A Merry, Yet Bittersweet Christmas

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is delightful,
Oh, there's no where else to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"

Those would be lyrics I would NOT sing around John right now! Wisconsin is looking at a record snow fall in December alone in comparison of entire years past! It's nuts I tell ya! Someone on John's favorite message board's - Troll Lord Games - made a comment, "Someone call Al Gore and tell him, 'never mind'". Well, not exactly. Global Warming does not mean that the world gets hot and muggy. Go back and watch "An Inconvenient Truth". It means that weather patterns are changing severely. More snow, and now freezing rain for tomorrow!

Jennifer had a wonderful Christmas, as did we! On Christmas Eve, we went to 7:00pm Mass, and it was lovely. The Church is so beautiful, and my camera died so I didn't get pictures! I do have pictures of Jennifer that I'll post tomorrow, since I have no batteries for my camera. She looked so cute! We had jambalaya afterwards and then Jennifer went to bed. Low and behold, Santa arrived last night and left Jennifer some wonderful gifts! Hannah Montana and Barbie dolls!!! John gave me Guitar Hero, Food Processor and Sex and the City Movie!! I can't wait to watch it again!! I gave John a WWII fighter pilot game for the Wii, The West Wing Season 5 and the Simpsons Season 11. Needless to say, we were rocking out and flying around this Christmas Day. Jennifer got to talk to her siblings, which really made her day! I know how she misses her family and hopefully that can be resolved in the future. I just pray for her every day. How she copes amazes me. She has rough days, or rough patches throughout the day, but they do get easier and we see such improvements. She'll make it, no matter what.

Yesterday was also very bittersweet, not only for Jennifer, for myself and many others who "knew" one super person. When John and I got married, and before my hysterectomy - we suffered with infertility. Basically, I could get pregnant but not sustain it due to endometriosis. Eventually, the endometriosis attacked and ate up my ovaries, which led to the hysterectomy. But during the time we were trying to have a baby, I joined a message board for women that have infertility issues, mostly to comiserate, but also to support and help out. I've "met" many women over the past 5 years on these message boards, some of which I call good friends and still keep up with today. Some of these women were able to have children and move on, some are still trying and some (like me) have moved on to adoption to make their family dreams come true. One of these women that I met along the way was Emilie Lemmons (ChocolateEmmyCakes to those of us on MSN). Emilie had her 2 beautiful boys in her early 40's, her youngest just 8 months ago. It was during her second pregnancy that she was diagnosed with Soft Tissue Sarcoma Cancer. Emilie, who was also a free lance journalist, wrote articles for magazines, newspapers and had her own blog. Well, after a long and lengthy battle, Emilie passed away in the early morning of Christmas Eve, leaving her husband, Steve and two sons, Daniel and Benjamin behind. I remember her posts of hope, fear, triumph, love and compassion. When my mom died, I remember that she sent me a message of prayer and hope, since my mom had died from a long battle with cancer.

Emilie, I know you are in a place we all long to be. But rest assured, you will be missed. Your advice and input helped so many and you were such a wonderful, loving mother and wife. Your family was so lucky to have you, even for such a short time.

I don't know how long her husband will keep her blog up, but she has them available to purchase as books - she did this in the event that she was to pass away, that her boys could look back on her thoughts and views. The site is http://lemmondrops.blogspot.com/ and the books can be purchased through http://www.blurb.com/, and there is a link on her site. I plan to purchase the 2 books, and hopefully her husband will put 2008 into a book as well. Emilie was a woman of faith and reading her blogs would help boost mine at times - knowing what she's fighting and how she kept her faith amazed me. It still does.

Emilie may be gone from this Earth, but she will not be forgotten. Rest with the angels, Emilie.

If looking at this doesn't make you cold.. I don't know what will!

Just some pictures to "brighten up" your winter - I'll have more tomorrow!


















Check out the overhang!! It eventually fell, but it was at night, we found it on the ground the next morning!

And we have much more to go guys!!! The fun has YET to begin!!

Snow and insantiy.. otherwise known as my nutty life..

