Second time in 20 years.

I have a second interview today at 12:30.

I am trying real hard not to get excited, because frankly I don't think I will fit into this office environment at all. I will have to run out and purchase a Bluetooth headset and try to act like I am technologically advanced.

I have gone from feeling like I can actually get this job to feeling like this is where they bring me in and tell me how much they appreciate me applying for the job. I know the second sounds pretty silly to most but..... there is a good reason why I believe that.

I didn't think I did that well at the interview, and still don't. I did much better talking with her on the phone the second time she called, however. Today will be the real test.

Please say a few prayers for me and we will see how this goes.

Jason, Ellie, Geta, and Ethan

On September 24, 2009 - Jason, Geta, and Ethan  welcomed Ellie Elisabeta  into their world/family.

I am in awe of this little girl and I have not had the chance to meet her or her brother Ethan.

Ellie is the most alert newborn I have ever seen. She has the biggest blue eyes (I didn't have the heart to tell Jason that all newborns have blue eyes). Jason posted several photos on facebook but these are my favorite.

I love the way Jason is total consumed with her and Ellie with him. I don't see this side of Jason often (if ever) and it ......... made me speechless........


This photo really shows off Ellie's beautiful doll like face. Her eyes are so amazing.

Congratulations Jason and family. I will not pass up on a chance to meet your family a second (or is it third) time.

It's beginning to look a lot like

Christmas.........

The Hubby and I have been listening to Christmas music for the past couple of days. I love it! It has also put me in the mood to shop. That is very rare for me because I dislike shopping.

I have several holiday gifts in mind for both CAL and The Hubby. I hope that I can remember everything when it comes time to actually purchase them. Maybe I should make a list. Then again I will probably lose the list or CAL will find it.

Just in case anyone wants to know what I want....... One of those single coffee cup machines. It is extravagant, and I really don't NEED it but....... I want, I want......

Way off

The other day I was looking for information regarding my "attacks" when I saw: click here to learn more about salicylic acid. I was pretty sure that salicylic acid sounded like it might be my problem. I mean acid is usually associate with the stomach.

Wow was I way off. Salicylic acid has nothing to do with digestive problems, but if you have teenagers who use acne treatments you will want to learn as much as you can about Salicylic Acid. This ingredient has some very disturbing side effects such as stinging, burning, peeling of the skin, scaling, swelling of the face, and many more. They don't sound like solutions to acne. It sounds like the cure is worse than the original problem.

Salicylic Acid is used in some very popular brand name products, and we as parents, need to be aware of these ingredients that might be doing more harm than good.

What happened to me?

Do you have one person from your past that you attribute to shaping the person that you are today?

I have that person and she was a teacher from high school. I won't give any names but she made a huge difference in my life.

I reconnected with this person on Facebook yesterday. Her comment to me was: Thanks for the birthday wish... nice to hear from you, but i will say you rather scare me with the Obama comments... what happened to you????????????

This comment has really bothered me today. I was just chatting with WB and she said "you and i both know there is something wrong with them!", but I must confess I am really upset about the comment.

Maybe it is just because I am really stressed with the job interview and everything but honestly I am very upset.

Flossing made easy?

I don't know about you but flossing is a necessary task that I absolutely dislike. It is not easy trying to fit my fingers into my mouth, and inevitably I will end up drawing blood. My teeth are very tight together and the floss gets stuck very easily, and ends up breaking when I try to pull it out. Bottom line is flossing is yucky for me.

The other day I noticed Fun Flossers. They are made by Dantek and designed for kid floss, but I thought I would give them a shot. My teeth are very important to me and I need to become more diligent with my flossing.

The little gizmo that you use is pretty cute. It is angled to reach all the teeth. I found that it was not large enough to work well for me but Cal really seemed to enjoy using them.




As he stated in the video, he found the Fun Flossers very easy to use and they didn't even hurt his fingers. He also enjoyed the fruit flavor.

First time in 20 years.

I have a job interview tomorrow. This will be the first time in 20 years. I don't really have much confidence but....... who knows. I do know that I typed up a pretty darn good resume.

The lady called the other day and I probably blew the job on the phone. She called and asked for me. When the hubby said who was on the phone I thought it was someone else so I did not answer the phone in the most professional manner.

Then to make matters worse I became a worm. I answered her questions with one word answers and sounded like a real idiot.

Invasion

The teenagers are back. Thank goodness that this time they are different than before. There were six teenagers here and most of them were in desperate need of acne treatment.

