Life is like....

A box of chocolates....SWEEEET!
Life is what YOU make of it. Make it a good good life. Enjoy the little things. Love with ALL your being. Give lots & lots but also don't get taken advantage of. Turn the other cheek,,,,,SMILE & show those pearly whites. Talk with your eyes not just your mouth and words. Never say things unless you mean it will all your heart and soul. Know and be thankful. Count those blessings and give HOPE, FAITH, & concern to the world. Please always know that you are loved by at least one person let alone many! So love back. Stop in it's tracks bad attitudes. Really people just be considerate. Hugs to you! Love Sunshine Stephie....Hey lets start the day with a deep breath of air to cleans the body and refresh the soul! Wake up HAPPY that you even woke up and are able to have another day here. :D

Life on the line

Everyday men and women choose to serve their towns to make sure we are kept safe. It is a true heroism to put their life on the line for others. Please keep in your prayers the families of those who serve. RIP Jim Rice and Kudos to Peabody for being such a close knit support system for the firefighters.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year

Health and Happiness as well as love and friendship with SUNSHINE DAYS!

you are what you eat!

http://www.mcmanweb.com/what_you_eat.html

Eat well.....just as if you were to put crap gas in your cars engine putting crap processed food in your body has the same effect. You get half crap results..Why not want to make good choices to function to your best capacity and not be depressed, lethargic and blah! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1224516/How-junk-food-diet-depression.html
http://www.foodforthebrain.org/content.asp?id_Content=1635 so many links to show that eating well makes your being well....ALSO MOVE>>>>>MOVE IT MOVE IT MOVE IT PEOPLE! exercise. Our bodies were NOT designed to sit on sofas and stare at a boob tube! move it! Like NIKE says JUST DO IT! Hey having sex is movement so JUST DO THAT TOO! {GASP} lol yup Sunshine Stephie said that!

GOD WINK!

Had this very old women, God Bless her soul today at the bear barn...we had some time together picking out a bear for her sick son. She was a dear women who told me all about what he is dealing with these days and hopes that the teddy from his dear old mother will make him smile. Well after I ring her up and she thanks me for all my help and being a "doll" she lifts up the box and makes the same giddy noise that Nana T does when she holds teddy bears....So my eyes well up and I smile huge but almost burst into a sob so I say good bye and walk away with "Miley" thinking I was laughing but I was about to loose it with a burst out full blown cry. SO I go to the back room and then laugh and think that was special....I proceed to go to "Miley" and tell her why my reaction was that! Thanks sweet old lady to make that memory come to the surface!

many questions ...are there answers?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljI4nHcV7kA&feature=youtu.be

It makes me sad and sick to my stomach that this is happening to any kid let alone in our own back yard per say....I so don't understand with all the equality and education on bullying in the schools these days this happens. If you commit a crime you have to pay the consequent. To Molly for sharing what happen, kudos to you for being brave enough to put it out there....to the ones responsible:you deserve to be expelled from school. Not a one should be scared to go to school, anyplace let alone the umbrella "secure" type school this happen at. What ever happen to the pride of community, acceptance of all? We all wish for peace in our lives is that asking tooooo much!

I knew I always liked Kissing Balls for a reason!!!! : )

Origins of the Christmas Kissing Ball

Many Christmas traditions have been handed down to us from the Middle Ages, when the holiday of Christmas became more important than it had ever been. It was during the Middle Ages that St. Francis of Assisi came up with the idea of the Nativity scene, using animals and villagers to re-enact the story of Jesus' birth at Bethlehem, which were eventually replaced by the ceramic, plaster and plastic figures we know today. Many Christmas Carols - O Come All Ye Faithful, What Child Is This - originated int he Middle Ages, and although the words may have changed slightly, a time traveler speeding back to the 13th,14th, or 15th centuries would be able to join the sing-along at Christmas Mass.

The kissing ball comes to us from that time, too. During the Middle Ages, villagers would wind together twine and evergreen branches into a ramshackle ball shape. In the center of this conglomeration of evergreen boughs they would place a clay figure of an infant to represent the baby Jesus. These "holy boughs", as they were called, would be hung from the ceiling along passageways in castles and big houses to render blessings and good luck to all who passed under the bough and the holy infant.

During the 17th through early 19th centuries, such decorations were frowned up. The Puritans, the Reformation and all the new religious fervor sweeping England and Europe meant cleansing away all the decorations of Christmas. But people will be people, and people yearn for decorations and symbolism. By the time Queen Victoria ruled England, decorations were making a comeback.

Many of our Christmas traditions date back to Queen Victoria, such as the Christmas tree. Her husband Albert was from Germany, and the Germans had long kept the custom of evergreen trees decorated to symbolism eternal life and the return of the sun. During the Victorian era, the concept of the kissing ball or holy bough came back but in a different form. People would take a potato or apple and tie a pretty ribbon around it as a hanger. Then they would stick sprigs of evergreen, holly and sweet herbs into the potato or apple until it bristled with them. The resulting "sweet ball" not only looked beautiful, it smelled good too, which was a plus in the days before daily showers!

The herbs in the sweet ball took on the highly romanticized symbolism common to the Victorian area. Simon and Garfunkel weren't the only ones singing about "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme". Each of those herbs plus dozens and dozens more flowers, herbs and plants spoke a unique and private symbolic language to Victorians. The choice of herbs, flowers and boughs could state love, affection, charity, piety and more.

By the end of the 19th century, the kissing ball now symbolized romantic love. It wasn't uncommon to find ballrooms adorned with dozens of decorated kissing balls hanging from the ceiling. One custom had a kissing ball with a sprig of mistletoe hanging from it. This ball would be hung up in a special place at a party. Unmarried maidens would line up and stand underneath, and the unmarried men would line up to kiss the ladies!

As the 20th century unfurled, kissing balls fell out of favor. Only the mistletoe remained as a symbol of love and romance. But some traditionalists still love the lore, the mysterious and the romance of this very traditional Christmas decoration.

So here's to the kissing ball....SMOOCHES! xoxox

My love!

Waking up beside you everyday makes it a brighter day!
I am grateful and thankful for the life we have together and most of all to have a BEST FRIEND that gets me better than I get myself. I do believe in true love, happily ever after b/c you are my prince and I your princesses. So many memories and so much laughter with a little bit of OCD thrown in makes it all so very special. Love you my sweetest! xo Love your Jelly Bean

Student of the Month!

YAY RYAN YAY!
SO happy to receive the letter sent home with his nomination and acceptance of Student of the Month! That's our boy!

Date and Nut Bread!

