Ummm... Okay

Umm… I have to say that I’ve gotten quite a shock. I don’t go on to Myspace very often and when I do I don’t look at others pages. I was just fooling around Sunday night and look at my youngest biological sisters page. I noticed that there was a picture of Kristan (the sister) and a girl who looked very much like a boy. So I look at her page and lo and behold she’s left her husband (he was abusive anyway) but has now turned lesbian. Umm… okay.

It was a little strange to read this and to see the pictures of her new, um, friend. My shock wasn’t only because she is now with a girlfriend but out of concern. She was married to a guy she had been with since she was 15 and he wasn’t a very nice man. I think it’s very likely that he not only was emotionally abusive but physically abusive. She had no father figure in her life. Her father somehow got custody of her during his divorce. Then he dumped her off at her grandmother’s house a few years later for her to raise her. What kind of life is that? It makes me thank god for me having a stable family. She then meets up with this guy when she’s 15. She’s so young and impressionable. She finds one who probably told her how much he loved her and got her where he wanted her and then began the controlling part of things. She needed someone to love her like this but over the years it got bad.

So she escapes. She finds solace or what she thinks as solace with this girl. I don’t advise it male or female. She’d been isolated from her own family. She had been living with Genaro and his parents and her new little baby. She didn’t even live with her own family. It seems to me as if she’s running away from her problems. Now this little boy is going to be caught up in all of this. I’m sure some of the aftermath is inevitable no matter if she hooked up with someone else or not. I can’t imagine leaving someone like Genaro would make him very happy. From my observation she is someone who is lacking direction and is hungered for love and acceptance. It pains me. I hurt for her. I just wish someone who has her best intentions at heart could help her. I think it’s too late though. When I talked to her she seemed very hard and cold. Bitter. Who can blame her though?

Soo… how about that for a blog? I called Tabitha (my middle bio sister) to wish her a happy birthday on Thursday. I talked to her Friday night when she was in Miami. She met up with her friend from school there. She hadn’t had the best day before and was trying to make it better. I called her and left her a message tonight asking her why she hadn’t told me that our youngest bio sister had turned lesbian. She called me back when her plane landed. She had no idea about the turn of events. Apparently her vacation didn’t turn out good at all. She had a not so great time and if I was her I wouldn’t have enjoyed myself either.

I love Tabitha. She’s so great. I can hear the smile in her voice. She is such a beautiful woman. I wish I could see her again. I miss her. We just click. We have no problem talking (I know, me have a problem talking, hahahaha). She’s now working in California doing makeup for photo shoots, music videos, etc. I think it’s totally awesome and I’m happy for her. Being single and having no kids make it a great opportunity. I think she should enjoy herself and make tons of money and then buy me a house. Okay, I’m just kidding. She can make a ton of money and buy me a car. J

I had a good weekend. Lee was off on Saturday and we went boating. It was a lot of fun. I didn’t get as much sun as I wished but that’s okay. Jackson and I had a great time hanging out in the cabin. We just enjoyed each others company and the little game we’d play when Lee was driving and we were down under. He’d laugh the guttural beautiful laugh. I love it. The deep and genuine laugh. Man, I love it when Mackenzie makes that sounds. It’s comforting in a way. They are my life. I wake up each morning for my children. I never knew love until I met Mackenzie and then Jackson. It changes you forever. I can’t imagine not being a mom. It’s my greatest accomplishment. I’d die for them. I’d give up everything for them. It must be the same way Christ felt for us, but he did die for us. Very bold and moving, don’t you think?

So we spent the day out on the boat. It was fun. Then Sunday night we met Andy (the guy I’m working for/with) and his wife and 4 kids for dinner. Jackson called Mackenzie that afternoon and told her she had to come home right now because we were going to eat at daddy’s restaurant. It was so cute. Well, sort of. He got demanding. He walking in circles on my bed shaking his finger in the air telling her this. He misses her like crazy. So… we met for dinner and had a great time. I think it’s nice that we’ve made some friends. I honestly think it’s helping Lee. The kids all played in the big water fountain after dinner. It was a ton of fun. I really enjoyed myself.

I went to work today and I was so tired in the beginning. I got things organized and I’m finally pleased with the way I have the files, etc. I just wish things weren’t as slow moving. I’m so impatient and that doesn’t help when you’re working on short sales. Patience is a virtue that you must exhibit with short sales. It’s also hard for me to stop looking at things from the title perspective and when something is wrong to delegate it to the title company. I’m just so use to taking care of everything. Andy got two more listings today! Go Andy! We have Chris coming on board on April 14^th. Things are looking good. I just hope in the long run this all works out.

I’m going to drift off to sleep now. It’s late and I need to count sheep to the music of Boyce Avenue. Seriously the best band I’ve heard in years and years and years.

As Imogean Heap says, “say goodnight and go”. So goodnight. I’m going.

Exhausted

I am absolutely exhausted. I have had such a long week at work and it has just worn be down. It started with the boating I guess. We were out most of Saturday and I was just worn slap out. After we got home from boating we went to eat dinner at Osaka, our favorite hibachi place. It's sad, they know us well, since we got about once a week. We were seated next to an older couple and a couple in their late 30's. The younger lady looked so familiar. I just knew that she had to of been on TV. I couldn't put my finger on which reality show she was on but I knew she had to be on something. So finally I asked her. I said that she probably thinks I'm crazy but it was driving me nuts why I recognized her. She was on the 2nd season of Big Brother. It was the only season I watched and she came in 2nd. It all came back to me. We spoke to the couples there and Lee invited the older gentleman and his group of 4 to come eat at his restaurant.

