Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Hello Again!

Wow! This "being without the internet" way of life is NOT the life for me...lol! My oh my how I've missed you guys! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. I had a great time with My Man...otherwise known as Keith...now known as The-Reason-For-All-My-Dietary-Problems! lol! Keith has yet to be convinced of the benefits of the 30 day wellness challenge and he did his best to convince me life is way more fun "his way". Bacon biscuits for breakfast, donuts and ice cream for lunch, hamburgers and fries for dinner with sugar laden snacks in between...sounds like fun...NOT!!! Look up sugar addict in the dictionary and the only thing you will find is a picture of My Man's handsome mug. Despite his urging, I stood strong the first day. Day two, Harriet the Hormone Hellion paid me a visit and I must confess, I succumbed to her wily ways. Every time she pays me a visit my world gets turned upside down. What is it about that monthly moment that takes hold of you and turns you into something you have no desire or inclination to be? It is THE ultimate out of body experience. Cravings and mood swings become larger than life. You sit back and helplessly watch as your will power cowers to the raging beast that is stirred to action. Anything and everything is fodder for your insatiable hunger. Over the years I've attempted to give Harriet the ol' heave ho but she is a stubborn ol' cuss. She barges in, firmly plants herself for a few days and then she's off to harass another poor unsuspecting soul, leaving me with a marred complexion and a 5 pound weight gain. I spend the remaining 23 days of a 28 day cycle un-doing the damage she's done...just in time for her to visit again. A vicious cycle. A vicious, vicious cycle. But such is the life of being female. ***sigh***

Now that I've TOTALLY digressed to the point of being POINTless, How ARE You GUYS? I'm almost giddy with anticipation of what I will find when I finish this post and finally get to visit you all! I'm hoping to hear stories of family time, BBQ's, outdoor adventures and maybe even a little craftiness. Most importantly, I'm sure to find words of tribute for the real reason we celebrate Memorial Day. One very touching, bring tears to your eyes, such tribute can be found on Stephanie Howell's blog. I'm sure most of you follow her blog, but just in case you missed it, I want to include the link HERE. Her story, her life, opens my eyes to what sacrifices are paid on a daily basis for the freedom I so often take for granted. This one will surely touch your heart.

Now for a few shout outs. Over the last couple of weeks I have received some "happy" mail. The first package I received was a total surprise from a super special friend, Amy. Have you ever happened upon those people who are just giving, caring, loving people and you know it the minute you meet them? Well, Amy is one of those people. She is always sharing her special finds with her blog friends, spreading love and sunshine with each gift. This is the contents of my envelope of happiness.



While the gift is thoughtful enough in and of itself, Amy personalized the gift even further. Notice the wish token in the photo? This is what Amy wrote about it in an email to me:

"I bought the wish token that said you are not alone because you often spoke of that in your posts.....Then read your blog post about your kids coming home and filling up the house again. Funny how things work out.....
The reason I got that actually has nothing to do with your children.... Even in our darkest hour when we feel like everything is so crazy and we feel so alone in the daily grind.....God is always there. To lift us up when we are down....You are never alone."


These words were a gift beyond measure. A reminder of how blessed I am to never be alone. What a wonderfully comforting thought. Take the time to visit Ms. Amy. You are sure to find her posts uplifting and inspirational. And her photography skills are INCREDIBLE! I soooo want to be her when I grow up.

As if that was not enough, I received more happy mail today. Mandy sent these fabulous treasures.



I'm not sure how I met Mandy. I found her? She found me? Either way, I'm so glad we met! Mandy has two blogs. One where she shares her day to day happenings as well as her fabulous crafty creations and the other focuses on the story of her son, Mav. This site, Mad4Mav, is an incredible tale of a heroic little boy and his mom. It is a documentary of the life of an autistic child and the trials and triumphs he and his mom go through. Please take some time to stop in, read their story and leave a comment of support. I know how much Mandy will appreciate it.

I have one more thing to share. Last week I also received this award from Joanie.



While I am more than honored to have received this award, I am actually more humbled by it. You see, Joanie is the type of person that inspires me. So I guess it would be far more fitting that the gifting of this award be in the reverse. In a recent post, Joanie describes herself as a "Personal Assistant" to Shayla. Shayla has a rare fatal disease called Mytocondrial and seizure disorder and Joanie's love for Shayla radiates in the pictures of them together. I am in awe of her! Not to mention she is oh so talented in the scrapping arena AND she is totally "full of bolognie"...the title of her blog. Pay her a visit...it will certainly put a smile on your face.