It's been a while, hasn't it? Well - other than staying busy at school, we've been plugging along here at home. The below zero wind chills have been keeping me from doing things that I need to do with my students - like go outside or to the library! Jennifer is doing well, she's plugging along as well. She's doing so much better with her homework, not flipping out or temper tantrums. But, it looks as if she will be with us for a very long time - which is fine with us! She is a trip and a half! It's amazing watching her reading develop over the last month - I've seen such improvements in her math, reading and overall attitude. Jen was put in Title 1 reading since she's also in ELL - and both of those have really made improvements! I feel that at her other school, she was not being challenged enough, and here she is. That first week, all was good, then she realized that it was going to be tough the whole entire time - she didn't like that at all! She was even telling her sister that we didn't make her do homework, that she never had any! Yeah... right.... mmmhmmm... NOT! Too funny!!

Today I should be at school having our Christmas party, instead I'm home and we have 4 inches on the ground with another 4 to go! Normally, I'm all about the snow day, but could it have waited till January or February?? Ahhh.. we'll have our party when we get back, now I have to freeze 100 cooked smokie sausages that I cooked last night! It will all work out! I'll post some pictures later today - since I'm still in my pj's and not getting dressed for a while!

A New Day Has Come

I had originally wanted to post this back on November 5th, but thought to wait a while - mostly for it to sink in for me. Something has happened in this country that has been a long time coming. A country that only 40 years ago, lived in a segregated society elected it's first African American President, and I'm so glad I got to witness and participate in it. The number of new voter registrations went through the roof all over this country. How awesome is it that we have become a generation that looks across the color barrier and looks and the heart and soul of a person. I went and voted a few days earlier, and had to wait even then for a little while to vote. People that had never voted, didn't see a reason to because they felt their voices weren't never going to be heard - voted. John and I invited some friends of ours over to watch the returns and witness history. We had Jennifer come down and watch, along with our friend's son, Matthew. Each morning, it seems like it's a new day. I know that it all will not be fixed in a year or in 4 years, but it's a start to repair the horrendous damage from Bush. We have to fix this. In the grand scheme of things, our country is still very young, and the modern concept of democracy is in its early stages. The idea that our country could go under financially while trying to be a world power is a frightening thought. We often say that our children are the future of this country. Well, they have spoken and a new day has come.



The Time for Change has Come.

Halloween and Voting!

Well, this marks my second time voting for president in Wisconsin! In 2004, I voted for Kerry and Wisconsin carried him, but sadly he didn't win. This time, I voted for Obama and it looks like Wisconsin will carry Obama, and possibly may win! I went on Friday and did the "early voting", which is basically absentee voting, but you can do it all the way up till tomorrow, then regular vote on Tuesday. I have a meeting after school on Tuesday, then Brownies with Jennifer, so I wanted to make SURE that I VOTED!!! Personally, I don't care WHO you vote for, just go out and VOTE!!!! I had a Western Civ. professor, Dr. Robison, who would tell us "you don't have the right to bitch if you don't go vote!" So, I have always taken that to heart!! If anyone saw Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey was freakin hysterical as Sarah Palin, especially with the homemade "Palin 2012" sign!!! I laughed so hard I shot Diet Coke out of my nose!!!

This Halloween we had a guest with Jennifer, her sister Selina. They had a ball!! I didn't dare take Jonah with us, that would have led to a nightmare for sure! Jennifer went as "Hannah Montana" and Selina went as a witch (see below)

With all that has gone on in this country, I had to get into the spirit! I got a TON of positive comments!!! From a lady telling me to "Sing it, Sistah!" to "You, me and everyone else!"

My bruises looked better in person, maybe it was the light.. I don't know. I've been making bruises for theatre, and I've made some nasty looking stuff! It looked pretty good.

Anyway, let's see what happens on Nov. 4th!!

What's going on in this crazy world we live in???