So we're sitting there finishing up our meal and the older guy asks Mackenzie how she liked her food. She was so exhausted from boating and you could see it in her eyes but she answered it was good. He asked me if Jackson always stood up when he eats and I embarrassingly told him yes. So we chit chat for a bit and find out they own a condo at Silver Shells and he is from Alpharetta, GA. So we are finished eating and I'm waiting for our check so we can leave. I finally notice he has his bill but we didn't get ours? Ummm... I'm tired and ready to go. So I ask him if that was his bill, duh, it had to be, because we didn't get ours yet. He said that he had taken care of our meal. Easily $150 with the tip. I'm flabbergasted and start kicking Lee to tell him. I thank the gentleman. I don't know if my shocked expression really conveyed how sweet and thankful I was.

They walked out of the restaurant and I started having tears run down my face. I was so thankful. It seemed that they would go to his restaurant the next night and Lee said he was going to take care of them so he didn't understand why I was so moved. For one because he can comp the food and for this guy it comes out of his own pocket. It was just very touching. No one has ever done anything like that for us before. It wasn't a McDonald's meal but a really expensive meal.

So Sunday night the kids and I left the house in the afternoon to pick up my prescription. Yes, this is after waking up at 9:30 and feeling like I'd been hit by a truck from a day of boating. I was very out of it feeling and my body could barely move. It was very sore from the day before. It took me a few hours to get with the program. So we get my prescriptions and then I stop by an open house that the realtor I'm working with was having. Gorgeous house across the street from the beach. We chatted for a bit and then the kids and I headed to Lee's restaurant for dinner. It was around 5. You see my reason for going there was to see the man who paid for our meal and thank him again. He had mentioned coming at 6pm. So the kids and I were there until almost 7. No guy. Of course 15 mins after we left he comes in. Blah. Lee took care of their tab and bought them $400 worth of food and drinks. Well done. Lee also reiterated to him how much his generousity meant to me.

This week was crazyyyyyy with work. I'm not really doing title work anymore but working with an agent on his listings, buyers, and short sale packages. This really neat guy Chris is coming on board April 14th and will be the buyers agent. He's also bringing with him his lawn care and handyman company. It will really help bring together our full package approach for our clients. We've had several lunches together throwing ideas around and it seems as if Chris and I will be the more slow thinkers. Well, that statement probably doesn't make sense. Andy, like me, gets really excited about ideas and is eager to implement them immediately or try to gear them up. The problem is we're not necessarily ready for the big expansion and we need to get our team going and flowing smoothly first. If we try and do too much and new too soon it will crash and burn. Chris is a good voice of reason. I am glad that he is like that too because it helps me to tell Andy when to slow down.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Andy and his ideas are amazing. Just some of the things that we could do is just too soon. He knows that but it's hard to slow down when you get so excited about a great idea and you want to go ahead and plow ahead with it. I too many times get that way and need someone to rope me back in. That being said I am so excited with what we have acheived so far. This week we got an offer for the open house property and one other property in Destin. We now have a fully excuted contract for the open house property and working on the other one. It also looks like we might get an offer on the Shalimar house. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the Niceville one. Now we just need more listings. Ahhhh! We did get a buyer from the open house. They are working on their pre-approval. Buying a house in the 700k range. Not too shabby!

So Mackenzie's spring break started on Thursday. Thursday morning I left to meet my mom halfway in Greenville. Mackenzie was so excited to go spend the time with my parents. She just loves them so much and of course they love her to death. Her friend Kendall has a grandmother who lives in Alabama too. I asked Courtney,her mom, what she was doing for spring break and she was going to go to the Spice (afterschool/holiday program) at school. I told her if Kendall wanted to visit her grandmother's that I was meeting my mom halfway in Greenville and would take Kendall there too if her mom wanted to meet us. It ended up working out that way and Kendall rode with us. It is her first time being away from her parents for more than one night. She cried before we picked her up. She was upset in the car in the beginning and then she got better. It was rough though having two 7 year olds in the car. Wow! Acting all crazy and this and that. But they were excited. Thank goodness for my XM radio on FoxNews. It saved me.

I got back to town at 2:30 and immediately went in to the office because of issues we've been having with the short sale closings getting approval and an excecuted contract for another property. By 5pm I was pooped. Worn slap out. Want to go to bed and crash type feeling. Lee had opened so we all ate at hibachi around 6. No one to pay for us this time. I asked Roxanne the lady who is always there who the guy was who bought our meal. She was the one he told to buy it. She said that she thought his name was Depot (it's not, I checked) and he's from Atlanta area and his private jet flies him down here. Somehow that doesn't surprise me. She said he's super nice and tips very well. We had a great time at hibachi and the food was as good as ever. However, this time we had to pay our own bill. But that's okay, it was worth it!

So yesterday I went to work. I was very tired from the day before but somehow made it through. Lee is off Friday and Saturday (today) and was at home sleeping. We're working on our short sale negotiations, talking to attorneys due to problems with the chain of title, etc. Very long day just because we had so many different issues going on. It's also frustrating for me because I'm at a standstill with a problem and I feel like I need to do more to get it done but I can't do anything else. It's frustrating too because the mortgage companies suck. They have the loans, don't record the assignments of mortgage, file foreclosure proceedings in the name of a lender who doesn't have any record of owning it, try to find out the right investor so we can get the right assignment of mortgage and the one who filed the foreclosure isn't the one that the original lender sold the loan to. Yeah, if you could follow that then I'm proud of you. My title agent side of me wants to figure it all out and cure the title. That's not my job now and even if it was I still couldn't do anything else to fix. It's a waiting game.