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/old-fashioned-date-nut-bread-689213/
Nana T used to make delish things and Date and Nut Bread being one of her A+ could win a Blue Ribbon items. I recall being at Mann Orchards and seeing a loaf holding it up to my nose and tears streamed down my face when Michael handed it to me b/c it WAS as if I were a child again holding that similar smell to my nose at the table in the kitchen of 90 Barnes Ave. He also LOVED her special cream cheese sweetened whipped spread. OH so yummy! I am making some of these loaves this year. I know I do not have her recipe but will try this one sent in an e-mail from the Disney site. We will see. I will post about them. Funny how I don't have any obligation to go to the Don Orione Home now that Nana T has passed. Before we would make sure to include a trip there at some point of the weekend or my Wed afternoon visit alone. So was saying this at breakfast Sunday to Ryan and Michael and before Michael could answer Ry says you can still go see her and I was like oh ok! shoulder shrugs! He said at the cemetery. I smiled at my kind hearted boy who said what his dad was going to say but it is so not the same. So in our travels yesterday Michael drove by the cemetery. I can honestly say I feel closer to her in the comfort of my own home looking at the ornaments she gave us way back in '92 and the most resent one I got and put a pic of her and I in. It is is favorite color powder blue. I feel most comforted looking at photos of her wrapped in the last afgan she made, once again a powder blue color. As I look back to the color selection we made in our first house in 91 we had powder blue I think everything in our dining and living room. Now that I think of it was that her influence indirectly? Just like you don't have to be in a 4 wall building called a church to feel close to God you don't have to be at the final resting place of your loved one to feel close to them.

NANA T & ME

It happened. I have been for a while now been wanted Nana to come to me in a dream. Last nights dream she was there. Just her and me in the old kitchen at 90 Barnes Ave. The oven all old like I remember it. I got to have a huge cry with her in her arms AND best of all she was the old Nana T with all her faculties about her. Sounded like her, felt like her and smelt like her from back in the day. I woke up way to soon from it but am still grateful I had the small amount of time that I did. I know all day I am going to keep thinking of it. Love you Nana T!

GROUPON!

I am allll for Groupons....for a year and a half now got many good deals....this morn there was half off at McDonalds...Are you kidding me people...b/c eating that cheep junk isn't enough now you can save half off of on it....get outta town with that deal!

interesting

http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/11/a-new-way-to-look-at-alzheimers/248650/


Like the cure for cancer I so in my lifetime want to see a cure for alzheimer's....COME ON WE GOT TO FIND CURES FOR THESE AWFUL DISEASES

Singing Hearts!

~every single day do something that makes your heart sing~

THE Santa!

so ya he HAS to be the real one hey!

Famous Quote...oh so well wrote!

We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.
Henry Ward Beecher

I so believe this with all my heart <3....I can't say enough about the deep deep love in my heart for my sons. They make my heart beam when I think of them. Just to get an unexpected hug or a text out of the blue make my heart happy! I love you guys oh so very much....my big one and little one....ok not so little any more!

LOOKIN FORWARD TO IT!

Gettin ready to do a shot 6 miler with the Pink Angels this morn. It is already in the 50's so how can we let perfectly good weather go to waste. After that off to fuel up on a WG shot. YUM!!!!!!!!!!!! Get my gulp on, lookin forward to the 4 of us setting up Christmas decorations and puttin the ornaments on the tree. I still get teary eyed when I see the homemade ornaments from years past as well as the special ones that mean so much through the years. We have a tradition of playing the Grinch (Jim C version) while we put up the tree, that or Polar Express. Michael loves to keep saying HOLIDAY WHOBBIE WHATIE...lol Yes he can be a funny guy,,,lol Off to semi bundle up...Not really needing lots of layers this morn. Need some Biofreeze for the left knee, it has not been the same since coming back from Tampa. It has like a numbness to it. I think I may of OVER FROZE it up....lol Yup addicts can do that! Have a wonderful Saturday all. Hope you day is warm with love from the heart <3 and sky! x o

even a grown up has a heart of a child!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTNXl1NEb5Y&feature=related

All grown up now, not a child but my heart still can dream.......I love those words...
When being a grown up reality hits close to home but never ever loose sight of the childlike desire to feel that things could be "that right would always win"......and love will never end...this is my grown up Christmas wish!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! We here at the Raf house did. :D
off to the bears at 330am for some pawsome gingerbread people adventures. Also Alvin and his crew we will also see you. Get to wear a Hawaiian style shirt today..YAY..now if only we lived in Hawaii! lol Made all the sangwiches for my fellow bears so their tummies will be full on the sales floor. Have a great weekend all xoxoxo

Time for the 4!

Celebratin the loves b-day this weekend....Raf's ova last night and then since Stephen slept ovah we went to breakfast for Michael's B-day! Love having the 4 of us together. For ya b-day here at the River St Raf house you get to pick what place ya want to go to for your b-day meal. Well M loves loves loves the Outback and I am very surprised he picked a b-day breakfast meal instead. He loves Fredies in Middleton for breakfast so off we went. Stephen was happy b/c quote unquote that place is "da shit" yup that's right folks I let the kid use fowl words. LOL Da shit being good A+...yup once again one would think it would be crappy but no da shit means good. OK well alrighty then! So many local faces there good thing I am with the other 3 who look similar to what they always looked like b/c I give my great BOG Stephie Smile :D and I sear peeps just don't know me. They then look at who I am with and hten get IT! lol Oh Well I don't take offence b/c hey I do look different. The food was great as a matter of fact da shit to be exact lol JK! also got to walk a lil then get the paper to read and send S on his way. He has 3 hockey games this week and needs he car for them. He is also off to a WIT hockey game this afternoon. I picked him up some of the above pic. I do not endorse or really approve of it but he said they really help him keep his energy up playin. He said he is older now! LMAO! oh ok...."I will be fine Ma" as he puts it. So he has 4 of these things and hey .....it is mega vit B but I do not liek the Turaine stuff in it. BLECK! so anyway .....this was a happy mama who had the 4 of us together. He is on his way back to WIT. We will get to have him Wed to Sun eve YAY! off to get food for Thanksgiving Day meal and some baking items too! Happy Beautiful Sunday to you! Enjoy this nice weather! xo

Happy Thanksgiving

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRua_Jpy79U&feature=relmfu

The Dash...something that mattters

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read
With your life’s actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

