Who's lying?

So, it's been a while since I have posted. My topic for today is: Who is lying? What do you do when you have two people telling you two different things? How do you figure out who is telling the truth? Either way, a lot of people got hurt. I don't understand why adults act the way they do sometimes. I would hope that we all want the same things out of life. I guess what it comes down to is what makes you happy? What extremes would you go to in order to be happy? Would you lie and cheat in order to obtain your goals? Would you hurt the people you care about to get there?

I suppose all I can do now is wait and see what happens next. In the end, the truth will come out.

Halloween Festivities

Halloween is a fun time of year. It gives us a chance to act like kids again right before the big family holidays. This past weekend, we sent the kids to Grandma's house and had a Halloween Costume party for our friends. We had a great time! The costumes were hilarious!

With everyone in costume, personalities change slightly. You get to see people cut loose who might not normally do so. Others get into the personality of their costume. Don't get me wrong, the alcohol helps in both of these areas!!! It was a good time. And the party went into the wee hours of the morning :) Always a sign of success. The boys even forgot about the UFC fight that was on that night!

This coming Friday, we have several close friends brining thier kiddos over to trick or treat with us. I am excited. We have a party at work every year with a costume contest, so i will be dressed up the whole day! YEAH! After trick or treating, I am sure we will hang out and just have a good time with good company!

I hope everyone has a great Halloween weekend!

A Promise to my Friends

Another Friday already! Time flies.......so, today's topic is Love Thy Friends. Sounds stupid i know! But seriously, if we all loved our friends and treated them with the respect they deserve, I could sell my stock in Advil!


So, here is my promise to my friends:

I promise to love you for who you are

I promise to help you grow

I promise to love and support your children

I promise to defend you when someone else talks crap about you

I promise to be there for you when you need a friend

I promise to be there for you when you don't need a friend

I promise to be honest with you

I promise to trust you

I promise to save you a rocking chair on the porch when we are 80

These are some big promises, but I will try my best to abide by them. There are three women in my life that I consider great friends (they know who they are......) I believe that with love, support, trust, and loyalty that our friendships can grow tremendously. Trust isn't easy to come by with me, but i believe these women will cultivate it well. I am giving up all suspicions and doubt based on other's crap so that I may develop these friendships into what I know they can be.

So, to my great friends......i look forward to years of happy moments, funny stories, inside jokes, tears both happy and sad, and the rocking chairs that await us near the end of our journey. I hope to have all three of you by my side for years to come.

I love you guys!

An Evening In My Crazy Busy Life!

Well, it's Friday! Time for a weekly update! It has been a busy busy week! Every night we have had something to do! Monday and Wednesday was football practice, Tuesday was Jason's softball game, and Thursday was just plain busy! Thursday we went to Family Fun Night at Andy's school, then my softball game and then Jay's softball game. Lots of activities, but it was a fun filled night!

What to talk about first! Let's see....football practice is going great for Andy! He gets so excited about playing. I know Jason is in Heaven! Our game tomorrow is at 10am. My family is coming out to watch. Have I mentioned lately how lucky I am to have such great parents! And my sister and Uncle!

Next up, Jason's softball games. I love to watch him play! And he is on a really good team this year. I now totally understand why Jason stays at the fields for so long after the games. It is actually a lot of fun. I have a great time talking to Lucy and Caroline while Jason is getting his boy time! My point is I get it! But don't tell him that!

So, last night I took the kids to Family Fun Night at Andy's school. It was really just a sneaky way to bulk up PTA memberships! But the kids had a lot of fun. It cost us $11 to get in and that included unlimited games, hot dogs, drinks, popcorn, and cotton candy. I think their favorite activity was the bounce house. Katie didn't want to get out when time was up! The kids also got temporary tatoos while we were there (this will be important in a few minutes). Andy got a tiger on his arm and Katie got a butterfly on her arm. After all that fun, it was time to head to my softball game.

