The dam has finally broken....

and it took this video to finally have it happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWYn2k4IaPY&NR=1

Leaving New York City was so depressing. I had so much fun and saw so many things that I never wanted it to end. But it did and I was left with a feeling of loneliness and anger at having to leave and sadness at leaving and regret for not doing more in the time I had. Taking more pictures, making a video of every minute with the people I shared this experience with. Taking pictures of the friendly people of New York. Julio, thanks for caring. Thanks for taking the image of a rough West Side guy out of my head. You're a sweet, kind, and gentle man who made the stay at the hotel very pleasant. I only wish I had taken a pic of you. :)

My next post will highlight my stay in New York City!

Posting pictures

I'll post pictures when I hear from my friends and get the pictures that they have. I am missing the group picture of us and the trip walking across the Brooklyn Bridge the day I left.

See ya later....

I LOVE NEW YORK!

Need I say more?

Yeah, but later while I go cry because I really love New York!

My last day in NYC!

I am waiting for my friends to get to my hotel so we can have one last special time together. It has been SO WONDERFUL here with them, I am dying inside because I have to say good bye to them later today.

We have laughed, loved, talked, and had an amazing time. The NYC subway system is...interesting, to say the least. But most of the New Yorkers that we have encountered were super friendly and very eager to help in any way. The food was spectacular and filling. The accomodations were warm and friendly! I don't want to leave!!!!!!

I will be filming most of the day since my memory fades and my digital images are far more reliable.

I'll upload pictures tomorrow after work. I love NEW YORK and I love the friends that brought me here to begin with. Hugs and kisses to you three. It was an *amazing* lifetime experience.

Last post before I go!

I am packing, doing one last load of laundry (washed at laundromat, then brough it home to dry), making sure that I have absolutley everything I need in case of...and yet still pack little enough so I do not have to check my bag at the airport. Talk about hard!

I'll sleep on the plane. No, I won't I'm afraid I'll miss anything exciting!

My excitement is through the roof!!!!


See you all on MOnday when I update with pictures and stories!

Bye St. Louis! Hello, New York!

Getting Ready

I talked to 2 of the 3 friends in New York City. They are there and are enjoying being together. I am so ansy to go and be there with them. Hearing their voices is so much better than IM or any email. I can't wait to be there. Less than 60 hours. Ah, the intensity of it all is going to kill me before I even get there.

Catching up with new friends and old ones...

I have a facebook account. If you know my name, you can find me.

I like it better than myspace. I didn't think I would but I do. I just spoke to one of my friends from high school. That was cool!

The internet is one of the most wonderful inventions (thanks Al!) that has come to light in the past 30 years. Talking to people from other countries is amazing! My three friends who I am going to NYC with, are all from Germany. I am going to speak german almost all weekend long. At least that is my plan....(we'll see how that goes).

I have many more friends on the internet than I have in real life. I'm too busy for real life but I can certainly sit and get a few emails out or catch up on someone's life just by reading their blog or reading their wall on facebook. I absolutely love it! Friends move away and you don't have to lose touch with them just because they move. If they have internet access, webcams, skype, IM, it's all so simple to keep connected to those people or find those who you have lost contact with.

Just wanted to express my happiness! See you later. Watch the counter....can't wait for it to hit 0 days!~

Til later...

COUNTDOWN TO NEW YORK CITY!!!

This time next week I will be with my girlfriends walking the streets and enjoying the sites of NYC!

I picked up my travelers checks at the bank and I am packing and getting everything ready for the trip. I won't have time to do it this week so I have to do it now.

I just talked to my friend who is meeting me and she is as excited as I am. We wil meet Friday night at Grand Central Station and then go eat at a fancy establishment at the station.

Can't wait!!!! 6 Days and counting....less than 140 hours....

The World Today.....

is just sad. We will get through this just like any other. If the world learns a lesson from what we are going through now, then so be it. Everything happens for a reason and I, for one, have found that out in a number of ways the past 5 years.

I pray that it doesn't last long and that we all get out of it a smarter mindset and better thinking on how to handle our lives, personally, professionally, socially, and spiritually.

God Bless the Entire Planet!

Well, now this is a test of my will and strength....

Lovely tree roots in a place they should NOT be...


Friday morning as I was getting ready for work, I was in the shower and I heard gurgling in my toilet and sink. Gurgling is not good in my house when it comes to my plumbing. I have learned from experience that when you hear that particular sound, you better stop what you are doing and pay close attention to unexpected water blow ups. I quickly got dressed and called my local plumber. I have been dealing with these guys for the past 2 years on past plumbing issues (tree roots) and they have always helped.