I had to Blog about this, for it was my kindhearted, handsome, loving brother-in-law Rob who brought up THE DASH in our lives yesterday at Nana T's service. I pointed out how Michael put the collage of pictures together and one of the pics was of me right after having Ryan and I did not look all that appealing. So jokingly I said "ya I can thank Michael for putting that up there, funny how huge and bloated I am looking, like I want that on the board", Well Rob pointed out it is all apart of the DASH....that time in-between your birthdate and your passing date that MATTERS the most. It is that very DASH that makes up the times of our lives. I have tried to pride myself on making that DASH have deep meaning. Not just to me but for all the others I come in contact with through my years here on earth. It may be for the closest of people in my life or it may even be to a stranger who I may never meet again, Though I truly want, regardless if I know them or not to have MY DASH matter. I NEED to thank Rob for pointing that out because every moment we live makes up our DASH! Go through life making sure that your DASH is well spent. That you make your mark....This particular song makes me think of just that....I WAS HERE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XZ12nrz47U that a moment to listen..this was my first 3 day walks anthem....I live by the moto....."I wanna do something that matters" ...."do something better with the time I was given"/////something that says I was here.......ou will notice me
I'll be leaving my mark like initials carved
In an old oak tree, you wait and see

Maybe I'll write like Twain wrote
Maybe I'll paint like Van Gogh
Cure the common cold, I don't know
But I'm ready start 'cause I know in my heart

I wanna do something that matters, say something different
Something that sets the whole world on its ear
I wanna do something better with the time I've been given
I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life
Leave nothing less than something that says ?I was here?

I will prove you wrong
If you think I'm all talk, you're in for a shock
[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/l/lady-antebellum-lyrics/i-was-here-lyrics.html]
'Cause this dream's too strong and before too long

Maybe I'll compose symphonies
Maybe I'll fight for world peace
'Cause I know it's my destiny
To leave more than a trace of myself in this place!

I wanna do something that matters, say something different
Something that sets the whole world on its ear
I wanna do something better with the time I've been given
I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life
And leave nothing less than something that says ?I was here?

And I know that I, I will do more than just pass through this life
I'll leave nothing less than something that says ?I was here?
I was here

As I look back in the treasure chest of memories of Nana Theresa I can say she did something that matters....She had a huge hand in molding me into the person I have become. Thanks to you Nana T for making YOUR dash matter. xo

It hurts but there is some comfort there

Knowing that Nana T is out of the body that broke her down mentally and physically makes the blow a little more easy. It is never easy to loose a loved and cherished one. Though I find comfort and relish in the fact that she lived her live fully. It is a testament to say she was never really sick in her live until the dementia, muscular degeneration , and ALZ set in big time. That women ate rappi greens with hunks of garlic.....she loved cooking with hunks of garlic...the stuffed chockies as she would say had white slices that were very visible. I would never eat them stuffed just steamed. Now I too LOVE garlic. I guess it does ward off the bad. She loved her many many cups of tea, black of course.
I lay in bed or daydream of the many things we did through the years. It helps knowing there are many events in the treasure chest of life that can be looked back on. That is worth any amount of money out there. I so do treasure that. Yesterday at the bear barn there were two "God winks" as they are called with Nanas involved. I guess that was her telling me everything is ok. : ) I love you Nana T and you will always be with me.

11-11-11 Veterans Day

Sending out THANKS to all those who served and still serve for our country to be a FREE place to live. Freedom is not Free since they give of their lives while serving. I am proud to be an American. Equally proud of the sacrifices that these men and women take on and choose to be soldiers. Also lets not forget the families that wait stateside for them when fighting over seas or even on the home front. I say a prayer for their safety and bow my head with humility for the blessings that they will all stay safe. MUCH THANKS ARMY, NAVY, AIRFORCE, MARINES, COASTGAURDS, RESERVISTS ect!

way to much to blog about

So basically I am just letting it go for a while. Don't have it in me to say all that I want to say about the weekends walk ...so much to write about. Got word that Nana T has stopped eating pretty much and now it is a matter of just a small amount of time that she can be at peace. SIGH!

leaving on a jet plane!

I do know when I'll be back again! :D
Walking the Tamapa 3 day to fight like a girl...and put an END to cancer once and for all. Imagine life without cancer, we would walk just for the sake of walkin'.
My Pink Angel team will be representing BOSTON in the SUNSHINE STATE....how appropriate SUNSHINE STEPHIE in the state she loves the best! :D ok not the best...second best Hawaii takes 1st place. How cool would that be the Maui 3 day....oh baby!
I want to thank from the bottom of my heart the wonderful donors who help make my walk possible. It's because of your donations to the cause that we walk and can fund research for new drugs ect to put an END to this disease. I am PINKED UP to show my passion for the fight. Post some pics IF I get them from teammates LOL ya all know my mo with pics ....someday maybe I will be a pic person! till then wait to be tagged in pics on FB! SO I will be back on the line as I call it after the 3 day. Love and thanks once again to all of you who support this fight....xoxoxoxoox I WALK BECAUSE I MUST!
http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2011/General?px=2999947&pg=personal&fr_id=1751
this is my link to donate to the 3 day ....fundraising never ends....untill the cure is found does it end!

3 day training and da toes!

The training of a 3 day walker....lots of long training miles so that on the 3 day ya don't poop out..so this leads to many foot issues. We call them 3 day walker feet. So I in the past never had major issues with my 3 day walker feet. As for this year running in 2 5 K's I lost my pinky toe nail. ok not bad a pinky...well NOW the big toe toenail is now gone. UGH! sorry to be so forth coming with the toes. UGH! SO when telling M about the latest loss of nail he says..I hope I keep all my toes training for the 3 day. I said well my toes have yet to fall off just the nails LMAO! I knew what he meant but it was cute to point out we will not be at a toe loss, we hope! Keeping the nails is hard for running/walking people. It could be worse. I have had co-walkers who's feet were soooo bad that mine looked pretty! off to soak em in the salts...EPSOM SALT!

I never liked Applebee's not ever!