I know that in the world we live in, good and evil reside. If you follow the Chaos theory, it is said that the world cannot exist, civilization cannot exist without good and evil. It sets the balance. Well, I think the evil side has more weight than it should lately! If you've kept up with the news, there have been so many tragedies this week alone. The mother, brother and nephew of Jennifer Hudson were murdered this week, today they found the little nephew. He was SEVEN years old!!!! Why kill a baby??? I know there are atrocities every day, but it seems like it's becoming more mainstream. No one seems shocked or upset. Then a 26 year old anchorwoman from Arkansas was beaten and robbed in her home, then died 5 days later. A few years ago in Baton Rouge, we had the serial killer Derrick Todd Lee running rampant, killing at least 10 women, one of which was a grandparent of one of my student's. It's insane. I know that we should try to find the good in the world, and I try real hard most days. When cities are still cleaning up from Hurricanes this past summer and even from Katrina 3 years ago, and no one pays notice, what is being done about it?? I wish I could fix the world, but I know that's impossible. I guess we just have to have HOPE.

LSU's out of the Top 10 and I go back to work next week..

Well, Flordia handed LSU their rear end on a platter, I guess one could say. I was so hoping for a comeback after half time, but to no avail. Granted, they are not the team they were last year and I know it's a rebuilding year, BUT does ALABAMA have to be ranked #2??? I can deal with LSU having a good year, losing a few to some great teams, but the fact that Alabama is ranked so high and playing well - I just want to scream (well, I have a few times). My one ray of hope - when Flordia plays Alabama. I respect the Gators and love Tim Teibow, but lord will I become a Gator Fan when they face the Toliet Paper Tide!

I will be going back to work next week and I'm looking forward to it. It will be so nice to get back to my normal routine and working again. I'm going up this weekend to check on my classroom and get it back to "my normal" - when you've had a sub for 2 months, things get a little squirrely.

Until next time!

I love Fall!!

When I was a child, I remember watching the new TV shows and they would show these "ficticious" towns with beautiful foliage. Shades of red, yellow, orange would cover the landscape and the trees looked as if they were glowing. I would dream of living somewhere that I could experience that, but I figured that it was on TV, so there wasn't any real place like that..until I moved to Wisconsin! Fall has got to be, hands down, my favorite season! I don't mind raking the leaves or using the leaf blower on the driveway. For 2 years, we lived in a condo that we really couldn't decorate outside, there just wasn't much to work with. When we were looking for a house, that was one of the things I wanted - a porch or something to be able to decorate for holidays. Well, as you can see below, I've been a busy bee!




We also have a new foster child in our family - her name is Jennifer and she will be staying with us for a while! She is 8 and is in 2nd grade. We have enjoyed having her with us and look forward to her being with us for as long as she needs to!

So, if where you live has beautiful fall foilage, go out and enjoy it! A great activity with kids is to gather different colored leaves and then make leaf rubbings, you can actually color with them!!! It's so much fun! I think we'll do that in the next week and show off our art!

Tell next time, GO TIGERS!!!

LSU fell again.. and this was a Bye week

So, it feels like a salt being rubbed into a fresh wound looking at the AP top 25. Alabama is currently ranked #2 and LSU is ranked #4. I recently asked someone did hell freeze over, and they told me no Mona, this is Wisconsin - it just feels that way. I had to explain that, no - I know Wisconsin's cold (DUH!) but the Top 25 rankings. Now, USA Today has them at #3, which is a little bit better, but most people up here care only about 2 things: 1) Did Green Bay win? and 2) Did Wisconsin win? (notice who comes first here). The only bright spot out of the rankings, USC is #8! Oklahoma is an awesome team, and I wonder what an LSU/Sooner game would look like.
So, I think I'll take that salt, get it away from the wound and throw it over my shoulder for luck against Flordia this weekend (Oct. 11 - CBS - 7pm Central start time) They will need it going up against Tim Teibow. That boy is just incredible (and cute as a bug!) Come on, the ONLY sophomore to ever win the Heisman - is it possible for him to win it twice?? There's only one that did, Archie Griffin from Ohio State back in 1974 and 1975. So, we'll see if Teibow can do it!