My house was built in 1952. The plumbing outside the house is clay tile and has serious root infestation. So, because of school and money issue problems, I have delayed the serious task of replacing all my pipes outside to the city drain with PVC pipe, a cost of about $5000. Well, now that I have a job and have money rolling, Heavenly Father has blessed me with the task of actually taking care of this little annoyance. It won't wait until Spring. I have to do it now....and the cost will bite into Christmas and other luxuries that I have been wanting to do.
My trip to NYC is still on (non-refundable airline tickets) but I have to be careful with the money I do take so I can still afford to pay the plumber when he does his job. This just sucks! Seriously! Oh, the kicker is that I have no clothes washer til it gets fixed either. I have to go to the laundromat to do loads of laundry since the pressure from the sump pump in the basement, makes the plumbing back up in to the house and cause more problems. Oh, and I haven't mentioned the worst part, the plumber, while he was digging cut my satellite wires and now the satellite can't be repaired until Tuesday.....when it rains, it pours.

My work schedule prohibits me from being home through all this to supervise and it makes me crazy that way. There is a control issue there and I know it. If I am there, they can't screw anything up and even if they do, I can correct it before they leave. That's the news. I'll update later with more as it comes *into the station*

Till later!

HAPPY OCTOBER!!

And Happy First Payday at my new job! Yes! It was bigger than I had expected or anticipated and the extra is going into savings. Already been transferred for semi annual bills I have to pay in December.

I am so happy, even with the economy being as it is. I work at a financial firm and we have seen clients move thier money around but we have not seen the clients take the money out. The market is doing weird stuff but if you stay the course and leave the money where it is, it'll eventually even itself out. The stock Market is set up for the long term, not hiddly piddly when things get a little tough. That is what an emergency fund is for...the everyday tough stuff.

I bought milk last night and some groceries and the milk prices were almost down to normal. I was pleasantly surprised. So with the kids home this weekend, I bought up a few gallons in anticipation of Bubba drinking lots of milk. I am also going to mkae their favorite treat this weekend and that takes up a lot of milk.

Time to get ready for work. Catch up time again. We had a lot of updates in forms yesterday so I have to get the new forms ready and replace the old ones.

Have fun today. I know I certainly will. I love my life, my loves and my job!!!! I wish your life is as blessed as mine is right now.

Feels really good!

Til later!

Getting ready for NYC!!

Black clothes=check
memory card for camera=check
finding luggage=check
little soap, shampoo, body gel=check (airport security, bite me!)
cash=check
maps=check
subway directions=check

Hmmm......Can you tell I am just a little excited....

20 more days!!!

My itinerary for New York....

I'll be there for 2 half days and 1 whole day so I have this in mind...

Central Park
Rockefeller Center
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Ground Zero
Empire State Building
NBC Studios
1 Broadway Play (Probably Wicked)
Food, ummm...we'll see about that.....


I can't wait!!!! Notice there is no shopping involved. I don't shop for stuff, I sightsee and I can't wait!!!!! Take lots of pictures of sights and dream of not getting mugged, killed or maimed.....Bring on the fun!!!

*WOW* I just cannot wait!!!!!

NEW YORK CITY HERE I COME!!!!!

Flight is booked and accomodations are made, I'm coming! Watch out! I am so excited!!!!!!!

Details later!

My third (first real) week at work...

The first two weeks at my new job was training so I was learning and shadowing the people at work so I really physically was not working at all. My brain was hurting on overload by the weekends though. This week was all me doing the work and doing paperwork for my boss for the clients he was seeing. Monday was hard. I cried on my walk, called hubby and my sister to vent during lunch, and was generally just overwhelmed by the work. My sister told me that it is a genetic trait in our family to not want to ask for help. We want to do it all ourselves and be capable long before it is feasibly time enough to do the job correctly. So, Tuesday was better and I was ok with the work, asking for help if I needed it. I had to do pull paperwork from several sites and organize it into a presentation for the client. I looked at my notes and was pleasantly surprised that the time it took to do it, went amazingly slow and I was able to complete it within the time frame I needed. Wednesday time went amazingly fast. Computers went down for a spell and then came back again Thursday and Friday so time was spent waiting for them to come back online.

My office is fun to work at. I have said before that the people I work with are funny and inviting but I am here to tell you, they make life at the office a lot of fun! Staff meetings have an air of silliness to them even though they are also very informative and full of training materials. I have also resumed my walking schedule. I need to buy a pedometer today so I can track my steps throughout the day. There is a sidewalk surrounding the Office suites in our complex so I have been walking that for 20 minutes on my lunch break. We have had gorgeous days and it lets me calm down from a tough morning or settle my brain into what I have to do the rest of the day. Plus I get my activity points done at work.

Oh yeah, I lost another pound last week. 13 pounds and counting! YEAH!!!!!

Well, we were going to go to the airshow today but rain is in the forecast and I do not want to walk in rain with a 6 year old.

Have a great weekend and I'll update again when I have time.