So today to get a bite to eat we stopped @ Applebees on the way north heading home b/c Ry and Michael saw a 2 for $20 commercial. So they got an appetizer and two meals for 20. I got get this I AM a cheep date LMAO! $3.49 salad. It was that b/c she made it an add on to an entree. It would of been like $5.59 but the waitress was very nice about that being apart of what Ry ordered. So one would think it was safe being a non meat eating person that a side salad is safe and has no animal products but nooooo. Not @ Applebee's.....there is like NOTHING on that menu for me to pick so I went with the safe bet of the SALAD...so I go to dig in AND there is BACON! ......she had stepped away when I was to dig the fork in and eat it so I said to the boys I can't eat this it has bacon....we wait about 7 mins to see her again and I nicely tell her the problem and she looks at me like I told her I cane from outer space. So she says let me see what I can do. WHAT!!!!!!!!!! OH OK .....now if you know me I DO NOT EVER get mad at people in any industry let alone the service industry. So she comes back and says they will make you another one with out the bacon I asked if that was ok. So I thanked her, smiled and waited for the next salad to come which made me think did they scrape the bacon off and just return what was first sent out? But when she walked away I said to my men ok so they were maybe contemplating not issuing me a non bacon salad and she had to get approval? LMAO! So yes I am a cheep date to a restaurant...water for all of us...the 2 for 20 meal and 3.49 plus tax and 20% tip....not a bad price for a meal that them 2 enjoyed. As for me I said to M "I TOLD YA SO" I suggested that we stop @ Costco for me to get the big container of spring mix for $5.49 and I would of had enough salad for 3 serivings but hey they wanted an entree and they got it. OH WELL...I so would of rather a shot of WH and a small shot of ginger from Sol Bean for the same price maybe even a little bit more $!~

45 from 90!

Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone....saw this in an e-mail sent with 45 little quotes written by a 90 year old.I think of Nana T who also is 90 but could not verbalize herself.. I have to share b/c they all seem to hold value, thank you Karen for the share! : ) I always look forward to your e-mails!

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time.. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come....

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."
So back to the cry one! Seeing Nana T today as every time I see her I seem to try my hardest to contain my tears. It very rarely works though. I should take my own advise like I say to friends...."like laughing when happy...you should cry when sad b/c you would NEVER hold back the laugh so why hold back the tears...it is such a valid emotion and if needed then do it...no shame in that"/////
So it was so heart wrenching when Nana T cried first. When putting my cheek next to hers she burst out into tears and in my happiest voice I told her how beautiful she is and how much I love her and she means so much to me. She then says don't worry. So by her saying that and realizing she comprehends more than people may think I had to burst within reason to not alarm her....It was so good to have Michael right next to me, the one who knows me so deep and so intensely that he takes the weight of my worry and supports it when I can only support so much. He knew I could tell that he ust knew that by her saying that it would start my tears. I feel some what good to know that she comprehends to an extent when we talk to her. My first words to her today were "come stai? " and she said oh eh! meza meza...that there shows me she is some what getting it a we lil bit. When she opens her eyes she tears up..I think it is easier for her to keep them closed when we are there emotionally. I tell ya I LOVE THAT WOMEN...she is MY NANA T! to sit and hold her frail but oh so still soft hand and have her grip it back also gives me a sense of warmth! I LOVE YOU NANA T...ALWAYS WILL! xoxoxo Love YOUR STEPHIE!

yay

http://career-advice.comcast.monster.com/salary-benefits/salary-information/bestpaying-degrees-in-2010-hot-jobs/article.aspx?WT.mc_n=comcast802

this made this WIT mama happy! I know he still has a few years to go but it is great to see that the degree will be in demand. So sad to see college grads who can't find jobs in their field.
#6 on the top ten list!

would NEVER even if I had tons o cash spend $ on a bag! this vid kind of explains why!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3NgzQ9Pcsg&feature=share

I really like the message that this points out. Maybe that my friends is why I can sport my $1. reusable bags, like a pocketbook...lol it is the person holding the bag not the expensive fancy bag that makes the person...I <3 my matching reusable collection of handbags! it makes me me! lol

Stephen and Mama.....Lil Mama and BIG MIKE as S call us!

Outside Stephens dorm area on Sunday after the Jazz Breakfast!

WIT weekend continues

Back from day two of WIT Family weekend. Day one we had Stephen pick out our pumpkin, sign us in as a family but did not attend Casino Night...S had plans with his new buds and we got to watch our nephews and learn new and interesting facts from Evan. :D As for day two...bright and early on our way to the city....Michael taking the wheel (phew) no median strips being driven over HAHAHAHA.....met 3 new families, ate a very delish free lunch, took a walk to the Pru for a lil, had tons of fun walking and explorin the campus, did some cool stuff to raise money for the Jimmy Fund (love a good cause). While the boys watched a soccer game I went to see the deans address who btw in a room full o people before she spoke made a bee line right to my seat to say hello and tell me how happy she was to see me...her fellow Italian girl on campus :D ......when I went back to find the boys at the field house Michael asked if I made my way to the Dean..I said nope SHE made her way to me ...SHE LOVES ME! :D A 3rd years students mom heard me and said you know the dean personally! YUP I DO! lol lol...After some more outside activities on the quad we went to the pumpkin area that smelt pretty nasty. Ok it smelt FALL LIKE...lets put it that way! They were lining up the carved pumpkins with glow sticks for tonight's hayride that we will forgo since we left S to tend to his group of friends. This other family to not have to drive 3 hours north are staying in a area hotel and we will be meeting them for a quick dinner in a lil bit. Funny how they went 40 mins north of the city to get a decent hotel rate. Bright an early tom. am we head back for the jazz breakfast. Also it was so exciting to see the new student center that is being constructed...a ten million dollar project that will be named the Flanagan Something Center when complete in March 2012....the 10 mil was donated by Mr. F a WIT alumni who must have done well for himself. The BEST was seeing the presentation of how WIT students are working with the City of Boston to make the WATER FLOODING situating make rhyme or reason in the age of over population of the city. WIT Civil Engineering students are drawing up programs to have excess rain water be utilized in holding wells that will make the flooding situation have better flow and less taxxing on streets and the sewer system. Just hearing and seeing the real life input this institution has make me beam with pride to have our son be able to learn at a place that you are not a number and can thrive in the path you choose to study. The under 3900 or so student population make it easy to have an 18 to 1 ratio. That also makes me feel good that they are very much focused on by the professors. So far we are pleased and delighted to be parents of a Wentworth student. That is why we got the shirts you see in the pic. Pink for me of course....They did have WIT mom and WIT dad shirts but I did not like the fabric as much as I did for these ones. Off to see Tayors parents in Andover and pick up some items to take to him tomorrow. WIT we will see you in the am for jazz brunch!

