Kohl's $500,000 Giveaway to local schools...

Please help & vote for my daughters school, Meadows.Our funds are low (as are most schools) & this would go a long way in securing our schools Gym programs & as well as many other great resources for our students.
http://bit.ly/afj0wi

Help Me Support a great cause

Those of you who know me, know that I help out a Non-Profit Organization called The Mommies Network.

First I joined my local site, SCValleyMommies.com. Eventually I was volunteering on its committees & was even their Promotions Manager. When the site founder moved away, I applied to be our SA (Site Administrator).

During that time, my commitment to our parent organization, TMN, grew even more.

The Mommies Network (or TMN) is a 501c (3) non-profit organization dedicated to helping moms find support and friendship in their local community. They were founded April, 2005 and have over 100 communities in 32 states, and over 25,000 active members.

Right now Chase bank is having a little competition. Chase Community Giving is back to give away another $5 million, and you help decide which 200 local charities receive donations. It’s a new Way Forward for giving. On July they will announce 200 winning charities

* One charity will receive $250k
* 4 runners-up will receive $100k
* 195 others will receive $20k

TMN is not just a "moms group", but a community of mothers who are dedicated to giving back to their community as well.

You can help TMN by voting for them today, as well as to spread the word. This money will help not only the existing communities, but future sites as well.


Vote here (you need to have a FaceBook account in order to vote)

A Day in the Life

A fun thing that has been going around one of the forums I am on is to document your day in photos.

Here is my day this previous Tuesday:

Sorry no pics were taken when I first woke up. Hubby was still sleeping & the flash would have disturbed him

While I was in the shower, Keely got herself ready for school:

Now its time for breakfast (donut holes)

And getting Keely's snack ready for school:

Check my e-mails on my phone before we leave for school:

Running a little early, so while I dry my hair, Keely watches a little TV:

Off to school:

Sorry, no pictures were taken during this three hour block. I had a PTSA E-Board Meeting, then I was volunteering in Keelys class

Ok, 11:15 and finally done at Keely's school just in time to get caught in the rain:

And checking my e-mails again on my phone since I don't have time to go home before Keely gets out of school:

Quick stop @ Whole Foods to get cookie mix & some scones for Keely:

Back @ Keely's school in the pick up line:

A little early so I do some paper work for the PTSA while waiting:

Didn't have my camera when I went in Keely's school, but we bought some Valentine candy grams for her friends, then off we go

At MoviesByKids (a really cool place out here) to finalize the after school enrichment program they are doing for Keely's school:

Quick stop @ the Alta Dena drive through to buy a Mega Millions (can't win if you don't play)

Home finally & time for lunch (a huge muffin bought @ Sams):

And my first chance to get on-line & check SCValleyMommies.com, The Mommies Network & FaceBook:

Time to start making cookies for Keely's class Valentine party that was today (grandma is helping us get the area ready):

TADA!! Heart shaped cookies ready to go in the oven:

A little piano practice while they are baking:

The cookies are cooling while I clean the kitchen:

I am wiped out, time for a nap:

While Keely plays her new Barbie cut out thing:

Nap time is over, and time to check on-line again:

While I was on-line Keely grabbed a snack, and we had a mishap. Grandma chased after her & slipped on the kitchen floor & cracker her head open. So I am sure you all understand why I didn't take any pictures of me cleaning all the blood up

While grandpa takes grandma to the ER, we have dinner (Thank you Amy's for your great frozen foods):

Cleaning up:

Time to relax & watch TV (NCIS):

Then storytime, 1st Keely read to me & then I read to her, (at this point I was too exhausted to remember to take pictures) & off to bed.

Hope this post will inspire some of you to do the same. And if you do, please share :)

Living a Tech Life

Ask my daughter what I do, and she will tell you that I am always on the computer or texting. Which is pretty much true.

