21 years ago today… My son was born!

On February 14, 1987 I found out that I was pregnant. I had just turned 21 the previous December and I was unmarried. Yes, my friends, I was an unwed mother…. GASP!! My sons father was a ranch hand and appeared to be interested in having a family so we stayed together through the pregnancy. The day my son was born, I was so very happy! I was scared outta my wits but he was so beautiful! And I knew my family would be there for us no matter what.

If you’re old enough, you may remember little Jessica McClure.. She was the toddler who fell into the well in her backyard. Well she was saved just a few minutes after my son was born, October 16, 1987. I know this because the doctors and nurses and all the other people in the delivery room were watching it on TV while I was in labor, suffering! LOL!

Levi was a beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed boy! I wanted a boy so very bad.. Girls are just nothing but trouble!  We lived in Junction City, OR and my parents moved to Seattle when Levi was 2 weeks old. I will never forget that day. I think I cried the hardest that I have ever cried in my life when my mom and dad pulled out of the driveway and left. I felt so alone. I wasn’t alone, I had my friends and of course Levi, but I still felt alone. I was determined to be a good mom! I went back to work when Levi was 30 days old. I worked weekends at the local Dari Mart (JC’s equivalent to 7-11). After a few months, it was obvious that Levi’s father and I would not work out so I made the decision to move to the Seattle area to be near my mom and dad. On April 1, 1988 we packed up the U-Haul and drove away. I remember riding in the U-Haul with my dad and I remember tears streaming down my face as we left the city limits. I knew, from that moment on, it was just Levi and me. I would need to do the very best that I can to provide a good life for him, teach him the best way I knew how.. The way my mom and dad taught me.

It’s now 21 years later and my boy is a man. And a good-looking one I might add! Thanks to my family who were there for us every step of the way, he grew up tall and strong and is such a great human! He has the “family” sense of humor! Which is good because we LOVE TO LAUGH! He recently landed a fantastic job which has the potential of travel all over the world, once he gets through training in Tulsa, OK. He’s not a fan of OK! But can’t wait to travel to Spain!

I know I could not have raised such an awesome kid without my family. And for that, I thank you all.. Mom and Dad.. the unconditional love and of course the gazillions of dollars you’ve spent on him/us, making sure he/we had all the things PLUS some that a growing child needs. The vacations to Disneyland.. oh wait.. you didn’t take me! RUDE! Really, thanks to you Levi knows how to travel. Which is good since his job will take him to all kinds of unknown places! And thanks for believing in me, we raised a good boy!!!

Just Another Bloggity, Blog!

This is very interesting article I just read on CNN and I thought I'd share..

Oh and this is a great T-shirt!

MEAN PEOPLE SUCK!

Recently I had an encounter with an extremely MEAN person. It wasn't pleasant at all and the wheels are in motion now to have it explained to him how rude, insensitive and just plain MEAN he was! I found this article and thought that I would share...
Why are People Mean?

Hiking and the Scandihoovian…

First let me preface the story with the fact that last Tuesday morning around 0400 I tripped on a flip flop walking from the bathroom back to bed and broke my little toe on my left foot…OUCH!

Sunday I decided it would be fun to go to Clark Creek Park in Puyallup to explore the trails. This park is HUGE! It's densely forested and has a multitude of trails to walk and bike on. The weather was drizzly but not cold. Which was nice because by the time the walk/hike/mudding was over, I had my coat around my waist and I was loving the rain falling on my face.

Around 1400, Chris, PugZee and I headed off to find the park and check it out. The first part of the hike was fine, it was a nice wide paved trail. It wound around through an open area with a playground and off leash dog park. Then it turned up into the forest. We walked along taking in the cool air and all the sounds of the forest. We came to a Y and Chris asked me, “Which way?” If we went right, it appeared to go straight up and if we went left, if appeared it would be a bit more flat. So I chose to go left.

As we walked along, the trail began to get smaller and muddier at times. There were quite a few hills and the trail was slippery, but being under the canopy of trees, it was quite tranquil. It was rainy, but you really couldn’t tell since the trees acted as a great cover for us. We came to another Y and Chris could hear a “waterfall” to the left so we decided to follow the sound of the water. This trail was not as used as the other ones we were on and it soon came to a big mud hole! There was a small tree down over the mud and Chris was able to walk across it, PugZee decided to go straight through the mud and was covered by the time he got to the other side! I on the other hand, really didn’t want to try to cross the fallen tree because my sense of balance is not so good and I envisioned me looking like PugZee when it was all done!

Chris went ahead with the dog to scout out whether or not I should even try to get across. All of a sudden, I heard him laughing and calling PugZee. I couldn’t see them so I had no idea what was going on. When he came back, PugZee was soaked! He had found a pond and didn’t realize that there was water on the other side of a concrete barrier and PugZee just jumped in! This was a good thing though, since it cleaned all the mud off of him. Chris also found several smaller branches and placed them across the mud and helped me inch my way across.