So last night we ate dinner at Louisiana Lagniappe, the first place Lee worked when we moved down here. The restaurant was closed down all winter for a huge remodel. It just opened a week ago. The food is the best in town. We go there and Lee's very good friend Alvin was working. We sat in his section and I got to see Chris again, another friend of his who briefly bartended at his place while the restaurant was doing the remodel. Lee saw many others he knew from before. The place was beautiful with the remodel. Alvin was funny as ever. He's this older black guy (okay, older as in his early 40's maybe) and is hysterical. They trade racial jokes/picking on each other. I asked Alvin if he gets tired of it and I can't remember what he said but it was hysterical.

The food was phenomenal and the sunset gorgeous. The server was just amazing and we had a great time. It was good for me to see some of the people and Lee enjoyed it very much. We were stuff though. I ate way too much! Lee ate way more than me and I don't know how he could breathe. When we got our bill Becky, the manager, had comped it. I didn't think she would, especially after Lee told me that when her son wanted a job he didn't hire him. But Alvin went to her and asked if she was going comp it and "hook a n... up". lol This is coming from a black man too, and he's originally from New Orleans. So Lee left a $50 tip. Yeah, about 50% tip. Not bad for our friend Alvin. Alvin is the guy who has done our taxes for the past 5 years. He's coming over tonight to work on them. He use to work as an accountant for the IRS many moons ago. He does a lot of servers taxes too.

So we came home worn out, stuffed and tired. I seriously ate to much. We got home around 8:30. We laid in bed and watched tv for a while. Jackson finally fell asleep and then I did too around 11. Now I'm up and will be going on the boat soon. I can't wait. We're going to have a great day. And I miss Mackenzie too!

Burned

I'm burned. Yes, sunburned badly. We took the boat out today around 12:30. It was 72 outside and windy. We anchored the boat at Crab Island and I laid down for a bit. Not more than 30 mins or so. I remember thinking that I even though it was chilly because of the wind that the sun was still bright and I'd probably end up burned. But I stupidly thought that since we weren't going to be out long that I'd be fine. In the back of my head I knew that wasn't the case. I'm a lobster. My face is really red and my chest and arms. What surprised me is my back is burned too. I laid only on my back but at some point it was in the sun.

We had a really good time. I went into work for a little bit and then had a Dr.'s appointment. I met Lee and Mackenize at the marina at 12:15. We ate lunch on the boat. It was a really nice and relaxing time. We did get stuck in the sand at Crab Island and that was not fun. Eventually we did get out and I was relieved.

The kids wanted some new goggles and snorkle. I went to Walmart on the way home and got them the full set with the flippers. What's really cool is Jackson's is a shark one. I got some other things that they wanted for the water and a few other things. I'm going to put it in their Easter basket. I figured kill two birds with one stone. The Easter bunny is going to make an early surprise visit tonight. That way they can enjoy it on the boat. I don't know how in the world I'm going to make it in the sun again tomorrow.

I bought aloe vera gel and lathered myself with it a few minutes ago. I also bought some really good sunscreen. It's 30SPF and it's anti-aging. Haha With me turning 28 in a few weeks I figure it's time to work on my aging. I'm hoping that with me laying it on thick tomorrow that I won't get burned any more than I already am.

I'm off to rest. I'm tired from today and can't wait for tomorrow.

Never Say Never

Boyce Avenue is truly so amazing! I love their music and Alejandro, the lead singer, is just amazing. Their first CD just came out on iTunes. The hard copy CDs come out on the 25th. I swore I would never pay for iTunes when I could get music for free off of other sites. I was going to buy their CD no matter what because they produced it and paid for it themselves. I want to support them. When I found out it was already on iTunes I immediately downloaded the software and paid $9.90 for the music.

I'm mesmerised. They are truly amazing! Boyce Avenue is truly a talented group. I hope they perform concerts soon here in Florida. I would travel just about anywhere in Florida to hear them play. I love that they write their own lyrics. They have done a lot of covers and posted the music on Youtube. I think it's brilliant. They do the covers sometimes better than the original artists and it hooks people to their sound and style.

They are constantly near the top of the charts on Youtube for music groups. It's hard to explain but I feel their music. It gets to me. First and foremost I think it's the Alejandro's voice. Wow. Major talent. Major hottness in his voice. Not in a oogey way but just amazing. I also dig the fact that they write their own lyrics. The songs mean something to them. I think it's so important.

So please please please check out Boyce Avenue! I promise you won't regret it. Boyce Avenue is amazing!

Searching

It looks like Lee jumped on the Orlando bandwagon with me. He came home on Friday night telling me how he was ready to try to find a job. He got really excited about it and started updating his resume on Saturday. So much planning. Ugh. It's fun, exciting and tiring all at the same time. There are so many possibilities out there. I am eager to make something from this that will benefit the whole family. I like change. I do. We've been here for 5 years now. I am ready for our next adventure. I feel like there is something out there for us that's not here.

Lee is off on Friday and Saturday. The kids are out of school on Firday due to Good Friday. Lee had a briliant idea (insert sarcasm) to invite his GM, Eduardo, and his daughter (not sure if the wife and older daughter are coming) out on our boat on Friday. I DO NOT want to go with them. Our boat is big but not big enough for all of us. Well, I guess it is but I don't want to be in close quarters all day with them. I think I'm going to beg off the trip and say I have to work. I might let Lee take Mackenzie. I'd rather go off to the beach than go with all of them.