So, I'm getting close to wrapping up Cardiac Rehab, and it's been great! I've lost 20 lbs to date, feeling better than I have in a long time and looking forward to getting back to work. I have one more week (next) off and then it's back to work 1/2 day's for the first week back, then full force!
John's show is coming along nicely, I can't wait to see the set, they are still building it and I plan to help paint. I'm going to start planning make-up designs this week with my friend Stetz, who is also working on the production. We have to make "Eddie's" scars with wax, so we have a lot to do. Most of the cast can do their own makeup, we'll just be assisting - but it'll take both of us to work on "Eddie". So, if you find yourself in Manitowoc the last week of October, I highly recommend coming to UW Manitowoc's production of "The Rocky Horror Show" - the original that the movie was made from.

Until next time, see you on the flip side!

So Alabama is #2??? For the love of all things good...

So, Nick Saban has done something that hasn't been done in over a decade - he has Alabama ranked higher than LSU. That was such a hard pill to swallow. Yes, Bama beat the pants off of Georgia (with Georgia coming back in the 4th, why couldn't they have played that way throughout the whole blasted game beats me). When the BCS rankings came out Sunday (and we all know that it's the BCS that counts with bowl bids and National Championships) and John told me that Alabama was ranked higher than LSU, well.. the words that came out of my mouth were ugly to say the least! I think I may have gone into shock for a few moments. LSU played a good game last Saturday night, but could Alabama have out played them? I hope to God not! Well, we'll find out later in the season when they meet up. As I always say when it comes to Alabama: "Roll tide roll, down the toilet bowl!", and "My favorite teams are LSU and whoever is playing Alabama!"

In reading my sister in law's post about visiting a cornmaze (http://theillinoismayfamily.blogspot.com/), it dawned on me that I had never been to one! So, Jodi, you have inspired me - John and I are going to go this weekend. There are 3 of them in the area, so we'll see what it's like! I just hope I don't get lost!! I'm the one that when someone is trying to solve a maze puzzle, I start at the end and work my way to the beginning! I can't do that in a corn maze!

Changing the topic, I have to say that having heart surgery at 35 was harder than the last time, when I was 25. Though I know this is the last one (YIPPPEEE!!), it's taking longer to heal this time. I know - the older you get, the longer it takes; but still - I'm sore all the time. I'm going to cardiac rehab, where they make you exercise for 40 minutes (broken down into 20 min. segments) and it has helped tremendously! I've lost 15 lbs, probably healing better than without, getting into better shape, and I'm eating differently. All in all, this has probably been the best thing to happen to me! My surgeon, Dr. Paul Pearson at St. Vincent in Green Bay, told me that with my new valve I could run a marathon if I wanted. Well, that got me thinking.. wow, I can cut loose now! I started making goals: 1. continue exercising (rotating walking/biking) 2. join a dance class - I've always wanted to learn, and a new school opened up (one of John's former students is running it) and she has a beginers adult class for tap and jazz.
3. I want to eventually run in a 5K Race for the Cure, competitvely - not the fun run. My goal is for next September, and I don't plan to win, I just want to be able to do it! So, we'll see!

Until next time!

My first entry in a while.. so, here's the scoop!

This is something I've been wanting to do now for ages, tried it a few years ago and didn't keep up with it. So, let me give you the reader's digest version of from then till now.

1. We bought a house in July of 2007, it's a lovely home, built in 1922 - completely remodeled and rewired! Other than our garage, which needs a new door on John's stall, we love it!


2. We've been approved for adoption back in January of 2008, and we are waiting for a match.

3. John and I are actively campaigning for Barack Obama - if there is anyone who can fix this country, or at least get us on the right track, he can.

4. John's parents finally came up to see us in August 2008, and they had a wonderful trip!

5. I had my 4th and FINAL heart surgery on August 15, 2008 - I received a mechanical aortic heart valve, I now tick instead of having a heart beat! I am still getting used to it!

That's about all of the "big stuff" that has happened with us. We did get to go back to California and visit some of John's friends. We went out for his best friend's wedding - and it was beautiful! Here's to keeping up my blog!!!