Next up, we found the “waterfall”. It was a culvert. The pond PugZee had jumped into was feeding the creek through the culvert. We were able to get across the slippery rocks on up to the gravel road on the other side. We were walking along and I heard a splashing sound coming from the creek below. I couldn’t figure out what it was so I found a trail and investigated it. When I reached the creek, I saw about 15 salmon! They were swimming up stream to spawn! They were big too! After watching for a while and taking a few pictures, we began walking the gravel road again. This led us to the Fish Hatchery. We were pretty sure we weren’t supposed to be there so we found another trail that led us back to the original trail we were on and we actually found our way out. This was a 2 ½ hour hike, not too bad on a broken toe!

What I have learned from this is that I need a good pair of hiking boots and we should take water, and maybe something to nibble on while we are out there. Hiking on an empty stomach is not a good idea. Here are some pictures from our hike…. Enjoy!

Foxy Fantasy Females! WOOT!

Short story.. I was invited to join an all female fantasy football league and since I know ZIP about football, I thought it would be fun! So far, so good.. Its been exciting and frustrating all at the same time. I am learning, VERY SLOWLY, about the game and I realized that it's not all about the TIGHT ENDS! LOL! Anyway, here is a clip from Inside NFL on Showtime. These are my team mates! Might I say that they fit the name FOXY! Thanks Jenn for making this happen!

Mall Shopping…… I hate it!

I have always said, “I hate shopping!” And it’s true… I’d rather poke 2 hot sticks in my eyes! So yesterday, I decided I needed to go to the Mall.. Why, I don’t know, I guess I convinced myself I “needed” pants and shoes. I’m flying to Medford in two weeks to go to a Moose function with my sista and my parents. It’s a big deal for my mom and she asked if Deborah and I could be there. So of course we will.

Mom told me this weekend that there will be 3 “doings” that I will need “outfits” for. Now understand, I only wear Jeans.. I have one pair of black pants.. My “Just in Case” pants. Just in case I need to look half way dressed up. Well there is a meeting, a banquet and another meeting.. And mom said that I shouldn't wear jeans to the meetings, it’s frowned upon… And I can’t wear the same black pants to all three events so off to the mall I go…… UGH!

I started at one store, outside of the mall and found nothing. So I parked and headed inside….. It was crowed and of course the stores I wanted to go to were at opposite ends of the mall. So I started on one end and made my way through the crowds to each of the stores I had on my list.

The mall nowadays is nothing like the old school malls.. You know the ones that had everything neatly tucked inside little cubbies on either side the of narrow walkway. Oh no, they now have XTRA wide walkways and what they call “Kiosks” all down the center of said walkway. The Kiosks are comprised of one of the following…. cell phones, sunglasses, cell phone cases, earring pagodas and Swisa Beauty Products!

These people who work in these kiosks must be paid on commission because they are very aggressive and they all have the same approach. Here I am, minding my own business, making my way down the walkway and I hear every few steps, “Hello there, can I ask you a question?” Here’s the trick… NEVER MAKE EYE CONTACT! Never look directly at them and walk really fast! That worked for me for the first few Kiosks, then I was distracted by a shinny thing…..

Yep, I was suckered in by a tall, brown haired, brown eyed Russian or Ukrainian beauty.. She was gorgeous and I was mesmerized by her eyes. She worked in the Swisa Beauty kiosks and she proceeded to explain to me why I should use the products. She used Sea Salt (from the Dead Sea) on my hands. My hands were so soft when she was done! Then she started in talking about the Face Peel. She took some of the concoction and spread in on my wrist.. she talked about how this should only be done once a week, you put it on, wait, then rub in small circles and it will exfoliate your skin. When she was done, she showed me how the pours on my left wrist were much cleaner than my right wrist.

In the next breath, we were standing next to the cash register and she was ringing me up! I couldn't believe it! Do you know how much she wanted to charge me for a 1.1 oz jar of face peel? $65!!!! Can you believe that! She did say it would last a year though, but still.. I said no. $65 was just way to much money to pay for face peel! Well she ended up giving me her “employee” discount and I promised to come back and bring a friend… yeah, as if I’m ever stepping foot in there again! She was cute but I can’t afford her! LOL!

I tried the face peel last night and I did enjoy the experience.. If it really lasts 365 days, it may be worth it, I will let you know...

Post Script:
I never did find any pants or shoes during my outting to the mall... guess it's back to internet shopping for me

Why didn’t she just say no…..

I’m not talking about Bristol Palin, I’m talking about her mom. Why didn’t she say, Thanks but no thanks to McCain? I just don’t understand. She promotes “family values” yet by accepting this, she has put her KIDS in the line of fire. Not just her and her husband, but her KIDS! I don’t have all the answers but I know if it were me and my 17 year old daughter was pregnant, I wouldn’t want to throw her to the wolves ie: THE PRESS!! I am Pro-Choice.. Bristol made her choice and I’m OK with that. I’m thankful that she had a choice. What I’m not ok with is knowing that her decision to keep the baby is now front page news all over the world. She’s 17!!! I’m not saying that they should keep her locked away either but come on… this is a bit ridiculous. I thought, we as mothers, were supposed to protect our kids as much as we can and I know they can’t be protected forever. But there has to be a point where your kids need to come first! Sarah Palin could have said, “You know what…. My family is the most important thing to me and I don’t think this is the right time. My kids need me and I need to be there for them.”
Here’s a new column in The Stranger… it proves my point….

The Stranger