"OUR MARTHA"

AN EARTH ANGEL that is what she is....OUR MARTHA as we call her. She is all ours, A Pink Angel who we love to hear, see, hug, laugh, feel close to and have many memories made with. Her beautiful smile has always been a sight that makes your day. He locks of dark curls blow in the wind and she lives her days with such hope and thankfulness. Just to hear her speak about how invigorating it feels to take her lunch time walk over the Mass Ave bridge and the awesome feeling of the wind in her hair makes my heart leap knowing that it is the little things that make such a big difference in life. To live everyday knowing just how much of a gift it is to be together and able to make new memories makes it all worth it. So to you OUR MARTHA you are loved so deeply and with such passion from your family, friends, co-workers and especially your Pink Angel team.....You are now that dark curly locks lady xoxoxoox love u lots and lots

"FIND COMFORT IN ME"

When "ANGELS ON EARTH" want to do something THEY DO IT! that's for sure......TO say that last night was touching is an understatement. I have a team of PINK ANGELS that show so much caring in life. Eileen our "nutty knitter" who has talent to the high heavens whipped up a BEA U TIFUL! COMFORT SHAWL for our dear Bridget.....The words you see in the picture make the concept so embracing to surround her or anyone receiving the shawl feel wrapped in love, caring, and healing vibes. It is wonderful to be with these people who have as much passion as I do maybe even more than myself for the cause and cure. I wake up everyday being extremely thankful to have met them and to be a PINK ANGEL. To you Bridget may this wrap you in warmth and love knowing that there are so many people who love and care about you always. xoxoxo Love Sunshine Stephie....

Pink!

Love the door mat AND the bag from ECCO....so would not spend @$50 on a bag...NOPE...not a bag person..well ok I AM but the $1. reusable ones! :D NOW THAT'S A BAG! hahahahaha ECCO also had these awesome walking shoes with the "pink" ribbon of course! Weird...ya think I'd be all pinked out! lol Not today..but yup every other day! :D support the cause, find a cure, END THIS! once and for all CURE CANCER ALL CANCERS!

people not things are what matter....

but why am I still ticked off???? UGH.....The cute lil hybrid needs TLC...a busted tire and some wire thingy broke from me avoiding a stupid college boy in his bike darting out infront of my car in the BIG BAD CITY OF BOSTON! To avoid hittin and hurtin him and/or another car I had to ride up on the medium strip...and BANG! WHAT A NOISE IT MADE> PANIC ATTACH! Good thing Stephen is the opposite of his reacting mama. He does so well in situations with stress....His brother is like me sometimes and he is like his Michael. SO Stephen took it delt with it and sent me on my way with the lil donut and I was panic the entire time heading North. He talked with me most of the trip in speaker so my hands were at 10 & 2.....I am glad people or persons were not hurt but ticked off that it happen. UGH.....really people...don't dart out between cars on a bike or on foot. Was taught that at a young age. Learnt my lesson on that with some roller sk8's on LOL LOL .......wink wink ....so we wait for cousin jj to call and say he can take my cute lil baby who is only 18 mnths old. in perfect off the lot condition, well maybe not now! UGH....but I look at it all...things can be fixed or replaced people can't I would not be able to live with myself knowing I hurt or injured even if by accident another person....so keep the eyes on the road...

3 years ago...my my what 3 years brings

This is me 3 years ago....Was I happy? Yup....was I ecstatic? Probsly not...Did I love me? Yup....was I in love with me? nope....(the saving grace and really awesome thing was that Michael gave and had unconditional love to me, was in love no matter what size I was...he loved me for me and for that I know we are soul mates, best friends, lovers, and connected by some higher power) Did I keep busy and was active...YUP....Did I get my burn on ....? NOPE! DO I NOW? HELL TO THE YA! I SOOO DOOO DO DO! am I IN LOVE AND AS HAPPY A ALL HECK! YA BABY! I can say that this date 3 years ago as well as April 30th 08 are like a rebirth to me. On April 30th went to the first appmnt. with the nutritionist and MADE A PACT I WILL DO THIS...so from 4/30 to 9/29...9/30 I lost 40 lbs...ate better exercised did it all right...so from 340lns to 300 lbs there was still MORE to loose...taking on task and staying on task from 9/29/08 to NOW 9/29/11 I can say I am down 185LBS...I LOST a freaking grown man! loosin 185lns and being a normal 155 to me is like SUNSHINE IN A RAINSTORM! The feeling is over the top. This day makes me reflect and see how fah I have come and how I WILL STAY THE NEW REBORN ME FOR A LONG LONG TIME> I didn't do it alone that is for sure..I have so many to thank...I feel like I am on stage with an OSCAR lol lol the Oscar of life, a healthy happy new me life. The past month I have been exercising with a couple of women/exercising them to educated and help them get on a healthy track and it has made me happy and so useful in my own self, I have decided to go and get my certificate to be legit. Having a handful of people help lead me in that direction is great. I have gotten to see several avenues I can take and will soon make the choice of HOW I will go about this new endeavor. If you know me well enough I do not say stuff and then have no follow through. If I state something I DO! even at a larger weight I DO...I have always had the notion...don't state something if you are not gonna do it or follow through with it. SO I state right now that this is a route that I am looking into and will DO, it is a matter of making the right choice of road to take that makes most sense for me at this stage of the game. I am in this to WIN this....Hell I won .....what the heck...I AM WINNING! and I don't say that like the crazy Charlie S did I say that with total clarity! I AM PUMPED ...pumped to wake up every morn and BE ME! DO DO DO DO DO !!!!!!!!!!!! DOn't stop...DO! Love u! xoxoxoxoxoxo

oh well.......fix what's not broken

I guess FB was lookin to give more work to the employees. They have to do all this redesign stuff and then have everyone complain about it. So why not just keep it the way it was? No idea....even when several friends post about a topic like the SOX ...then a feed says all who wrote about the SOX>.....the FB gang must be havin the ultimate big brother fest over there in cyber land. Well we don't pay, we use it we DEAL!

things ya miss.....keepin busy!