So, I never claimed to be great at softball. I just go out there to have a good time! This is why they put me out in right field! Apparently the other team figured that out last night. There must have been a target on my head because they hit ALL the balls in my direction! I tried really hard, but like I said I am no professional! I have NEVER worked so hard in a softball game! Yes, I had a blast! AND, my family came out to watch me: myMom, my Dad,and my favorite Uncle in the whole world. On top of that, a very good friend of mine was at the game too! It was greatness! I am so blessed to have such a supportive family and friends! Oh, and yes we lost :( After the game, my Mom brings Katie to me at the dugout. Katie is crying her eyes out! She is absolutely devastated because her butterfly FLEW away. (Remember the tatoos they got on their arms...). The only thing that kept me from laughing hysterically was the total devestation on her face :(

Next, it was time to dash off to Jay's game. We got there about halfway through. Thursday night is a good night to watch Jay play ball. The team is good! We did spend some time socializing in the parking lot after the game, but headed home at a decent hour.
So, all that was in one evening! Not all of our nights are that crazy, but we always seem to be going somewhere! Last night there was a little something for everyone. And there was a great mix of family and friends to compliment the evening! I am exhausted, but it is all well worth it! There is nothing that can ever replace family time, or be as fulfilling! And when you add good friends to the mix.....i do know how truly blessed I am!

AND...hold on to your hat!!!! It has been a drama free week! It doesn't get much better. I wonder how long it will be before someone runs their mouth and ruins it? Oh well, i am sticking to my plan from my original post! Life without drama is so much more fun!

OMG! Was it actually drama free?

I believe we may have had a weekend with NO drama? Or maybe no one told me. Either way, it was great!


Saturday night I FINALLY got to hang out with my best friend Laura. We talk ALL the time but NEVER see each other. Part of it is our busy schedules and part of it is that our husbands didn't know each other. Now they do. And everyone had a great time! Us girls spent the evening sitting on the patio in the backyard chatting. We told tons of funny stories and laughed our hearts out. It was so much fun! I haven't had a night like that in a while. They boys seemed to all have a good time too. They watched some UFC, played in the garage, and then a quick poker game. All in all, I think everyone had a good time. There was no drama....at least so far. It is Monday, so let's see what happens. Are stories going to be told and twisted? Will someone be mad at someone else by the end of the week? Probably, that is usually how things go around here. And that would be really sad :( It was such a great evening!

Sunday I went to my Mom's house to see my Uncle. It was a GREAT afternoon! It was so nice to see him. And everyone is truly happy that he is here. It is such an awesome thing to see. He was in need of help, my Mom provided it. There were no underlying currents of tension or competition of any kid. Everyone was truly happy to see him, and above all, grateful that he is here. My family so so amazing! My Uncle had never met Katie....it took her a few minutes, and then my sister was replaced! (My sister is my children's favorite person in the whole world). Uncle Scotty played with the kids for a good part of the afternoon! It was an afternoon full of giggles, laughs, and good conversation. The perfect way to end a great weekend!

With all this fun, I didn't get much done around the house.....so it looks like i will be doing laundry tonight :) And lots of it! LOL! I really hope there is no drama as a result of this weekend. I would like to think that a bunch of grown adults can truly have a good time on a Saturday evening without turning it into much more. Almost everyone had a blast.....and those are the times that memories are made of. Let's not ruin it!

Pay it Forward

Occasionally in life, we get the opportunity to help others. Sometimes it is a small gesture while others it is life changing. I am proud to say that I had the opportunity to do both over the past week. The small gesture was simply helping a friend get her daugther into a more suitable daycare. She wasn't happy with her daughter's current situation, so I happily set her up with Katie's daycare. Can I just say that Katie goes to the BEST daycare ever! Now, Avery is in a better place, Nancy feels better about her daughter's care, Adrienne is bringing in more income, and Katie gets to see her freind Avery everyday. One small gesture led to all of those blessings!

I also had the opportunity to change a family member's life. Hopefully, for the better! My Uncle sent out a mass email on Monday asking for prayer requests. He is having a tough time, and was seeking support. Did I mention that this is my favorite Uncle in the whole world! He is such a great person. Well, he's had a rough couple of years. Without handing out his personal details to the wonderful world of the internet, I will just say that he has really been struggling without a lot of luck lately. Several years ago he lived in Hawaii, had a great job, great life. Well, said job asked several employees to do some unsavory things. So, those employees quit. My uncle was one of them. He attempted to find another job in Hawaii, but didn't have much luck. His next move was to Arizona where most of his family resides. What better place to go that where your family is :) To make a long story short, he spent a couple of years and all of his savings trying to find a job. He kept hearing that he was overqualified. Noone would touch him. He was able to find some part time work, but not enough to support him fully. He then began living off of credit only to become a victim of identity theft. What luck! God was truely testing him. So, this past week he was forced to move out of his apartment and into his sister's house giving up most of his belongings in the process. His plan was to head to California.