Fortunately, this past weekend we were able to have a kickball game with several of the church kids that live in our neighborhood. Cal has been trying to talk these kids into games for several weeks but they didn't appear to be that interested.

Finally on Saturday he was able to get everyone together. They had a blast and immediately started planning the next game. At first they wanted it to be an every Saturday event and then it quickly became "tomorrow".

We were not able to play on Sunday (like they wanted) so they planned a game for Wednesday. I hope the weather holds out for them. They are good kids and it was so refreshing to hear the banter back and forth, it was not nasty hurtful talk but encouragement.

It is nice to have a bunch of teenagers around again. It is even better that they are nice kids with good manners.

Profitable

The past few days I have really cashed in on the points/rewards.

Yesterday another $25.00 gift card arrived in the mail from Mypoints.com. If you are not a member of my points you have no idea what you are missing. It is a great program. You just read emails (open them) and collect points. If you do any online shopping it pays even better. Some of my favorite stores offer 2 to 4 points per dollar. That really adds up.

We will be visiting Olive Garden in the near future. I almost chose a card to Applebees but Olive Garden won out, again. I have a friend that just earned a $50.00 gift card to Wal-Mart. I don't have the willpower to save my points for that long. As soon as I reach the 3,500 points I cash those babies it.

Also arriving in the mail was a $5.00 subway card from mycokerewards. You collect these points every time you purchase Coke products. We had about 1,000 saved up and could never find anything we wanted to spend them on. Then I noticed that Subway was offering gift cards. After I received the gift card, and used it, I could re-load it with $10.00 using more points. As luck would have it this week Subway is now offering $10.00 gift cards (one per member) so I was able to pick up another card. I was surprised it allowed me to because I had already purchased the $5.00 card but........ lucky me.

If you are interested in becoming a mypoints member let me know and I will refer you that way we will both earn extra points.

Everybody but me!

It seems that everyone is losing weight in this house except me. Maybe I should try a little harder, like not having multiple desserts after dinner.

CAL is looking great and has lost a lot of his belly fat. He is pretty excited about soccer and continues to work harder at it than Hubby and I thought he would.

The Hubby lost 10 pounds when I was in NY. I think it was because he had to cook for himself and made only one meal a day.

I would love to be able to survive on one meal a day but whenever I try it gives me one of my "attacks" and honestly it is just not worth it. Those attacks are so painful, each and every time I have one I promise myself that the next time I will go to the hospital.

Conversation with CAL

CAL is so happy with his new school. He is like a different kid.

Yesterday we were talking about differences between the new school and the old. I said give me a difference.

He said "You know Josh". Now Josh is a child from the old school who has some severe behavior problems. He will shout out during class and is a MAJOR disruption.

I told him of course I know Josh and his problems. He said "Well we have a student (Mike) that is not as bad as Josh but he is like that. Well in the old school Josh would yell out in class or be disruptive and then he would get special privileges, like going for a walk, or to the library, or any one of many things that were special. All he had to do was act up and he got to do almost anything he wanted. The teacher spent most of her time making sure that he didn't have an episode. That does not happen with Mike. The teacher doesn't put up with his nonsense and he gets in trouble for being disruptive, not rewarded."

When are teachers and administration going to learn that positive reinforcement for bad behavior DOES NOT WORK. It doesn't work for the child and it doesn't work for the classmates that constantly see bad behavior being rewarded. If a twelve year old child can see it why can't they.

Congratulations CNN

Congratulations CNN you have finally decided to report on the Acorn Issue.

Extremely dislike

There is an online saying that I extremely dislike. It is one that several people use quite often and I just think it is rude and crude.

The saying is WTF? That being said, something was brought to my attention today and I find myself saying WTF? There are times when those rude and crude saying just fit perfectly and this time is one of them.

The Hubby and I were talking this morning, and in my conversation I spelled out a word. The Hubby looked at me and said "why have you been spelling that word recently, you are doing it a lot." I stopped and thought and indeed I have been spelling this word quite often. I had to really think...... why in the world have I done this.

The word is B*L*A*C*K. No matter how I use it, but particularly if I am talking about someones "race", I have been spelling B*L*A*C*K.

Now I have thought long and hard about why this is happening. The reason is pretty pure and simple.... the liberals are winning. They have turned a simple word into a word that we all "fear" using. I am afraid if I use the word, then indeed I MUST be a racist. I mean what reasonable explanation could there be for using that word unless I am a racist.

