Nessas Place

Join Me on Myspace to help Ban the Pit Bull Ban
Last night I had a bad dream about Max. Max is my pitbull mix doggie. When Max came along I didn't want another dog. I already had 2 big dogs and the evil chihuahua, plus Tex, the cat. Max needed me though and I couldn't refuse him love and comfort. You can read how Max came to live with us here, here and here but beware, it's not a pretty story at all.

Max is truly part of the family now. He's such a good guy. He drives me crazy with his barking at EVERY freaking thing that moves, believe me, NOTHING gets by him, but other than that he's a fantastic doggie. He minds well, he doesn't chew. He's a perfect gentleman to my nieces and he still loves his cat.

I dreamed last night that one of these stupid ass BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) bills was passed in my area forcing me to euthanize Max. These bills are a joke as far as anything useful. The ONLY thing they do is cause a great deal of pain and worry for those of us who love our dogs and teach them to be loving family members.

I know there are people who have been hurt by Pitbulls, Rottweilers and other such big dogs, there are just as many though who are bitten by Chihuahua's, Dachshunds and other such small supposedly harmless dogs. I can tell you as a child I was terrorized by my aunts stupid Dachshund, "Domino". I had a German Shepard who would sooner die than bite me or anyone else though. Well, actually I have to qualify that, he didn't hurt people, but after he saw a little white dog bite me once he carried a vendetta til the day he died and we had to really keep a close eye on him. He'd kill them in a heartbeat. He wasn't vicious though, he'd just decided all little white dogs meant an imminent threat to those he loved. Makes good doggie sense to me since he wouldn't know that someone loved that little white doggie as much as he loved us.

My own Rottie.....i got from the pound several years ago. He has been ridden, stepped on, pulled, pushed, had meat taken right out of his mouth and he's terrified of thunder, fireworks and little girls who want to walk him on a leash. He literally hides under a bedside table that stands about 18" off the floor. He weighs 150 pounds. You figure that out, I still haven't. Point being, even though i didn't get him as a small puppy he's still very well behaved and kind. I know for a fact he was abused by a previous owner and i'm fairly certain it was a black man who was involved in the abuse. I know that because he was around black women and children often and never so much as breathed heavier, but a black man especially one with a beard comes along and his hair stands up and he takes a very protective stance. I don't even recognize my dog when he does that. He's never attacked except when someone was breaking in the house, but he's never put in a situation where he could hurt someone or himself. I know that's an issue and I protect my DOG. That's what a responsible pet owner does.

As for Max.........lord i can't tell you how big a NON issue he is. He is quite happy to let Diesel be the boss of the yard. He loves to play fetch and have fun. He loves to snuggle up on a blanket and watch tv with anyone who'll let him. He has no prejudices at all. He loves everyone. If you read what he'd been through in getting to be with our family, that's nothing short of remarkable.

So reading all these statistics about dog bites and how the pit Bull breed must be "eradicated" or "regulated" really makes me wonder if some people got their degrees from cereal boxes. Where's the research on the real culprit? The dogs owner! Are we going to eradicate the dumbass who fed the dog gun powder to make it meaner and literally crazy? Are we going to prosecute the idiot who goes to great lengths to tease and torment a dog to the point where it WANTS to bite? It wants to HURT because it HAS been! It wants to bite because it's been taught that if it does, the owner praises it. Dogs love unconditionally and it doesn't matter what breed it is, it has the potential to bite, ESPECIALLY when taught to do so.

Yes, large dogs can kill. Is that because it's a particular breed? No. It's common sense! Yes it's more dangerous if a big dog bites you. His teeth are bigger than a Chihuahua's and there's alot more muscle behind it. Duh! So the Rottie that bites once is worse than the Chihuahua who's bitten 10-15 times? I don't think so. Trust me, Chihuahua's have 100 times more attitude than 10 Rotts, trained or not. I have 3 huge dogs with massive teeth, the only one that worries me is the chihuahua. She WILL bite if she is tired, cranky, given a bath, dressed in a new dress, given flea medication, if children try to pick her up, or if someone messes with the kids and she thinks they are being hurt. Wanna know who's fault that is? MINE! I socialized her. I made sure she wasn't a yapping attacking brat. She's so spoiled though that even *I* can't keep from being bitten sometimes. She rules the house and she'll bite you if you don't believe it. So she wasn't taught to bite, but she wasn't taught NOT to either. So I protect her. I don't put her in situations where i need to defend her. I am a responsible owner who realizes that i inadvertently overlooked an important aspect of my dogs life. So, I tell people not to rough house with the kids. I tell kids not to pick her up and to leave her alone. She will go to them to be loved on and she's fine, they just can't force her to accept love. Has to be HER idea. No one outside the family deals with her baths, dressing her or anything else she doesn't like except the vet when needed and he sedates her lol. He HAS to!

