them.
Well, I continued, "then how can I get into Heaven?"
  
A five-year-old boy shouted out,
"YOU GOTTA BE DEAD."

 

Mood: Thanks Tee :)

Tag you're it!  I've been tagged. So here it goes...delete my
answers, replace with your own.

 

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Office Manager

2. Administrative Assistant
3. Asst Mgr Chicos

4. Leasing Agent

 

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. A Knights Tale
2. Moulin Rouge
3. The Return of the King
4. Trains, Planes and Automobiles

 

Four places you have lived:
1.  Phoenix , AZ
2.  Charlottesville, VA
3.  Vernon, CT
4.  Dexter, ME

 

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. 24
2. The Daily Show
3. Diamondbacks and UCONN games
4. Deal or No Deal

(and re-runs Seinfield)

 

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. France
2. Florida
3. California
4. New Hampshire

 

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Blogigo members J
2. Yahoo news and Spades
3.  Google searches
4.  Pogo

 

Four of my favorite foods
1. Seafood and fish

2. Chinese
3. Mexican
4. Desserts and some veggies

 

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Traveling most anywhere with hubby
2. Swimming
3. At the movies

4. Playing/spending time with my sons and granddaughters/friends

 

Four Favorite Smells:
1. Lavender
2. Vanilla
3. Fresh baked bread or cinnamon rolls
4. Opium or Chanel perfume

 

Four friends I am tagging That I think will respond.....
1. Teresa
2. Darleen
3. Stacey
4. Ruth

 

This is just too good not to pass on to all - - something absolutely positive for a change! I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice!

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with 160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But 160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is to not have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite!

What do you get for your 160,140?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For 160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For 160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins, but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits. So . . one day they, like you, will love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

And, you get to do it all over again with your grandchildren. If you take care of yourself, you might even get to stick a "great" in there too!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren

Brad Pitt called for people to submit proposals for an environmentally friendly design competition he is sponsoring to rebuild parts of New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

"This competition asks the question, can this catastrophe be turned into opportunity? Can we create for these neighborhoods and its families something even better than they had before? We encourage anyone with an idea to get involved," the actor said Thursday in a statement.

Pitt is teaming up with Global Green USA, a national environmental organization, on the design project.