Then Lee invited Hector, Roseli and Freida out on Saturday. They are my favorite people, I love them, I truly do, but I just would rather go out by ourselves. It is very hectic out there with just us. Jackson is young and Mackenzie is so excited and bouncing off the walls. I can't imagine going with them and bringing another kid along. Now I know Jackson would LOVE it. He just loves Freida so much and Hector. What's funny is I'm not the anit-social person. I love getting together with people, but it's just too small quarters for me. What blows my mind is why Lee invited them. He is the epitomy of an anti-social person so it confuses me greatly.

The kids and I went up to the restaurant yesterday for dinner. We got there around 5 or so. Roseli was still working and Hector had just gotten to work so Frieida was there and going to eat while she waited for Roseli to finish up. We went straight to the bathroom when we got there and while we were in their Freida walked in. Jackson went bonkers. He was so excited to see her. She sat down with us and Roseli finished up and ended up eating dinner with us.

After dinner we went outside to where the fountains are. The pipes burst a few weeks back when there was a hard freeze so there was no water. I went next door and bought a football and ball at Learning Express. Freida also had a football but we just needed more. I started throwing the bigger ball to the girls. Man I loved it. I've always had a strong arm on me. I was good at softball and can really throw a football. Lee's head bartender was going to Starbucks and he saw me out there. He yelled at me to throw it to him and I did. He was shocked at my throw and the fact that it made it to him. Also because I caught it with ease.

There were dads coming out while waiting for their food. They had their little boys and having a good time. We shared the balls with the little boys. I struck up conversations with the dads. It was a lot of fun. It was great! There is also a grassy area outside of the Tommy Bahama restaurant and so the girls did gymnastics there and we played some football there too. I'll be sort of sad when the fountains are up and running again because there won't be as much room for football. But the kids missed the fountains. I got so sweaty and just dirty. We were out there for 2 hours! When we got home all 3 of us took a shower/bath. We were all exhausted to say the least!

Well I'm off to rest. Trying to find something semi-decent on tv to watch. I haven't found anything yet.

I am Angry and Pissed Off

I'm mad. I'm pissed. Want to know why I'm writing this at 1am? It's because of our potential presidential candidates. I never thought in a million years I would say this but I hope Hillary wins the election if it's between her and Barack. Yes, I mean the presidential election. The whole kit and kaboodle. Not just the primary. I couldn't put my finger on it buy my dad described what I was feeling perfectly. It's because "we know what to expect with Hillary" and we have no freaking clue what Barack is going to do.

If you look at his track record you will see that he is more liberal than Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton. I didn't think it was possible to be more liberal than good 'ol Ted. Something is clearly wrong with this picture. It's more than him being pro-abortion and big government. What do we really know about this man? We know that his mother was white and his father was black. We know that he was in a muslim school for many years. Does this mean he is a Muslim? Not necessarily but when you have been indoctrinated for many years don't you think it holds on to you in some way?

But wait... he's a Christian. He attends a Church of Christ church in Chicago. Hahaha. What a crock of shit. Yes, I'm cursing on here. I rarely do so even when I'm upset or feel the words are best used for 2 reasons. One I don't want to sound trashy and two because I know my grandparents read this and don't want to offend them. However, there are no other words to describe this.

Barack Hussein Obama has attended this church since the early 1990's. The Sr. pastor there married he and his wife and has been a mentor to Barack by Barack's own admission. So if Barack has said in the past that he has gone to this so called pastor for guidance, etc. you would think that he really believes in him. Right?

This so called pastor has been standing in the pulpit spewing sermons of hatred and descrimination. I had the wonderful privledge of hearing clips from his sermon. Yes, he compares 9/11 to the slavery us rich white folks put the blacks through. Let's see, he also compares it to the Tuskegee Experiement, which I have to admit I had never heard of and upon researching I am sickened by it but still. He goes on and on how the white people are pretty much out to get the black people. You should hear his congregation hooping and hollering with every statement he makes.

Growing up in Montgomery I was surrounded by a lot of racism. This might surprise some but it wasn't all from the whites, a lot of it was by the blacks. It seemed that some just couldn't let things die. I'm talking about kids in high school. Did they have a relative that they personally knew suffering from the effects of slavery? No. Have I personally held them back? No. Did the black girls have a right or justification to shove the white girls down in the halls and smack their lips at us and say "excuse you bitch"? No. I'm sick of it. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of paying for what happened 150 years ago. Can I change it? No. No one can. I'm tird of the division and the race card that is played by both sides.

I am disgusted by the fact that this so called pastor can preach from the pulpit hatred towards whites. What makes me even madder is that if a white pastor or any white person said something that was 1/1,000,000 of what he said that they would be persecuted in the media, personally, etc. They would be called racists. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton (and no you're not a reverent to me and neither is good 'ol Jesse. You both make me sick) and probably Alvin Holmes (now he'd be trotting in late) would be on the persons front porch trying to lynch them for their comments. It's not fair.

So while this pastor has said some horrible hateful things. Oh yeah, like they should rename the USA to the "KKK of A". Nice. Great role model. Now this Barack is coming out trying to distance himself from his pastor. The same pastor that he embraced and said that was his mentor. If he has been in his church for 15 or so years don't you think that he has to agree with some of this? I don't know many people who would sit in a church every week for 15 years while disagreeing so deeply with the pastor and leader of the church. I don't buy it.

I'm sick and tired of the hoopla over him. I wasn't around during the 60's and 70's but the movement around him makes me think of what it was like back then. All the young hippy idiots who rallied around the anti-war movement and other causes. It was more than anything because they wanted to be apart of something. This is what is happening with Barack. Please don't rally around a cause or someone unless you know the facts. Know where they stand politically.