See my point though? It's truly not the breed that's the problem. It's the people who raise them. Even owners who DO love their dog and treat them right can be a problem if the dog isn't socialized or taught important behavior manners. I realize that some dogs are intended for protection. Great! Train them properly! There are ways to teach a dog to be on guard and not attack. Additionally, said dogs should STILL be protected from their own instincts by their owners! Don't go get your dog trained to attack and leave them in a situation that could hurt them. DUH! We're back to "it's not the dogs fault that they are doing what they were TAUGHT". It's a vicious circle and only the dogs suffer for it. The idiot who taught them to be this way or didn't protect them isn't euthanized, the dog is.

Look at Micheal Vick. I'm sorry but that pig should never see the light of day outside prison. There is NO excuse! Do you KNOW what he did to those poor animals?
Do you have ANY idea how horrible the training is for these dogs? Being HUNG, being starved, being ran mercilessly. All to build stamina and strength so they can rip another dogs throat out faster and more efficiently. The DOG takes the blame though when it's let loose on society. When it hurts a child because it doesn't know any better, it's the dogs fault. Somehow he should have known better after all the torture and pain he's been through? I don't think so.

Anyway, I know this is a long post, but i hope people read it and see that there's someone else to punish. The owners. Read the following article and see what a truly cared for and loved Pit can do. He saluted the PRESIDENT!!!! Can your fuzzy cute protected dog do that? MY guess is no.

Just think..........pleeeeeeeeeeeease before you vote for something because of a sad story you see on the news. Yes it's unfortunate and so sad when a child or anyone is hurt by a Dog, but ask yourself what the true problem is and lobby for better animal rights. REALLY prosecute the offender, not the other victim.

Nessa

Ash and my Mom went dress shopping again last night and they found the most awesome dress. Ashley is soooooooooooo excited and the dress looks fantastic on her. I can't wait to get her hair done and everything for the big night. I also have to find her some shoes to go with it which is the hardest part since she wears a size 12 women's.

We're having a huge debate about this issue too. Feel free to weigh in because i can't see how she thinks this would work.

Her View: She has big feets and she wants to wear heels to try and minimize how big her feet are. She thinks flats will show more and poke out of the dress, maximizing her feet.

My View: She walks heavy and doesn't wear heels. She's gonna break her freakin neck!Who cares if her feet show as long as she doesn't embarrass herself by being on the floor all night? AND she's going to want to dance, she has NO idea how hard heels can be to do that in when you've never really worn them before.

I'm seriously considering going and finding a pair of heels at a resale shop or something for a few dollars and making her walk in them for a few hours in the kitchen. That way she can see what it will be like BEFORE i spend $100 on shoes she'll never wear again. Make sense? Am I over thinking this? Should I just get the heels and let her be happy? I'm seriously stuck on this one.

Nessa

After crying for 2 days i've decided I have to do what Wolfie would want. Move on and remember the fun times, not the bad. I don't have a choice in the matter anyway. I need to work and I feel pretty certain that my customers wouldn't appreciate their Customer Relations expert crying on their calls.

Sooooooooo, today i shall not cry, I will work all day and I'll be the strong woman he believed in. Wish me luck lol, i'll probably need it.

Anyway, Valentines Day is coming up soon. I swear this year is flying by already. I always buy the kids something for V-day. Nothing big really, just some sort of candy. This year i've decided to have flowers delivered to Ash at school instead of surprising her at home after school. I know she'll be ecstatic about that since she has asked me to do so before. I couldn't afford to at the time though.

Soooooooooooo, now all I have to do is decide what to send. I looked at 1800flowers.com and they have so many beautiful arrangements to choose from it's almost ridiculous. She doesn't really have a favorite flower, but her favorite color is purple. She also tends to like hot pinks as well. That being the case i'm considering sending this arrangement:


It's pretty, sweet, calorie free and i think she'd be very pleased with it. I hope so anyway. There are a few more I have to consider as well. There's just so many!I'm not a flower lover myself as far as cut flowers go, but i admire the gorgeous colors that nature provides us. I love to GROW flowers. I just planted 2 pink roses a few days ago and I bought another flowering tree this past weekend to plant in front of the house. I'll get it planted eventually i'm sure. Only took me 2 weeks to force Daniel to plant the roses.