Let me start out with...Ryan has ALWAYS like his mama been a morning person. He hits the ground runnin' when he wakes...wakes up with a pleasant attitude and has an extremely organized way to the start of his day. This mama likes that. In the morning also a lot like me he talks and talks...LOL know "I" know how it feels! lol lol He makes funnies and it puts a smile :D on my face with a lil of an eye roll too. That kid! So the thing I must say I do not miss about the mornings is Sir Grumps a lot coming out of his room with grumbles coming from his expression. LMAO! I miss his face, I miss seeing him everyday but he is a semi-bear. I know there is worse...some people are just plain old grumps...he is a semi-grump until he takes a shower. Michael not on Ry and my level of excellence of peppiness but still has a semi-good attitude when he wakes. I so wonder how Jessie, Stephen's friend for HS and now WIT roommate wakes. LOL If it is like Ry then S will just not be to fond a that! He would make his way to get some juice in the am and say to Ry FREAK! just b/c he was happy in the am. I can tell Ry misses that attention from his big bro despite it being negative attention. It was a morning routine that is just how it went! He would look at Bailey and mumble and then head to his room. I so miss the mornings with all 4 of us, 5 if ya count Bailey. I miss Stephen's wit at dinner time...oh how ironic he is going to WIT! hahahaha now that was wit witout intention~ lol....We text and talk every so often and when we chat for a lil bit I tell him just how much BAILEY misses him! I am gonna take B to his dorm room for a visit and he says "HELL NO!" I ask Ry have u talked with your bro at all? He says no...then he tells me something and I say you haven't talked to him how do you know this? He will say text and computer...SO literal this generation with the talking. I swear fone talkin these days really doesn't exist! It is all about the texting and IM'in on the comp! I always seem to keep busy but these days I have been makin it a point to be way more busy to fill in the time. I must say ....less laundry, less food when shopping, less dishes, less keeping the outside light on for him to come home is getting tolerable. WOW I was on the phone with my friend Teresa when I was food shopping and said I can not believe just how much less food I am getting since he is at school. I still went to the areas of the things I get for only S and I had to not get them. That was a bit weird..even things that I would have if Ashley was over here. Nope not getting those thing either. I got a text from her yesterday out of the blue and we were cracking up about her teacher and the teachers husband who mind you was MY EX HS BF! Unlike when S was away working in NH in Moultonborough she did not whine about how she misses him and blah blah blah LMAO! It was a fun upbeat text fest and it made me miss her being here ALL THE TIME a lil bit. So as I go off to ~KEEP BUSY~ I think of how differnt the am would of been with S here. I must say I miss him and Ry leaving for school and Michael and I having start our day time alone time! ut hey in a few years I will be crying more tears that my youngest baby is off and we will have so much alone time we may not know what to do with all of it! Maybe take up a hobby of extreme exercise blast the fat body sculpting HHAHHAHAHAHA hhhhhh aaaaaaa...or just up and move to HAWAII! yay baby HAWAII! xoxoxo Have a great day and SUnshine Stephie says//////the rays of sun come from with in...let your sun shine bright!

this and that!

A little of this and that was what I had when I got home from canning for a cause. A little salad a little cheese, some garden fresh tomatoes (DELISH I MIGHT ADD) sliced cukes....garden also....then I felt like after I needed to pick from not really eating today. I picked at some grapes, then at strawberries.granola..a few raisins, carrot sticks, a prune and dark chocolate....I felt like a grazer! at least it was good foods! Bailey was so excited when he got home to see his mama. :D love the pup reaction....Yesterday was more busy canning than today...every $ counts so it is worth all the time and effort b/c the $ helps fund much needed research towards drugs for finding a cure.
Get to make some bears and smiles tomorrow at the bear barn :D

Stories of inspiration and Hope!!!!!

Collecting today for a cause went very well. The stories we got to hear were so nice and hopeful. Don't get me wrong we heard some sad ones to and said with heavy hearts THAT IS WHY WE WALK AND FIGHT FOR A CURE! The last time Michael and I canned together on a median at a traffic light in Salem near SSC now SSU! He in his pink construction hard hat and vest (courtesy of Josie and Gene)and I in my HOPE attire. We did not get to converse with the traffic that came and went in seconds but today Caitlin and I had the pleasure to chat it up with people who felt the need to share and thank us for what we do. We so o not do it by any means for the thanks we do it because WE NEED TO FIND A CURE FOR ALL CANCERS! Money and research has come a long long way but we need to go so far to the point of a wall and that wall that we hit is A CURE! Seeing that in my lifetime will be miraculous! A GOAL of sorts for many I know and love. We did very well for the day and will be back there tomorrow...:D Funny I never knew the NH liquor stores sold only wine and hard stuff, no beer...I bet if they sold the beer we would of had a TON of foot traffic not that it wasn't steady. So off to get some zzz's to replenish my energy to be Sunshine Stephie and flash the pearly whites with a great BIG smile...I swear a smile may just make ones day...:D Smile because you never know what someone may be going through and that one lil smile may just help make them a little less put off...AND you're never fully dressed without a smile...in the words of ANNIE! :D ya don't wanna go out there half nakie now do ya?????

mail that is not a bill or junk mail

such a special thing to come upon unexpected mail that is sweet and fun! But bills so have to come...I guess lol I got 2 unexpected mailing today YAY!

Sent to me by a cherished long time friend who so "gets it" like I do...she is 4 years into the college thing...

Thanks Michelle for all the years we have chated and been on the same page with our parenting out look! Luv ya girl!

Editor’s note: Every year at the end of August, parents send their kids off to college. It’s exciting and liberating, but it’s a big change, too. Especially for parents.

When this column was first published in August 2006, we received letters and e-mails that said, “This is how I feel.’’ Since then, every August we are asked to rerun it. So here it is, dedicated to all those parents whose kids are just days away from being college freshmen.

I wasn’t wrong about their leaving. My husband kept telling me I was. That it wasn’t the end of the world when first one child, then another, and then the last packed their bags and left for college.

But it was the end of something. “Can you pick me up, Mom?’’ “What’s for dinner?’’ “What do you think?’’

I was the sun and they were the planets. And there was life on those planets, whirling, nonstop plans and parties and friends coming and going, and ideas and dreams and the phone ringing and doors slamming.

And I got to beam down on them. To watch. To glow.

And then they were gone, one after the other.

“They’ll be back,’’ my husband said. And he was right. They came back. But he was wrong, too, because they came back for intervals, not for always, not planets anymore, making their predictable orbits, but unpredictable, like shooting stars.

Always is what you miss. Always knowing where they are. At school. At play practice. At a ballgame. At a friend’s. Always looking at the clock midday and anticipating the door opening, the sigh, the smile, the laugh, the shrug. “How was school?’’ answered for years in too much detail. “And then he said … and then I said to him… .’’ Then hardly answered at all.

Always knowing his friends.

Her favorite show.

What he had for breakfast.

What she wore to school.

What he thinks.

How she feels.

My friend Beth’s twin girls left for Roger Williams yesterday. They are her fourth and fifth children. She’s been down this road three times before. You’d think it would get easier.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without them,’’ she has said every day for months.

And I have said nothing, because, really, what is there to say?

A chapter ends. Another chapter begins. One door closes and another door opens. The best thing a parent can give their child is wings. I read all these things when my children left home and thought then what I think now: What do these words mean?

Eighteen years isn’t a chapter in anyone’s life. It’s a whole book, and that book is ending and what comes next is connected to, but different from, everything that has gone before.

Before was an infant, a toddler, a child, a teenager. Before was feeding and changing and teaching and comforting and guiding and disciplining, everything hands-on. Now?