The rules of Joanie's award state that I must pass this to 6 other bloggers. Gosh, how I hate to narrow things down to only a select few. But this time I will play by the rules. Here are my 6:

1. Amy M..
2. Mandy
3. "Tornado" Terri
4. Kelli
5. Ellen
6. Lucy

That's it for tonight. I will be back in a couple of days to post some pics from this weekend. G'night.

P.S. I forgot to thank you for all the awesome links. I can't wait to check out all the kit clubs and challenge blogs! I knew you guys wouldn't steer me wrong! ***HUGS***

24 comments:

  1. I am glad U are back....and I have missed U!!!!!! LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE this phrase...."Harriet the Hormone Hellion"....U totally CRACK me up!!! LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE the happy mail...and loveeeeeeeeeeeeee the award!!!! CONGRATS! :):):):):):):):):):):):)

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  2. Don't you just love the unexpected happy mail. After being an army wife, and seeing first hand memorial day takes on a completely new meaning.

    PS I haev to agree with the others. I LOVE firefox. I does take afew to adjust afterusing IE but you will love it in about a week. It doesn't crash like IE. It can restore you session if it does, you can save your open tabs when you close the browser, auto spell check. Its an awesome browser.

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  3. I used to always wish I could find an irreputable doctor that would take care of Harriet. I finally found a reputable one that hand a good reason to end Harriet once and for all. It was one of the best days of my life.

    Love your happy mail and congratulaions on your award.

    Blessings,
    Christine

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  4. Look at all your winnings!!!! YAY for you!!! So glad you had a great time with your MAN!!!! It was quiet here, I actually got some scrapbooking done....and yes I have my challenge and have to load it to the site by June 14th!!! I almost passed out when I saw what it was!!!! This is going to be a challenge for me...but opening new doors and pushing me out of my safe little box!!!!!! I have soooo missed you and was glad to see you back!!!!! Don't forget to stop by Butterfly Crafts and give me a shout out!!!!! We have a super busy week, the boys today, a graduation party on Saturday and and a Baptism on Sunday! Just went out last night to celebrate one of My Scrappy Girls Surprise Birthday dinner. I am one tired cookie....love you sweet friend!!!!! Joe told me we are moving to NC and coming to check out your neck of the woods!!!!! Maybe we can move tomorrow!!!!! :) Have a great day!!!

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  5. Forgot to tell you but I got my Noel Mignon kit yesterday and it is PACKED FULL of awesome product!!!! I want this one monthly~~~~~~~

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  6. Hi Lisa, thank you so much for your sweet words about my kids AND my part in it as their mother ... I hadn't really thought about it like that untill a few of you made those comments. I guess it does mean I'm doing something right LOL!!! When they act up, or react in a way that's totally out of order, I'm always wondering what I'm doing wrong, but when they're being extraordinarily good, that's just the way it is, you know... I've never thought of that as being a result of our parenting as well. Anyway, you girls have made me feel such a good mom right now, and I thank you for that!

    And OMG Lisa, I've scrolled down a bit and I've missed so many of your last posts ... high time to catch up! Off to read your previous stories.

    And btw, I agree with Cathy, Firefox is better!

    Love xxx Peggy

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  7. Welcome back!!!! That happy mail is awesome!

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  8. Harriet the Hormone, LMAOOOOOOOOOO! Ain't that the truth! HAAAAAA!
    OMG, you kill me girl! You are the best! xOxO

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  9. Welcome back to cyber land, we missed ya!

    I really blame "Harriet" for most my downfalls, she's such a brat! Ugh.

    Love your happy mail, yummilicious for sure.

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  10. Okay....You need to start putting a tisue alert at the top of your posts. LOL. What sweet words you share. I am totally addicted to your blog and have missed you more than words. You need to make your posts into a book. I know a few people who would buy it. I am just 33 and after my last baby I tied up the plumbing which has sent me into a "Harriet" spiral.....But I think I would take "Harriet" over "the man package" any day. I think being a woman is a wonder in itself. Yes there are hic ups we have to deal with but finding that special place in life where we can just be happy with the way God made us....THERE IS SUCH FREEDOM IN THAT. FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

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  11. Oh Lisa, you do make me laugh girl - I love your whimsical writings - such characters you create - I'm happy to report though that my Harriet met her demise some years ago and she is here no more. Bad bad Harriet, I took care of your butt!!!