Anyway, if you plan to send flowers for V-day, remember you can buy now and have them sent later. One less thing to worry about, you beat the rush and the long hold times if you need to call in.

Nessa

Yesterday was a bad, awful day horrible day. First we got news about Hanna that we didn't want to hear. Nothing really bad, just nothing good. I'm sure my sister will post about it if she hasn't already. If she doesn't I'll do another post about it later.

What I want to do for this moment is tell you about a man who has left this world. None of you knew him but your lives have been touched by him if you read here. Every time I smart off and you laugh, every time I take on a challenge and tell you about it, every time i do something kind and share it, there's one person who inspired my belief in myself to do so.

Many years ago I started a yahoo group for people who were married, NOT looking to cheat, just looking to hang out. I was married at the time and very lonely, new to the internet and hoped to just find people who understood I was married to a creep.
I figured there had to be others out there as well. There were, ALOT of them.

Shortly after opening the group, "Wolfie" as we shall call him, entered my life. Now understand, Wolfie was a biker type, and I do mean the real deal, not the drugged out freaks you think of as bikers. He had a code he lived by and that included treating people the best he could, being a true friend and always being kind. When he joined the group he signed his posts with a cool "Lonewolf". I'm sure he was mortified when i shortened it and started calling him Wolfie lol. He may have even complained but it was too late, it stuck. He was Wolfie and that was that. He gave in and started signing his name that way.

Wolfie was so much fun. He'd say something sly and "aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooo" afterwards because he thought that was funny. He made us "breakfast" in the group every morning. All pretend of course but he made it special in a way by having paid attention to what the regulars liked. Coffee was the staple, had to have it. He made Miss C her sausage gravy, Miss K her whatever she was onto wanting that particular month and he made me waffles or tried to tempt me with sausage biscuits. He liked to do that the most when he knew i was dieting lol.

We'd talk about tying pretty pink bows in his fur and knotting his tail.....oh lord the things we threatened to do to him when he was bad lol. He took it all in stride and always had a comeback. There was no telling what he'd say.

Because i was the group owner, I had to deal with problem members sometimes. He was quite protective of me and the other ladies. If something needed handling he was there for guidance and support. When things were bad for me at home, he'd call to check on me. Through the divorce he was literally a rock. Where others were supportive, he was truly someone who wanted nothing more than my happiness. When i didn't have enough money for Christmas one year, he helped me. When i needed to laugh, he was more than willing to put a smile on my face. When something went right he refused to let me do anything less than celebrate my geniousness in having tried to do it in the first place. He truly, honestly believed in me and in who he knew i could be. I thought he was giving too much credit but the one time i told him that, he made it clear i shouldn't ever repeat it lol.

He cussed me when i introduced him to Pogo and he got addicted to it too. He whined like a girl when women in the group or pogo just didn't get that he was a flirt but a HARMLESS one lol. I can't tell you how many girls were more than willing to drop their panties, but he didn't want that. He liked a touch of class in women. That usually meant respecting his marriage and not trying to be more than an online friend.
He just wanted to joke around and cut loose in a safe venue. Now, i'm not saying he was a saint, he wasn't, but those aren't my stories to tell.

Yesterday, i found out that Wolfie died. I don't know how or why he was taken from us. I never will. One of the friends could call the family to express condolences i'm sure but none of us would ever be that disrespectful to impose on their grief. I'm sure Wolfie wouldn't have wanted us to be sad either. He'd tell us to knock off the crying or he'd bite us on the butt or something equally silly.

With him gone, there's one regret. I wanted just once to REALLY hug him and tell him what an impact his strength and his belief in me had on my life. I wanted him to know that his kindness and wonderful nature got me through far more than even he knew about And I never ever saw him face to face.

Don't discount the power of the Internet, you never know who's on the other side of the monitor, and used wisely, it will never hurt you to take a second to find out. You just might be someone's Wolfie.

Nessa

Yesterday I decided to pay for a domain name for this blog to move it up just a tad in the world. So far it's okay, though i'm a little worried about how it will affect my paid post sites. I don't think it will be too big a wrinkle though and should actually be a good thing in the long run.

HOWEVER.........i lost ALL of my blogroll. I'm not a BIT happy about this. Most of it I can get back through my drops inbox since i drop the same sites everyday but grrrrrrrrrrrrr. This ought to be tons of fun. Or Something. Probably something.

The new URL is http://absolutelymomsblog.com and supposedly blogspot will redirect to it from the old link for those who have it on their blog. Dare i hope that goes well?
Lets hope so lol.