Now the kids are young adults and on their own and the parents are on the periphery, and it’s not just a chapter change. It’s a sea change.

As for a door closing? Would that you could close a door and forget for even a minute your children and your love for them and your fear for them, too. And would that they occupied just a single room in your head.

But they’re in every room in your head and in your heart.

As for the wings analogy? It’s sweet. But children are not birds. Parents don’t let them go and build another nest and have all new offspring next year.

Saying goodbye to your children and their childhood is much harder than all the pithy sayings make it seem. Because that’s what going to college is. It’s goodbye.

It’s not a death. And it’s not a tragedy.

But it’s not nothing, either.

To grow a child, a body changes. It needs more sleep. It rejects food it used to like. It expands and it adapts.

To let go of a child, a body changes, too. It sighs and it cries and it feels weightless and heavy at the same time.

The drive home alone without them is the worst. And the first few days. But then it gets better. The kids call, come home, bring their friends, and fill the house with their energy again.

Life does go on.

“Can you give me a ride to the mall?’’ “Mom, make him stop!’’ I don’t miss this part of parenting, playing chauffeur and referee. But I miss them, still, all these years later, the children they were, at the dinner table, beside me on the couch, talking on the phone,

September Chill is in the air

Did I wake up and turn the calender to September ALREADY!???? WOW those summah months flew! Not only did the days fly by but the weather got less and less warm. The song time after time for some reason is playing in my head....go figure. Hope you all have a great day. I am sure like yesterday it will warm up a bit from this 63* wake up temp. Enjoy the sunshine that is shinin'! All my good vibes sending out there....xo <3 Sunshine Stephie! xoxoxox

as college drop off comes closer

It is coming with in the next 24-48 hours....the storm moved back the move in times and dates so we will be e-mailed soon of the exact time. As we shop and eat our last few meals together I can see the boys being so silly more and more...I can tell S will miss R just by the things they are doin together. I came across this pic of Stephen and Justin,,,,the oldest grandchild and the youngest. I so can recall S at his age I swear it was just last year...but nope 18 years FLEW by in a blink....I still feel 27 sometimes and have to keep tellin myself I am 40 and he is 18 and Ry is 16....I don't have lil ones still. but to a mama you always do. I cried a good cry this morn and I had not planned on it but I came across an essay S wrote for one if his entry essays for Wentworth app. I never really saw the app essays and it was in paper work I was goin through to see what we needed to keep and what we didn't///No I WAS NOT BEING NOSY! JUST OCD clean it out...lol and it was about....his mama and how he looks up to her in many ways and see how much she fights and cares for many causes. Needless to say what he wrote made me melt, made me happy, made me cry, made me have a trove of emotions that the past 18 years were to me the BEST JOB I COULD OF EVER HAD EVER! BEING A MAMA! I cherish the 3 years well 2 when you think of it till Ry turns to "adult" age. After walking into his room and seeing all his belongings being ready to ship off to a new place he will live and lay his head at night I had to just take a deep sigh, cry and know he IS my baby no matter what age he is and no matter where he will be living. So to the mamas who have many more years to have their babies with them night after night...cherish every single minute....it flies by and it will be 18 years later and you will say...WHERE DID THE TIME GO! Love and blessings to all your babies out there. xoxoxo <3 Sunshine Stephie!

weird

just weird....crazy kind of weird...A friend said sometimes it is the UNIVERSE trying to tell you something...WEIRD~! blank but not blank...weird. Me loss for words? I guess...

What made your day today???????

Mine was made when Austin double handed blew a kiss. He is so funny with the kisses. I <3 this kid, he makes my day! When I first got him, still a very pleasant lil one, now he is just a ham who smiles and laughs and only cries when you have to wipe his nose or face! :P sorry buddy I say and wipe the dried baby yogurt away! 1st pic is when I got him lil and my has he grown....2nd pic!

I have no right to even remotely B*TCH that I can't do cardio!

http://mybiggirlpants.blogspot.com/2011/08/huge-blow.html?spref=fb
fellow Breast Cancer A** Kicker/Blogger!
Bridget you make me realize just how Putting your BIG GIRL PANTS on makes such a difference! Prayers to you girl, love and thanks for making sure we END cancer once and for all! xoxoxoo Love u!

just thinin' out loud again

If you were told not to brush your teeth for 7 days would you be pissed? I know I would....well I am equally p-ed off that I can not do cardio for about that amount of time!!!!!!! UGH! For the past 3 1/2 years that just like putting on deorderant, washing up, brushing teeth and hair has become a daily part of my life. I feel incomplete in the day if I don't. I also do it many times a day. This bites. Last night I did do some stretches to keep the muscles limber. I DID NOT over do it. I had to make Michael understand that I was OK! I am listening to the doc and I did so much extra iron intake today as well as Saturday and Sunday. I just want to EXERCISE! AHHHHHHHH
On a different note...Nana T no changes, still holding on. It is sad, her Alz meds taken away so she can have pain meds to keep her comfortable and she consumes the bare minimum to sustain her. Like Michael's Nana Martha we went through this same thing. They say it could be soon and then the body per say hangs on. Speaking with the very knowledgeable, handsome Doctor John, oldest Raftery brother he made a good point in when we were discussing Nana T. We saw her and without the Alz meds she is totally not with it. Pains to see her like that. SIGH!
As for the "baby" of the house....Bailey was so sweet on Saturday...he stayed by my side every minute of the day. He is always very sweet but that say I think just knew something is up. This womnen NEVER stays in that bed...What gives is the look he had with his lil head tilted to the side. I love having a pup,,,,who knew I would ever say that in life! LOL LOL I will never forget Nana T saying why didn't you get a cat, I like cats better when we took B to see her for the first time. That Nana T loved her Snowball! crazy ars cat! lol
As for the continuing of hugh iron consuption....drinking my kale,beet leaf, half an apple, spanach juice...YUM! NOT! lol even I am chocking it down. It has to be really cold to taste half decent. When I take a sip I wiggle a bit and make a funny face...I don;t even do that with WG! so ya know it must be nasty! LOL Off to make some salad for the troop and my honey will be grill master with hopes the rain holds out! Happy Monday Eve all xoxoxoxo Just thinkin' out loud!

Am I in the "RED".....I sure hope sooooo!!!!!!!!