I don't want everyone to think like me, okay, I do, who am I kidding. Seriously, but give it deep thought. For those of you who think he'll be a great leader give it time. Before long he'll have things so screwed up and on such a path that will be hard to recover from. If you aren't voting for McCain then vote for Hillary. Please. We know what's in store with her. And of course Bill too. He'll be in the White House playing with cigars again (bad bad bad for me to say, I know).

I am terrified of what our kids have to look forward to. I am scared that one day this country will be in such a bigger mess that our kids won't be able to fix it.

We don't want universal healthcare. It's also bullshit when they give the number of people who don't have healthcare. You know it's not because all of them can't get it. It's because they refuse to. Almost every single one of Lee's employees declined the insurance from his company. It's because they refuse to pay the $150 premiums a month. They'd rather go to the ER each time because they know the ER has to see them. Most people can have healthcare. They just choose not to.

The welfare system sucks too. I think I touched on this before but I'll say it again. I was 20 years old and made a little under 20k when I had Mackenzie. I declined a raise so I wouldn't earn more than 20k just so I could qualify for WIC. I was not eligible for any other assistance. I went in to the WIC office and I was the only white person. I was also one of the few that only had 1 kid. I may have been the only one in there that didn't play the system. The ladies had 3 or 4 kids. Their kids decked out in matching Polo or Tommy. They had the latest and most expensive strollers. They rolled in their pimped out cars. They played the system and they play it well.

You know who is also getting played? Us. Do you know who pays for that? We do. The hard working tax payers of the United States of America. It is damn sure not my responsibility to take care of those who just refuse to work. Who would rather live in the projects, collect checks, food stamps and sell drugs for extra money. (I know all don't sell drugs) I am sick of those who really need the help not bein able to get it. I am disgusted that I went to get child care assistance and I was refused but this chick w/ 3 kids w/ 3 different baby daddies who worked at Burger King got it. She only worked part time. Who was going somewhere? Me, who worked at a mortgage company and had proved to work really hard and make something of myself or this girl who collected welfare, got free childcare and worked part time flipping burgers.

The system is broken. Does electing a Republican fix it? No. But does electing one who believes in bigger government, abortion and welfare going to fix it? HELL NO!

Wake up America. Our time is before us. This isn't about the war in Iraq or the sins of our past Presidents or the blunders our leader is making now. This is about our future. The future of my kids, your kids, your grandchildren. Stand up for us. It can all be taken away in a short time. We must protect our country.

Whew... I feel much better getting this all out of me. I mean every word. Before you vote think about the impact of your one vote can have on us all.

Rain Rain Go Away...

Today I had the day off. I had these wonderful plans to go to the beach and just read a book. Something I have not done in the 5 years that we have lived by the beach. I had dreams of relaxing and getting some sun. The dreams were so nice. But of course as my luck would have it it rained all day. Pooey! I was really looking forward to just relaxing. Besides that Lee forgot to set the alarm and we didn't wake up until 7:30. Lee hurried off to take Mackenzie to school. Jackson and I laid around for a bit before I took him to Candy's at 10.

I ran by the office and then bought a few clothes. I have deperately needed some new shirts. I got some really cute shirts and at really cheap prices and they are good quality. I have to say I was quite happy. I hate shopping and usually it just depresses me. And then most of the time I don't find anything I like. All and all I was very pleased with my shoppin today.

I ran by Barnes 'n Nobles to get a few magazines and the unauthorized autobiography of Tom Cruise. It has a lot of interesting information about him and Scientology. I look forward to reading it and seeing what more craziness this nut job has done or believes. I took my happy little self to Olive Garden and had a nice and quiet lunch, well almost quiet. These ladies were beside me w/ their 2 kids. Wow, those kids acted up the entire time. Throwing crayons at the adults and just misbehaving. All I really wanted was a nice lunch by myself. Ultimately I am happy because it wasn't MY kids misbehaving. :-)

So here I am at home now. I've got a mild headache. I cleaned up a little bit and did some laundry. I am cooking dinner now too. I am very tired and am ready to go to sleep but with it only being 5:20 I don't think it's in the cards for me at this time. Man, with the overcast skies and the rain sleep sure does sound nice. I've got the fans going in my room and the oscelating fan blowing on me too. Perfect conditions for a long winters nap.

Disgusted

For those of you who read this (is there really anyone even reading this? probably not, but I digress) I am sure you have heard about Eliot Spitzer, the oh so wonderful Govenor of New York and the perdicament he put himself in. First of all I think anyone who solicits sex from a prostitute is dispicable. Seriously, (and I am not advocating this at all) just about anyone can go out and find someone to have sex with you and it's FREE! Oh yeah, this scumbag had to conceal his misdeeds so I guess by having sex with someone who would be in major legal trouble if one found out that his secret was safe with them.

This is a man who was a prosecutor whose mission was to clean up the place. He himself went after prostitution rings among many other people. He was successful and put a lot of bad people behind bars. Now this same embicile who is so arrogant he thought he wouldn't ever get caught has. What makes it even sweeter is that he was caught on wire taps arranging the "get together" and payment. I hope he is so ashamed of himself and embarrassed that he will literally get sick every time he leaves his house.

The sad thing in all of this is his family. His wife is a very attractive and upon first glance she looks like she's a very classy lady. He has three teenage daughters who have to endure going to school while everyone knows what their dad did. They know that their father not only had sex with someone only a few years older than them BUT that he PAID for it. I feel badly for them. I also hope that she files for divorce and takes him to the cleaners. He not only has humiliated her but also put her at risks for disease. He is just nasty.