Time Out For Women!

Here are some pictures we took at Time Out!


Here is the gang from our little group.



This is me with Hilary Weeks. Her songs are most inspiring. I had Hilary autograph the book that I bought. She writes like she talks. I could listen to her for hours!




Stephanie took my picture so I took hers with Hilary. We both bought the CD. Hilary signed Stephanie's CD.




I came to this conference initially wanting to meet Jane Clayson Johnson and she was a highlight of the day.



Barb was talking to Pam Hansen and I took this picture for her.

I spent entirely too much money on books and cds but it is all worth it if it brings out the feeling that I got this weekend. I feel wonderful! Uplifted and ready to conquer the world!

It was a wonderful two days of music, inspirational talks, laughs, love, bonding of friends and family. The presenters Saturday talked on a variety of subjects, including Finding Joy in the Mirror(Pam Hansen), Stop, Listen, I'm Here (Jane Clayson Johnson), Accents of Wonder (S. Michael Wilcox), and The Power of the Written Word (Jason Wright). Hilary Weeks and Cherie Call were the musical entertainment and they were awesome to listen to. Made me think of things going on in my life that have been buried for awhile. Music brings those emotions to the surface and makes me remember those emotional things that had long been forgotten or hidden away. That is what I love about music. It tickles the senses.

Friday night was also a forum for music and discussion. We were not sitting in seats that were picture productive so I only have my minds eye to remember the sights. Sorry. Michael Mclean was the musical entertainment along with Hilary Weeks and the presenter was Kim Nelson. He talked on the Golden Nuggets of Life and the differences between men and women in terms of communication. Truly makes you think about how you react to your spouse in any given situation. We're all doing it wrong, apparently. I learned something about how I act towards hubby. A real eye opening night. Oh, and we had a blast! I am so glad that we went as a group! So much more fun that way!

Til later!

Having a great weekend!

I am going to work today but then I am heading off to a womens' conference with three of my close friends from church. It's tonight and tomorrow. It's a spiritual uplifting experience that I have gone to every time it's been in St. Louis the past 5 years. After the past two weeks of training at work, I know the lift is badly needed because Monday I go to work and do it all myself. I know I can do a lot of what my job entails and my speed at doing it will be faster as I do more but right now the prospect of having that load on me is daunting. It scares me to know that I am expected to do it all. I know time will help me, but walking into that office Monday is really really scary, to say the least.

I had a nice conversation with a friend last night that I really needed. She is my best friend here in town. I am so glad that I have her in my life. I was feeling down about friendships in general and she made me realize that I do have friends who care about me and want me in thier life. Perfect timing, kiddo. Thanks! You are the blessing I needed last night.

Til later....

September lows!

Ever wonder why a bad thing happening in your life can wreck your mood for the entire month? Having a death happen in a particular month can ruin your mood for a week before, a week during and a week after year after year. Oma died on September 30 of last year. She was 91 years old and had Alzheimers since 2003 so it was kind of a blessing when she passed. But I miss her like crazy, especially when my life is finally going the way I want it to. I know she would be so proud of me and happy that I am suceeding at a job that I love and loving life. I think she would have loved to meet hubby and see that I am finally happy. I miss Oma and this month is already getting hard. I can't imagine what my mom is going through. I just have to deal with it and move on. And I will....

Weight Watchers Update...

Yeah, I did it again. I lost another 1.4 lbs to make a total of 12 pounds since July 7.

Just wanted to update! Happiness keeps coming!


Till later...

The DVDs came in!

I had all the movies from the kids that I still had transferred to DVD from VHS tape. There are videos of Jessi at age 4, 7, 9, 13, and lots of pictures. I have video of Allen at age 3, 5, and 10 and Arielle at age 2, 4, and present. I have tons of pictures of happy memories that I have hidden away downstairs. I need to get all these out one of these days and go through them. I have a few of me when I was younger, 19-20 and I still look like a young, young, girl.

Amazing how life brings back memories when they are triggered by an outside stimuli. Watching these videos are so cool yet so sad because Jessi is not here to watch them with us as we enjoy them. I miss her so much and I know she is learning how to be an adult. She is 17 and this next year is going to bring her so much learning and trials. I remember splitting from my parents at that age. I just cry when I realize how much hurt I gave them both at that age. Time circles around and bites you in the butt in revenge for treating your parents badly. Shame no one tells you that until you are experiencing it with your teen and regretting those times. Not that they don't try but the teenager is so much smarter than the wise parent. LOL! Oh the joys of parenthood!

Oh well, I am so grateful that I do have these videos of the kids. I don't have the videos from Christmas time or of Jessi as a baby but I have pictures to cover those memories. I'll be watching videos for awhile and making homemade compilation videos in the near future....Maybe I'll put them up on youtube...who knows....

Til later....