My Mom is one of the most amazing people that I know. I am proud to call her my Mom and grateful for the role model in my life. She feels that if someone wants her to know something, they will tell her. She doesn't ask alot of questions. So, when my Uncle (her brother) sent out his prayer request on Monday...she prayed for him. I immediatly called her to find out what was going on with my Uncle. She only knew what her sisters had told her, didn't want to call him and stick her nose where she felt it didn't belong. Fortunatly, I don't have that problem. So, I sent my Uncle an email asking him what was going on. Anyways, long story short...his luck had run out (recall story above). Let's just say that the multitude of family I have in Arizona didn't respond to his need as well as I feel they should have. This is strictly my opinion, I am sure there are things that I don't know. But family is family. Anyways, it turns out that there was a snag with California. It would be several days before he would be able to access the place he was supposed to live. That was the only thing he had in California....no family, no job, etc. My Mom had said several times that her brother was more than welcome to move to Texas, stay with her, and try to make a new life for himself here. But, she wouldn't call him. So, I did. In the end, after speaking with my Uncle he is going to come here and live with my parents for a while, try to find a job here, and begin the next chapter of his life. As he put it, God has offered him a blessing so he is going to take it and see where it leads.

It feels good to have added hope to someone's life. Especially when they so desperately needed it. We all know how it feels to struggle through the day to day. Finding the money to pay all the bills while prices for everything are rising. We all do our best, but sometimes it's not enough. Not too many of us know what it is like to reach the end, and truly be basically homeless with no source of income. And worst of all, the feeling that your own family doesn't really care. I can't express to you what joy it brings to my heart to know that i was able to restore the hope in someone else's life. And to remind him that he does have family that are here to strictly love and support him.

As we go into the holidays this year, that is something we should all remember....FAMILY. It is one of the most important things in life. The sad truth is that so many people spend their time talking trash about their families or spreading lies.....all in the spirit of competition. Who will end up #1? Now, we are all guilty of gossip, it is a nastly little fact of life. But, we can all make an effort to watch our words. Who are we hurting? Do we really know what is truly going on in someone else's life? And why are we being so absolutely horrible to our own family? The one group of people we should be kind to....the one group of people that we should always be able to count on no matter what? If we spent more time making the effort to be a good friend, good sister, good brother, etc....to the people we care about, we would spend less time fighting. Let's all make an effort this holiday season. Cherish the family you have, love them, let them know you love them. But, most of all....pay it forward with a nice gesture. The reward will be twofold as everyone benefits.

Feelings

I have been told that I wear my heart on my sleeve. That I get too close to people too fast, trust too easy, and get my feelings badly hurt when something goes wrong. I will admit that this is true. As hard as I try not to, I do all of the things mentioned above. I have also been told that because my feelings get so hurt, I hold a grudge for way too long. Okay, so that part is true. I try not to do this, but when something hurts....well, it hurts and it is hard to let go. I value the simple things in life: Family, Love, Loyalty, Trust...to name a few. When one of these basic values is violated it is hard to go back. No matter how badly I want to. Once trust is gone, what do you have left?

That is the big question for me at the moment. Once a trust has been violated, can you go back? Of course, it depends on the violation. Cheating, stealing, etc.....there is no question there. But, on the small things...a confidence betrayed, a lie told as a truth. Can a friendship be the same after one of these small infractions? It seems like with most women, things turn into a competition. Whether it is who is friends with who, who bought the latest "hot item", who is going to what party. I just don't understand this. Although I would be lying if I said I wasn't guilty. We all are. The problem is the degree it is taken to. Everyone these days talks about being up front and honest, about not spreading untruths, and about staying out of the drama. But, does anyone really do this? The answer is no.

I have a good friend that I don't get to see very often. However, I talk to her multiple times a day. I love talking to her because we can talk about anything, and there is no competition there. I wish our schedules made it easier for us to hang out more! Although we don't always talk about the deep personal things, I know I could trust her with my darkest secret. I wish I could say that about more people. Life would be so much better with less drama and more trust!

We need to get back to the basics! I know that sounds really cheesy! But it is so true. So, I have made a deal with myself. I am going to do my best to stay out of all the drama. I am going to love the friends that I have and treat them with the respect they deserve. I am going to do my best to change the subject or walk out of a conversation when it turns to talk of another person (whether it is a friend or foe). But, most of all.....I am going to try to forgive those that have hurt me and repair the damaged relationships. Some of these may take some time, and some conversations my need to be had. But, I am really going to try.

The most important things in life are: Love, Family, Trust, Loyalty, and Friendship. They are all connected...you can't have one without the other. You can't have family without love. You can't have friendship without trust. And on and on.