That being said let me touch upon the ever so wonderful Bill Clinton. I was in my car listening to Fox News and a view wrote in and made the comment that if Bill Clinton, who was in the highest position in the country and was to beyond reproach, was not punished in any way then why should just a lowly govenor be punished. Now mind you this was said with disgust. I agree completely. If it's okay for the president to use the Oval freaking Office for sex games with cigars and leave stains on dresses then what's the big deal with the govenor paying a prostitute? Hey, at least she got paid for having sex with a disgusting democrat. What did Monica get? Nothing and ultimately she didn't even get to keep the infamous dress with the stain.

I am aboslutly disgusted by the lack of ethics and dignity and plain 'ol common sense by those in positions of power. We have one guy who feels the need to pay prostitutes for sex and a president who couldn't get it in his pants for 8 years. That's not a lot to ask is it? I mean he didn't have to go without sex for 8 years, but he had to just have it with his wife. Not too much to ask. Oh... maybe Hillary was off with a lady friend *wink wink* during that time.

Springing Forward

I am so glad that the time changed this weekend. I don't mind losing an hour of sleep at all if it means it gets darker later. The time during the "fall back" period is just, well, depressing. You don't see kids playing in the late afternoon, neighbors talking, etc. I miss it. I've only seend Landis 2 times since the time changed. Anna, my neighbor to the right I've seen more but not that much more. Jackson does miss playing with Witt and it's hard playing when there is only 15 mins of light when we get home.

I'm looking forward to spending the summer on our boat too. I bought a new swimsuit while we were in Orlando. I can't wait to get a tan again. Hanging out at Crab Island and maybe even attending Billy Bowlegs with our own boat. Now that would be fun!

On another note things are looking like Orlando is a real possibility. I don't know if it's something I'm going to end up wanting to go through with but it's not out of the question. It's scary to think of starting in a new place and making new friends but at the same time it's kind of fun. I just want to do what's best for our family. I honestly can't imagine leaving this area but part of me is drawn to leave. That being said is the only way I will contemplate moving is if he is offered the GM position. Now we'll just wait and see!

Possibly Making Changes

The past few days Lee and I have talked about moving. I have actually thought about it over the past year or so, maybe longer. I've just flirted with the idea of starting over in a new place. I LOVE where we live but part of me misses living in a bigger city. Yes, we have most of the restaurants (if not more) of big cities, great shopping, beaches, etc. but some thing is missing. I think it's a bunch of things that make me feel this way. The real estate business isn't doing that great here and I'd love to be in a bigger city to have more opportunities for work. Lee could run his own restaurant and if he wanted to do something different he would have more opportunities as well.

So the way things have been going lately we started talking. I was relieved that he brought it up and not me. I know how much he loves it here. I do too, but things have been changing. Our neighborhood isn't what it was. We've got 10 homes out of 50 that are in Foreclosure and Mackenzie's friends are moving because of it. It's all just so depressing. I want to be somewhere that has opportunities and possibilities.

So next week Eduardo and Lee are sitting down together to see what they can do to get him ready for the GM position. I don't know if anything will come of it but I can always wish.

Our trip to Orlando I think made him want a bigger city. Or perhaps it was the talks with the restaurant managers at Disney World. So we talked about moving to Orlando. I have to say I think it's a great idea. A big city, lots of suburbs to live in, tons of job opportunities, etc. Well it just so happens that his restaurant, Cantina Laredo, is opening a new restaurant in Orlando in August. I told him I'd be all for it if he wants to see if he can get the GM position. He actually asked Eduardo about it (his current GM) and Eduardo said all he needs to do to be GM w/ the company is get some Kitchen Manager experience under his belt. Lee hates the kitchen. He is more of a front of the house person. He does wonderfully with the guests,

Disney World

We decided on a whim to go to Disney World last week. At first I was hesitant because I had a closing and didn't want to miss it. Then if I stayed for the closing and then we went we wouldn't have enough time there before Lee went back to work. He ended up being off from Tuesday the 19th and returned to work Thursday the 28th. It was perfect. We left for Disney World Thursday night around 7pm. We got to Orlando 2am. We checked into a hotel for the night.



The next morning we headed over to our hotel on Disney property. We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside hotel. We got there about 9am and thankfully they had a room ready for us. We got settled in and then grabbed a bite to eat at our hotel food court. We had a perfect package. We had added the meal plan to our package so 3 meals a day were included. It was great. We ended up really getting our monies worth by eating at some really nice restaurants.

The first day we went to the Magic Kingdom. One of the first things we did was go on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Jackson loved it! He thought it was so much fun and when we left the ride there was a show outside with Jack Sparrow! Now Jackson thought that was really cool! We spent all day at the Magic Kingdom and pretty much covered only 1/4 of the park. We left there and then hopped back on the bus to our hotel. We drove to dinner at the Wilderness Lodge. It was a lot of fun.

The restaurant is called Whispering Pines but it is anything but quiet! The servers are loud and it's like you're home on the range. They yell at you to come to the table for dinner and if you don't eat all of your food they will make you eat it. One server went to her table and told everyone that this lady didn't eat her food. She had everyone put their hands out and make airplane sounds. She took a fork w/ the food and zoomed it in her mouth. It was real cute. They had servers running around with the kids and chasing them. At one point they had a horse race with the wooden horses. It was a lot of fun. We got to talking with our server about the area and the business. His dad had been with Disney for 27 years and he told us a lot of their secrets and inside tips. I have to say that they paid off.

We were exhausted when we got back to the hotel. We all passed out fairly soon after getting there. Friday morning we had breakfast at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom. We ate with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eyore. We all enjoyed it. I think Lee might have enjoyed it more than the rest of us. At one point he was singing the Winnie the Pooh song to Tigger and made me film it. Very interesting to say the least. We all had a great time and headed over to Epcot.