I guess I will find out tomorrow eve if my red blood count went up. It sure better have. After getting an all day "needed" blood transfusion Friday at Bev. Hospital DEMANDED by the head doctor at my PCP practice after seeing that my count was under 3, so low she said she wanted to admit me to the hospital but there were no beds so I was lucky to be at the "day care" unit area. I listened to her and rested ALL day yesterday, I am not allowed to do 5 days of cardio! AHHHHHHH to that...Hey she never said light weight lifting now did she! Also the doc, lab and unit nurses could not even believe I was functioning and had the energy I had with numbers that low. I said "WHEATGRASS" lol lol ......Really the frantic call on Thursday from the doc made me look at the phone and ask do you have the correct person. I am not out of breath, she claims when I exercise I should be short of breath, or walk up stairs do I pant...AHHH NOOOOO I lost lots of LBs....Really doc I no longer pant. So she said I am demanding you to this, this is a stroke waiting to happen since the red blood count is so low and the o2 needs to flow ot the heart and brain. Well I listen to the docs and do what they say! I felt so lazy and ick yesterday due to the fact that I HAD to rest and stay in bed or more so not do anything. I still did some stuff not a lot of effort was needed but had the need to do something. I am off to do some things today, still gonna take it easy b/c I LISTEN> Told to stay out of the sun....now that is funny ...considering it is so beautiful and sunny today as it was yesterday BUT I DID! Looking forward to knowing what the numbers went up to. Have consumed every possible iron rich food the past 2 days with hopes that also helps...I ALWAYS eat iron rich foods...non meat ones so I am like wth ...absorb already! Off to get some liquid iron that makes my skin crawl...but once again ..when the docs say to do it ...who does it??? YUP ME! I LISTEN! have a great day...hope your "reds" are deep, dark and full of sh*t...opps I mean IRON! LOL LOL xoxooxox

a 3 day world

A world without breast cancer....or any cancer for that matter...That is why we do what we do! I so do not know where to begin. I have many stories but not much energy to put into my writing right now. I will be sure to post later about some funny and touching stories. I do have the need to thank my husband and son for taking part in my passion that I know think has transcended to a passion they now have. I always had their support but to be there beside me it really makes all the difference. Stephen said on the ride home...sign me up for next year and the next year I want to be a Men With Heart <3 Walker...he makes me proud..he seems to think that he will wait for his brother to walk. Michael when we were packing up the Pink tents at 445am yesterday stopped me looked me in the eye and said I think these events make me a better person. That took me to a warm place, not that we were not already hot as all heck but the tears started and my insides felt all good to hear that. We will NEVER STOP! WE WILL NEVER STOP! we will be involved in any way shape or form to be apart of the END to cancer! Everyone Deserves a Lifetime! xoxoxoox

on a positive note!

When something just pops in your head like a whisper from you don't know who! I started to get up and make dinner....I looked in the cabinet to get pepper where my herb teas also are...well then I see the regular tea bag. I swear Nana drank at least 4 cups of black peoke tea a day! A lil dap of milk in the mornings tea and the rest of the day black! She was predictable with her eating too. Ate the garlic and rapi in EVOO all the time.....maybe an egg with it but mostly plain with a piece of Italian bread. For dinner always the "greens"///I never knew how she could eat the "greens" so blah! She would flash them and then put more freaking garlic ....LOL at the time I HATED the taste and smell of that crap...now I think I am her..garlic is the killer of all jerms Stephie ..UGH! LOL LOL I guess you have to think it must be freaking good for you. Looking at the tea I realized NEVER was she sick. Disease free for years....until the dimensia set in like '95. She never got sick...Had a headache now and then...wore her vics in the winter to "not get dry nose Stephie" and really was never sick. I fight to find an end to all cancers and hate that people get sick ect and have to battle illness but really to be that age and not have to see a doctor or not have to deal with an illness says something.She lost much of her site to macular degeneration 1995, but never had an illness. There are many people that battle everyday to stay well and get well....I WILL fight no matter what to make sure diseases are stomped on...but in the life of my Nana....WOW! really to not really have a problem and get sick until you are like 74 that says something.

~The love of a Nana~

Nana's have this special kind of love that may not even have enough words to describe it. If you know me well enough you know how I regard MY NANA T! ......she means the world to me! Raising me and giving me her values make me a lot of who I am today.Her decline the past years and more so the past months is so sad..Like I posted before Alzheimers SUCKS big time...sucks the life out of the person that it effects and sucks major life out of the family members too. Gettin word today that her decline is very very bad and that her days may be numbered due to her inability, due to her disease to consume enough food and drink I am heart broken. Do I in the real world know that death happens, ? yes...do I realize at 90 and ill you will not live on forever? YES! But that still doesn't help with the sting of what is yet to come. I feel in a fog now, a limbo of blahness.....I stay strong talking to the home and give a call to get info on making arrangement's for maybe a pending service. I get the reality of life and death. But hey ya can't fault a girl for being emotional....That is life. Love to you Nana Theresa...you will always be so beautiful to me, body and spirit!

Some basic 3 day rules to live by.......

♫WHO ARE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?♫ or ♫Won't you be my neighbor♫ come to mind when thinking of the sea of pink tents that will be our weekend home for our 3 day campfest! To be respectful....rule one:when going into and out of a port a pot (yay) hold the gosh darn door....those things slam like you can't understand...the noise of doors banging any time of day let alone in the dark early morn hours is just not nice....HOLD THAT DOOR! Rule two:flip flops are great but when camp is dark and quiet after all the dancing and giggles lay to rest DO NOT walk to those port a pots with flip flops...they make that flip flop noise and you can hear them in the distance too. Just a lil heads up on the RULES OF BEING A GOOD 3 DAY TENT NEIGHBOR! Hey and we ALL know this SUNSHINE STEPHIE LOVES to follow rules...AND would never want to be "camoing" in a tent unless it is on the 3day in a PINK one! :D SEE YOU ALL SOON NEIGHBORS!

GO TEAM!

What is a Team?

Definition | References

Teams differ from other type of groups in that members are focused on a joint goal or product, such as a presentation, completing in-class exercises, taking notes, discussing a topic, writing a report, or creating a new design or prototype.

Here is one of the most commonly cited definitions:

"A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they are mutually accountable." (Katzenbach and Smith, 1993)

Similar definitions of a team include:

"People working together in a committed way to achieve a common goal or mission. The work is interdependent and team members share responsibility and hold themselves accountable for attaining the results." (MIT Information Services and Technology)

"A team is a group of people working together towards a common goal." (Team Technology, 1995-2006)

"A group in which members work together intensively to achieve a common group goal." (Lewis-McClear & Taylor 1998)

" A Team is a group called the "PINK ANGELS"
PINK ANGELS ARE A TEAM! WE WLK BECUASE THE JOURNEY DEMANDS IT!
(thank you Nancy B for pointing this out)