A few months ago, I upgraded my cell phone to a Palm Pre, and now I can check e-mails and get on-line anytime I want. If the computer is turned off, and I get a sudden urge to look up something, I can. No more putting it off & forgetting about it. (hence my daughters thinking that I am texting since I am on the phone).

If you would have told me 15 years ago that I would be so vested in computers, I would have laughed in your face. My friends from High School can back up this sentiment as well. When I had a report due that needed to be typed up, I would get one of them to do it for me. I was your classic "two finger typist", and didn't think that I would ever be comfortable on the computer.

I still remember my first PC in '96. I was living with my boyfriend of the time, and we bought it, mainly for him. It was Packard Bell, and the BF thought he was computer literate, and was always messing with the stupid thing trying to re-format it and compressing it for more space. needless to say, it was always crashing. And being a guy, wouldn't let me touch it to try & figure it out. No, we would have to wait until one of our actual "tech savy" friends could make it over and fix it. At this point though, I had learned to like the stupid computer. I am not sure if "computer withdrawals" were common then, but I had them. And being the impatient person I am, waiting was not an option. When he was out, I started tinkering and guessing on what to do to fix his mess.

Now I own a PC & Laptop. Both of which are about three years old. The laptop is hooding up well, but the PC is shared with my husband & daughter, and needs some more RAM to keep up with things. In the last year, it has really become my daughters computer. In fact she is on it right now. Did I mention my daughter is only six? She can barley read, but put her in front of a computer and she is good to go. Most of the time, she doesn't even need me to read instructions.

The things I do on a computer have changed too. Back then it was Solitare and a typing tutor program. I thought we were pretty high tech because we used it as our answering machine, w/seperate voice mail boxes; one for me, one for him & one for the alligator. Eventually I was introduced to AOL, instant messaging & "Warcraft: Orcs & Humans". When I finally broke it off with him, the one thing I made sure to take with me right away was the computer, didn't feel like I could live without it.

Today, I still feel like I can't live without my computer, and some things are similar. AOL is out, Google is in; now "WoW" is the game of choice; instant messaging is here, the location though is Google or FaceBook; and now I am productive by creating Web Pages, promoting businesses and organizations on-line and volunteering for a web-based non-profit.

Earlier I mentioned my new cell phone. Seven years ago, my cell phone didn't even have a color screen, let alone a camera. I was soo upset when I had to upgrade my phone because I didn't need all the extras. Now I don't know how I managed for soo long with such a plain phone. Two years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of texting. Ask me if I could live without it now!

My poor husband is not as adaptive as I am, but was forced to learn texting for work. What an ordeal that was! He is some what of an odd ball in our family. Not only am I & our daughter pretty tech savy, but so is his dad. I have been trying to get him to open a FaceBook account, but unless he has to for a professional reason, I can't see it happening.

It is amazing how technology has come, and how we have all evolved with it. I am aware that I ahve become quite dependent on it, but I am fine with this. And I can't wait to see what the future has in store.

2010 Relay For Life

My Reason to Relay

Relay For Life is my personal opportunity to fight back against cancer by raising funds and awareness. I fight so one day no one has to ever face cancer.

It's amazing to think that millions of people will be diagnosed with cancer this year. But, by taking part in Relay, I am helping the American Cancer Society save lives by:

• 
  Helping people stay well by helping them take steps to prevent cancer or detect it early, when it’s most treatable
• Helping people get well by being in their corner around the clock to guide them through every step of their cancer experience
• Finding cures by funding groundbreaking research that helps us understand cancer’s causes, determine how best to prevent it and discover new ways to cure it
• Fighting back by working with lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and rallying communities worldwide to join the fight

Please support my efforts by making a donation or by joining my Relay For Life team. Together, we have the power to make a difference!

New Year

So, a New Year has started. I can't believe we are already 16 days into it. I had this plan at the end of last year of what I wanted to accomplish this month. And so far, I have gotten almost nowhere on this list.

Thanks to my friend Dave & the wonderful technology at my fingertips (FB chat & Google chat), I have gotten some motivation, and am working on starting this "to do list".