I have to say at first I wasn't too impressed with Epcot. Later on my impression changed. We went to the Living Seas area first. We rode the Finding Nemo ride and then explored the different areas inside the exhibit. They had a shark area with Bruce (the shark from finding Nemo) and you could sit inside of his large mouth to take a picture. You'd think Jackson would be all for it but nope. He didn't want his picture made. Not even with the hammerhead and he loves hammerhead sharks.

We then went to the Talk with Crush (he's the totally surfer dude talking Turtle from Finding Nemo). It was an interactive show and really neat. He was animated on the screen but he was really talking to us. He took questions from the kids. The humor was also geared towards the adults and really funny. Jackson kept telling me to stop laughing during it. After that we headed over to the half of the park that had the different countries. We were eating in Japan for lunch. It was pouring down rain at this time so Lee bought us all ponchos.

We finally made it to lunch. It was hibachi but not like we're use to. They didn't do fried rice only white rice. The food was okay but not like back at home. We did not stick around the different countries. I have to say that part of Epcot was quite boring to me. It is definitely not geared towards kids. Mackenzie and I went on this really neat ride that you rode in a car. It was suppose to be a crash test car. It was really fun and Mackenzie loved it. She didn't even mind going 65mph on it. Oh... we did the flight simulator for Mission Space. Now that was really cool. Lee and I swapped out and he went on it while I waited with Jackson.

Then we headed back to the Living Seas for dinner. It was really neat. The restaurant was next to the aquarium and one entire wall that all the tables were facing was nothing but the aquarium. There were 5 sharks in the tank, a huge... no, massive turtle and these ginormous grouper. We had a blast watching the fish and sharks swim by. If you were a certified scuba diver you could dive and swim in the tank. A group of scuba divers went down while we were there. It was such a neat dining experience. I'd love to go back again to eat there. The filet wasn't half shabby either.

I have to admit I was exhausted at the end of the day. My feet were tired and I was ready to go back to the hotel room. We got back and settled around 8pm. The kids and I laid in bed and Lee was restless. He went to the hot tub while we stayed in the room. Mackenzie and I laughed and giggled while Jackson passed out. Lee finally came back and said he couldn't ever get in the hot tub b/c of all of the teenage girls hanging around there. For some reason Mackenzie and I thought it was hilarious.

On Sunday we went to MGM Studios. We missed our character breakfast, yes, we didn't wake up with our wake up call. We headed over to MGM. It was different from what I remembered as a kid. We did the Stars Tours which was a flight simulator for Star Wars. Mackenzie really enjoyed that and so did Lee. When we got out Darth Vader and Obi One were doing a show. I got some really great photos of Darth Vader. He looked really cool. Those are still some of my favorite movies. I remember watching them as a little kid with my dad. We then headed over to the 50's drive in diner for lunch. We ate lunch in a Chevy car and watch the big screen. The kids really enjoyed it. The only downside were the older stuffy British couple who were in the back row of our car. They were not a lot of fun and had NO sense of humor. If they didn't like kids then they shouldn't have come to Disney World.

After lunch we headed over to see the High School Musical 2 performance. While Mackenzie and I were at that Lee was getting us Fast Passes for the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith Rockin' Ride. Mackenzie was so disappointed with the HSM show. I guess she expected the original cast to be there and the song to be just alike. She didn't like the versions of the songs so we quickly left. We waited outside the exit for Lee to head back. He came and Jackson was asleep. Mackenzie and I headed over to the Aerosmith roller coaster ride. Wow! It was such a neat ride. First I have to say that the Disney World rides/coasters, etc. are not like Six Flags. There is some sort of story/background for each of them. It makes them really neat. This one had a great background story to it before we got on the actual ride. The coaster went upside down a couple of times and was pretty intense. Mackenzie did not like it. Her stomach hurt her afterwards. I understand because mine was in knots too and I can usually do fine on the rides.

We headed over to the Tower of Terror. We were told by people in line at the other ride that the ToT is not so bad. It's the first part that they try to scare you with and it's more the build up and the rest is nothing. Wrong! First of all there are about 20 people sitting down in 4 rows with an aisle in between. At the end you are put in an "elevator shaft" and parts of it is open and people outside can see you. You drop down 6 or 7 flights and then it goes back up and drops you again. This repeated 4 times. Mackenzie is clinging to my arm and crying. In between going down and up these stupid foreign guy next to us starts taunting her. I was so furious with him. If I wasn't strapped down I would've decked him. But thankfully we were strapped down because each time we went down it literally lifted us from our seats. Mackenzie did not like the ride at all. She cried after it was over. I won't make her go on it again.

After that we left the park. We headed to our hotel to get ready. For dinner we were eating at the Wilderness Resort and seeing the Hoopdee Doooo Revue. It was a fun and neat show. They had fried chicken, ribs, beans, potatoes, etc. It was a neat thing to go to and experience. Afterwards we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. It was open late for resort guests. Mackenzie and Lee did the Lilo and Stitch show. Then we all went to the Monsters, Inc. stand up comedy show. It was an animated and interactive show. It was seriously funny!!! We all loved it.

Oh... then we went on the Tea Cups again. I think we went on them a total of 3 times. Lee doesn't like those rides but he went on them with us. Jackson would just sit back and get all dizzy. It was great. Jackson's favorite part that night was the Indy Car races. It was just a car ride on a track. He got to drive since we were on rails. Mackenzie was ahead of us driving. It was quite cute and he had a blast. I have to say he was a better driver than Mackenzie that night. I went on Space Mountain. Mackenzie chickened out at the last minute. Just me all by myself. After that we left and went back to the hotel room. It was around 10:30 or so. We got on our bus and let me just say it was the most awful bus ride I've ever been on. The driver was going so fast and swerving like a maniac. It was not cool at all. People were freaking out with every turn. Several times during the ride those around us tried to catch Lee since he was holding Jackson. It was not a fun ride.