    I haven't been blogging so much lately - work takes its toil on me and is kickin' my tooshie! Long days, long nights. But this is my 5th day of a my 5-day weekend so I have time today to chat away and catch up on my friends, scrapping and not so scrapping, kits, blogs, etc.

    For Memorial Day, we went to the cemetary to lay flowers on Josh's grave - and yesterday, I traveled to Wilmington and spent the entire day with my other son doing the "mommy / son" thing. You know, he wants, I buy, he wants, I buy again .... funny how that never changes. LOL

    Well, look girl, have a wonderful week! Keep on keepin' on!!! XOXOXOXO And thanks for the lovely award! You're a corker, girl!!!

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  12. Oh yes...we relaxed and we reflected...we have veterans all around us in my family. We played outside and had BBQ and I did a little crafting...just a little...I didn't want to spend too much time indoors. I do the same thing around that time of the month...I used to try and fight it...but now I just go with it. What can you do? Lol!! I don't know what I would do without internet...I have it on my phone for times that I can't be near my laptop.
    Glad to see you back in blogland!!
    :)

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  13. Hi Lisa! So I am glad you had a great weekend! I am with your man on the whole, let's eat what we want and have fun thing! Although since I've had thyroid cancer I am more careful with what I eat that has soy in it because soy is most likely what caused the cancer in the first place! If you go to my blog, I have a post about my very funny Saturday. And that was only half of what was funny that day! We went to 2 parades. One of them marches right by our house so we got to stay hme for it, and the other we went to like we do every year and after we went to my mother in law's for a picnic. We had 3 picnics and my bowling banquet since Friday! It was an uber busy weekend!

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  14. fabulous happy mail haul!
    a word on those few days a month -- start looking forward to them as a chance to be diva and eat chocolate (stock those thins etc.)
    your man sounds like the best kind -- i feel in love with a fellow bookworm and midnight snacker. those cuddly sugar sweet moments are worth an extra few pounds :) (how would we cuddle without them? ;)

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  15. I'm touched that you picked me as one of your 6! I love coming here and reading your wise and funny stories!
    I'm off to pick my 6 inspirees, other than you of course!

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  16. I totally missed your request for challenge blogs! Sorry about that, but I can see you got tons of great links already.

    What a bunch of happy mail for you, and how sweet about the personalized wish thing. I have to admit that your happy mail from me is NOT on the way yet, but should go out today, so it was completely useless for me to take it to IL with me! I'm usually much more on top of things, I promise!

    And, yes, you were reading backwards! lol. That was Monday's post :) I always like to get your notes though so I'm not complaining...

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  17. Glad you are back to the "real world" LOL
    Also glad to hear that Harriet took a flying leap- what a pain that one is!
    Something tells me that Keith and I would get along just fine, as we share the same diet.
    It must feel great to know you are so loved that people go out of their way to send you special things. You deserve it ;)

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  18. I was wondering where you were! Glad you are back and doing good!! Love your fun fun happy mail!!

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  19. Hey, it's great to have you back! I like to read your blog. I had a nice week-end. Gardening that is. If you want to see what I was up to, come and see my blog. Pictures to show you. I just got up from a snooze, it's raining out there, I feel like the weather today!

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  20. yo yo yo. i gotta agree with you. the scrapping world has opened my eyes to the sacrifices so many ppl make for us on a daily basis. i never really knew anyone in the military beside my elder family members and i appreciate that insight and selfishness. i hope you had a great looong weekend. i know i did. {margaritas=yum=fun} and THANK YOU for the kind words. i just try to do my 'lil part in this big ole world. {sigh}

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  21. Looking forward to tonight, glad you are back blogging. Have you looked into Seasonal or Seasonique? Periods 4 times a year. Nice! Check with your healthcare provider of course, every situation is different, but my life is infinitely better for it.

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  22. Don't rule Keith out on the wellness thing. I started years before my husband & now all of a sudden he's eating healthy & running FASTER than me.... hhmph... the nerve.

    Keep on keepin' on... :-)

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  23. Glad to see you back! And tell Harriet to take a hike - don't send her my way, either. ;)

    Thanks for the award, so sweet of you to say I inspire you! :)

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  24. Love you! You made me cry glad you like the goodies!!! Thanks so much for the shout out I too am so happy we met.Thanks for the award your so sweet! Have a good night!!!

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