This is exactly what Jimmy Carter, Janeane Garofalo, and 90% of Obama supporters what us to think. Both Carter and Garofalo have stated point blank that if you do not support Obama the ONLY reason can be because of his race.

I can only hope that Americans both B*L*A*C*K and white can stand together on this issue and stop it here and now. I dislike Obama, I don't dislike the black Obama, or the white Obama. I dislike the liberal Obama.

Obama and his BELIEFS are tearing this nation apart and I am not sure we will ever recover.

Mythbusters

You decide.

We have all heard the stories about the hairbands from China that contain used condoms. Even though it was reported that the stories were true, you still had to wonder.

I will wonder no more. Several weeks ago we had to order some parts in from China. I dislike doing this but the customer was desperate and stated he didn't care where they came from as long as they worked.

When the parts arrived I noticed that they were banded together with a hairband. I didn't really think anything about it until I started to pull the band off and it was of such poor quality that the outer covering separated and you could see the inside. I just about threw up. I knew instantly what I was seeing.

I carefully took the red outer covering off, so that I could view this with my own eyes.

As you can see in the picture the band is made of a material that has been rolled up. A very thin rubbery material.
This is what I found inside. Now it was covered in a layer of powder and I did not notice any sp3rm present. I cannot say that this is definitely a condom but I can say that I cannot, for the life of me, think of another purpose for this material. It does not appear to be the same material that medical gloves are made of. I do know that it was pretty strong.

I don't know how I would ever be able to control my anger had my daughter ever used one of these hairband and put it in her mouth to hold it while she gathered her hair together. I would think I would purchase an airplane ticket to China to discuss it with the manufacturer.

It's not number 5

but it will have to do.

Here is my handsome, wonderful son in his soccer uniform.


I had hoped that he would be number 5 because that was my number during my six year soccer career, but number 9 is pretty good.

He is very excited, today is his first game. He doesn't think he will get any playing time but is just excited to be on the team, with a uniform. Someday soon I hope he has bigger dreams than that but I will take it........ for now.

They had several days off before the big first game because of the holiday weekend and a school function but he was very good about running everyday during the break. He didn't work on his ball handling skills but I am hoping that comes with time.

I think his coach has to start expecting a little more out of him and then things will move along.

Niagara Falls

I still have to tell you about our trip to Niagara Falls. The two best things that we did was The Cave of the Winds and The Maid of the Mist.

I will only give you a little tease at this point. I am still working on the 100 plus pictures that I took. I really need to get all these photos on online backup because with the luck that I have with computers it is very dangerous not to have these backed up.

Niagara is the most amazing place that I have been in quite some time, and I would be heartbroken to lose these photos.

Prayers

Please keep me in your prayers as I look for a job for the first time in 20 years. I worked a few weeks back at the school, but I don't think I have the mindset for that job.

I have submitted my application at a place that the husband thinks is perfect, but honestly it scares. I don't know if I am qualified or ready for that type of job.

We will see..... I have left it in God's hands

Netflix

Has anyone out there tired that service from Netflix where you get the movies streamed instantly over the internet to your TV?

I have been dying to try this but I do not have a compatible bluray player. I don't know if I want to risk that much money and find out the service is not good.

We have also been talking about going to DirectTV but after the horror stories that WB has had I don't know if we will go that route or not.

I didn't get my "free" TV box from the government so now I cannot get just local TV. Gosh, we are a mess.

Following in my footsteps!

When I was in middle school/high school (they were the same when I was a kid), I played soccer. I lived and breathed soccer. Not because I was good but because that was one of the few times that I was allowed to get together with my friends.

My dad believed that kids were there for one reason...... to do work. I still have feelings of being treated like slaves. Any who......

CAL has never been interested in soccer. He has always been a baseball man. This was fine I just wanted him to play sports. The husband would have been fine with him just taking piano. We are so reverse sometimes it scares me.

This year with CAL starting a new school, he wanted to be a part of the school's team. Soccer was the first sport of the school year so he went out for the team.

Now all kids make the team but not all get a uniform. He was pretty lucky this year and they actually had enough to go around.

CAL has some major issues with his feet, and he cannot run as well as the other kids but his coach is very understanding. Almost too understanding. I think he could push him a little harder.