First step, get my blog back up, and to actually use it. So, here is my first post in over two years. I can't promise what I write will be interesting. But I feel like I need a place to just say a small portion of the scrambled thoughts in my head. Hopefully it will help me make sense of things and retain some sanity.

As I am typing this, I am noticing my outdated punctuation. I can't seem to stop putting two spaces after a sentence. When did this change happen? How many of us "oldies" follow the new rule? It sure makes typing hard when you are so used to doing it a certain way. Please forgive my posts, until I have trained myself all over again (if it is possible).

Well, goodnight all. Here is to a New Year full of hope & change.

Let give thanks

(an old post from last year on my myspazz page)
W/Thanksgiving around the corner I thought I would look up the "real" history. Not just the happy, fuzzy warm feeling one we have all grown up with. You know, the one where the pilgrims came over on the Mayflower, landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. They had a hard winter, the next spring, Squanto and his friendly Indian band helped them learn about the land so they could grow vegetables and fish. Then that fall, there was a big feast for three days. JOY

So, I found this nice little story that sums it up pretty well. See what you think.

THE
REAL
STORY OF THANKSGIVING
by Susan Bates

Most of us associate the holiday with happy Pilgrims and Indians sitting down to a big feast. And that did happen - once.
The story began in 1614 when a band of English explorers sailed home to England with a ship full of Patuxet Indians bound for slavery. They left behind smallpox which virtually wiped out those who had escaped. By the time the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts Bay they found only one living Patuxet Indian, a man named Squanto who had survived slavery in England and knew their language. He taught them to grow corn and to fish, and negotiated a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation. At the end of their first year, the Pilgrims held a great feast honoring Squanto and the Wampanoags.
But as word spread in England about the paradise to be found in the new world, religious zealots called Puritans began arriving by the boat load. Finding no fences around the land, they considered it to be in the public domain. Joined by other British settlers, they seized land, capturing strong young Natives for slaves and killing the rest. But the Pequot Nation had not agreed to the peace treaty Squanto had negotiated and they fought back. The Pequot War was one of the bloodiest Indian wars ever fought.
In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.
(That's nice, Thanksgiving Day is named after a day of slaughter. Lets go eat.)
Cheered by their "victory", the brave colonists and their Indian allies attacked village after village. Women and children over 14 were sold into slavery while the rest were murdered. Boats loaded with a many as 500 slaves regularly left the ports of New England. Bounties were paid for Indian scalps to encourage as many deaths as possible.
Following an especially successful raid against the Pequot in what is now Stamford, Connecticut, the churches announced a second day of "thanksgiving" to celebrate victory over the heathen savages. During the feasting, the hacked off heads of Natives were kicked through the streets like soccer balls. Even the friendly Wampanoag did not escape the madness. Their chief was beheaded, and his head impaled on a pole in Plymouth, Massachusetts -- where it remained on display for 24 years.
The killings became more and more frenzied, with days of thanksgiving feasts being held after each successful massacre. George Washington finally suggested that only one day of Thanksgiving per year be set aside instead of celebrating each and every massacre. Later Abraham Lincoln decreed Thanksgiving Day to be a legal national holiday during the Civil War -- on the same day he ordered troops to march against the starving Sioux in Minnesota.
This story doesn't have quite the same fuzzy feelings associated with it as the one where the Indians and Pilgrims are all sitting down together at the big feast. But we need to learn our true history so it won't ever be repeated. Next Thanksgiving, when you gather with your loved ones to Thank God for all your blessings, think about those people who only wanted to live their lives and raise their families. They, also took time out to say "thank you" to Creator for all their blessings.

No wonder I am not big on these Holidays. Feasting on days of massacre. Our Presidents naming days as National Thanksgiving Days to cust back on the amount, but it doesn't sound like they cared about the reason behind it. So this Thursday when you are gathering w/your loved ones giving thanks, maybe you should take a little time out and remember the past and how this day came about.