When we got back to the hotel I went to the lobby and complained to the manager. I had gotten the bus number and the time of the ride. Several of us talked about his driving especially after more people had cleared the bus. It was scary and Jackson was freaking out. He kept saying he never wanted to ride the scary bus again. Not good for the 3 year old to be scared. I talked to one of the supervisors in the transportation department. He said that they would look into and since I was gave them a bus number and the time they could track it down.

Monday morning we got up and tried to eat breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. We were given the wrong time on our itinerary and it was too late. Thankfully the manager was really nice and arranged for the characters to come over and greet us. We were able to take pictures with all of them. It was really fun. I especially liked Mickey in his Hawaiian shirt.

I think we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. Yup, we did. We went to the Hall of the Presidents which I remember going to as a kid. Lee especially loved that. We then went to the Haunted Mansion. Very cute and Mackenzie ended up liking it. She was begging us before we got on the ride to not go. She thought it would be too scary. But of course she thought it was great. Jackson liked it too. We went on The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which Mackenzie enjoyed. It was a little jerky but we still had fun. We then went on Splash Mountain. Lee and Jackson sat out on that one too. Mackenzie loved it even though we were soaking wet.

We then headed over to eat lunch at the Crystal Palace. We got to eat with Winnie the Pooh and the gang again. We all had our pictures made once again. After we ate we left to go back to the hotel room. We had a late dinner at 9:30 at the California Grille on the top floor of the Contemporary Hotel. We were going to go back to the room and go to the pool. However, it started raining and storming really bad. We hung out in the room and then got ready for dinner. We took the bus to the tram to the hotel. We went to the top floor and the view was spectacular!

It was a very very nice restaurant. The meals were easily $100 a pop. All of my fears about it not being kid friendly were quickly dismissed when we saw lots of kids around. The even brought out Disney coloring pages for the kids. Some of the food was a little too upscale for me. I'm a plain Jane kind of girl when it comes to food. Lee at my appetizer for me. Well some of it. The kids Mac 'n Cheese came out first though. Oh my gosh! It was amazing! They made it with just milk and cheese. It was so good. Mackenzie fell asleep with her head down on the table. Jackson fell asleep right after we got our steaks. We both had the filet with a terriayki bbq sauce with pearl onions and mushrooms. Now that was fantastic! Jackson went to sleep in my arms while i finished eating.

Before they went to sleep we went outside to the observation deck to see everything. Now from the restaurant you could see over the park. It was gorgeous. Cinderella's castle was all lit up. The rides were still lit up too. You could see it all. It was a great place to dine. The dessert was of course fabulous too. Lee and I both ate it up. I have to say that meal was probably my favorite. We didn't get out of there until almost 11pm. We decided to take a cab to the hotel b/c I did not feel like walking from the tram to the bus then from the bus to our room. Jackson stayed asleep the whole was home. He even stayed asleep when I put him in the bed. He was definitely a tired little monkey.

Our last day there we went to the Animal Kingdom. We first ate lunch though at the Rainforest Cafe. I ate at the one in Dallas when I visited Bobbie. I ate there with her, Eileen and Tabitha. We had a great time there and I remember wishing the kids could be with me. I was so excited when we went there. Lee kept asking me what was so great about it and I told him just to wait and see. They all had a blast there. The monkey's came to life and the elephants too. The food wasn't too shabby either.

After that we went through the Animal Kingdom. We went on a walking tour and saw the Hippos, Gorillas and something else but I forget. We went on a safari ride and saw Elephants, Hippos, Rhinos, Alligators, Zebras, Giraffes, Lions, etc. That was really really neat. I loved looking at all of the animals. I only wished that the driver stopped for longer at each point. She never really stopped just slowed down slightly. I can appreciate that though when it came to the lions b/c they were not caged in. Just up on the landing area. Yeah, I guess they could've gotten us if they wanted to.

We all rode the big raft through the "river". We got soaking wet. Jackson was the only one who didn't like it. He did not like getting wet. He wanted to change his clothes. He complained the rest of the time about being wet. Mackenzie and I went on the Expedition Everest. Really cool roller coaster. It all had to do with the Yeti. At one point the road was closed on the mountain so we all ended up zooming backwards until we hit another track. Really fun ride and Mackenzie actually enjoyed it!

We left the park and went back to the hotel to get ready for our last meal. We went to 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian. We had dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, the evil Step-Mother and 2 Step-sisters. The food was okay but seeing the characters was great. Jackson was too shy to have his picture taken with Cinderella and Mackenzie was soooo embarrassed by Prince Charming. She wouldn't take her picture with him. That's okay though.

We got up Wednesday morning to head home and it was coooold! The warm and humid weather had left us. Lucky for us we were heading home. Before we left Orlando we ate at Bahama Breeze. The food was okay, not great, but okay. I was so ready to get home. We got home around 7:30 at night. I was ready to pass out. I was putting up laundry and unpacking suitcases when we got home. I'm still not fully caught up on my sleep. I wish I could go back to sleep for a bit longer. I actually have a terrible headache this morning. While I am typing this Lee and Jackson are in the den playing. It's an opportunity for me to rest. Instead I'm typing this.

So we had a great time. We're already planning our next trip there. I had a blast and cannot wait to go back. Neither can the kids!