He is working hard (well kinda) and he said the other day that he really enjoys playing so hopefully he will catch the soccer bug like me. I just hope that he does not play like me...... I was a very angry child and sportsmanship was not my thing. I bet you find that hard to believe, don't you?

The Hubby Won!

At the beginning of summer CAL and I started a contest to see who could be the first to lose five pounds.

It appears that The Hubby has won. The other day I was "checking him out" when I said "is your belly smaller". (romantic aren't I) Sure enough he told me that he has lost 10 pounds. Then he complained that I didn't notice sooner.

Since CAL has started soccer (did I tell you about that?) he is losing a lot of weight also. It seems that the only unmotivated one is me. Maybe I should take some phenocal, for a little help.

I never thought that my husband would be more motivated at something than I was. Hubby is so laid back and, and, and....... Oh I just cannot think of a better word...... lazy!

Heartbreak!

I had the pleasure of seeing JB last week. This time I had the opportunity to try to carry on a conversation with him. The last time I saw him was at the bowling alley and he was very focused on the task and didn't want to talk. He did recognize me. I walked up and said "hi JB how are you? Do you remember me?" and he answered yes "Mrs. Lukie". Now I had not seen JB in almost five years. That is pretty good for a child with severe autism.

Now for the heartbreak. I "tried" on carry on a conversation with him. He would just repeat the last word of my sentence. I had him speaking better in fifth grade. What in the world is this school doing to this child? He needs to be taught not just babysat.

Last time I saw JB I sat in my car and cried for about 30 minutes. As I said before I missed him so much. He taught me more than I ever taught him. This time I was so upset that I have waited a week before I blogged about it. There have been no tears this time only anger.

I would love to knock some sense into his mother. It is like the blind leading the blind. She doesn't have a clue how to take care of him and she is neglecting his education and his well being. Because she obviously has her own issues she does not expect much from him. She should have him in a special school and he should be taught. They (both Mom and the school) are NOT teaching this child.

In fifth grade I forced him to speak in complete sentences. He is a child that wants to please and will do anything (within his ability) to make you happy. I would simply tell him that if he wanted me to communicate with him he had to speak in complete sentences. I spoke to him like a normal child and he responded. I had to constantly tell him to speak in complete sentences but he would do it.

This is not the case now..... Now it is just repeating the last word or words that you say to him. He is capable of so much more. He also was making several "noises" and strange head and face movements. I did not allow this when I worked with him. I know that autistic kids have this problem but honestly with simple redirection you can cut down on the frequency and severity of this behavior. I also understand that each child is different but trust me when I say that after spending six hours a day for 150 days with his child I feel I am pretty qualified to judge his ability.

Well....... it happened.

I just cannot seem to stay away from the poison ivy. Each summer for the past 12 years I have broke out with it.

Usually I get it in my backyard while tending to our flower jungle that we have amassed over the years.

This year is different. I have been blogging about my trip home but had not come to the creek hike yet. About ten minutes from my childhood home (where my brother, sister, and mother still live) there is a small spring fed creek. This creek flows down a mountain and it contains somewhere between five to seven "waterfalls". Now we are not talking Niagara Falls or anything but at least two the falls are about eighteen feet high. There is not a large amount of water that flows over these but enough to make it beautiful and fun to hike right up the center.

I tried to convince my hiking buddies (see the picture below) to stay on the rocks where the water was running steady because it was so slippery if you didn't. Cory and I were the only ones who were brave enough to get real wet.

Cory, Mom, Bub (brother), Brenda (SIL) , Deanna (sister), Me, Danielle (niece),
(Chuck BIL was taking picture)

Anyway back to the poison ivy. When we first arrived in the parking lot we all walked to the spot where you had to walk down a fire lane. I said to my sister and brother-in-law "this is covered with poison ivy so be careful". Now my BIL is very allergic to the ivy so I wanted him to stay as far away as possible. In pure BIL form he came over and argued with me that it was not poison ivy. That PI had five leaves and basically that I didn't know what I was talking about.

Well guess what, we have all come down with PI in some degree. My mom has it the worst, her legs are like raw meat. I have just a few spots. This is probably the mildest case that I have ever had, but it has been three weeks since I came into contact with it and I am still breaking out with new spots each day.

My sister, BIL, brother, and Cal have all broken out with spots within the past few days.

When Mom went to the doctor he told her that this year was one of the worst for PI because the leaves are so full of moisture (because of all the rain).

Oddly enough I think we came in contact with the PI the most when we had the picture taken.