So now while I'm setting that back up, I wanted to let you all know about some blogs I was adding to the list today anyway that i have come across the last week or so. If you get a sec check them out ,say hi and see if maybe you might like them as well.

My Musings & Stuff
Boogers, Screams, Headaches and Dreams ( I love that name! it's so descriptive lol )
Custom Blog Designs
If your blog needs an overhaul check this out. Fantastic designs and nice prices too.
A Wrestling Addicted Mommy
Healthnut Wannabee Mom
Savvy Suzie

Nessa

In an effort to market my blog and gain readers as well when i first started blogging, I signed up for most any and all the popular social networking sites. It sounded like a great idea, except here's what happened. I'm now a member of about 30 social sites. Ask me how many i use? Ask me how many times I've even been back more than once. It's not often, I can tell you that.

It's not on purpose that I do this either. It's that I'm busy as hell and I just can't get to everything in most cases. Then there's the people I call "snobby bloggers" that invade the places. These are the "head cheerleader" types who blog about things most of us will never understand because we live in the real world where life isn't made better by a prettier blog or making up a new nonsensical word that all the snobby buddies will use ad nauseum.

I'm not talking about any particular blog or the popular blogs themselves either. There are some fantastic blogs that are very popular. I'm talking about total crap blogs that offer nothing to the world except " I bought this, i got this, i went here, I did this, I want this, I have this, everything I have is better than everyone elses" blogs. And you know what i wonder each time I stumble across them? If the blogger is so well to do, why are they blogging daily for a couple dollars and free stuff? Hmmmmmmm?? I know that other bloggers do it for extra money for their households for necessities and to bring in another income, that's cool. I do the same thing. The snobby bloggers supposedly have everything though so what gives? Are they lying? Are they just greedy? Are they living out a former popularity they can't quite let go of from highschool? Am I just irritated this morning? Why yes I am lol.

Anyway, I digress, My point isn't that there are annoying bloggers out there, it's that I have way too darn many Social memberships and some need to go. Soooooooo, I'm asking for your help my darling readers/friends/Entrecard Droppers/Stalkers/people who are related to me.

What social sites have yielded actual results for you as far as increasing blog traffic? I put a poll over there-------> and would be ever so grateful to any who answer it. I couldn't think of all the social sites so i made it so that you could type in a fave i missed/don't know of.

What really brought all this up? Well, I have to say that a really surprising thing happened Saturday. I joined a weekly meme called Camera Critters. I got 100% more traffic and comments on my blog from that than I did ANY social site. I'm not kiddig either. I also joined another last week and i did it wrong and heard about it all freakin day, but it was a slight increase as well even if the comments were " you did it wrong" lol. My point is, how is this possible and does this mean that that meme's work better than social sites do?

I'm thinking that when you consider that the hit is coming from another blog/site and not just Entrecard or something akin, that I was told that hit is worth more to Google. I haven't found any proof of that so far though so don't take my word for it. I may try experimenting with it. Perhaps if I find a few weekly meme's that I like, I will sign up for them and see how that works out.

Not that i'm in any way dissatisfied with my current traffic or regular readers. I'm definitely not. I mainly wonder because of the rise I saw this weekend and it got me thinking.

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear them.

Nessa

Since I know many of my readers have crafts that they sell online and such I thought i'd mention Artfire.com. I bought some goodies over there for Ash from a seller who's blog I read and I also spent some time looking around while there. For smaller sellers there are NO fee's at all and for those who sell and list a great deal of items there's a premium service for $20 a month. That's a HUGE savings off certain other services which shall remain nameless.

I love buying handmade gifts anyway. Helping to support other bloggers and crafters who are trying to make money online is a bonus.

I also found out that every time someone registers, even as a free user, a tree is planted through a partnership between Artfire and Trees For The Future. Is that not a wonderful thing. Lower and in some cases NO selling fee's for fellow crafters/bloggers and baby tree's! Awesome Idea. I'm even happier now that i signed up when i bought the goodies for Ashley.

Nessa

Here's another Meme I've been swearing I was going to start doing and just haven't done it. I set myself a reminder last week though and here we are. My very first Camera Critters post.

This is Poppa doing his "Puny Humans" act. How can something so pretty be so freakin rotten?

Ash did it to me again. I swear to all things holy that my daughter is a magnet for drama. Somehow when it comes to her friends, *I* always end up the June Cleaver mom for the group. This is NOT a good thing.

It's not that I mind being the voice of reason or helping another child if needed. That's fine! The problem is that in the long run it doesn't really matter what I say or do. Said kid is usually messed up for a reason and so far all the cases I've seen point right to the parents. This latest issue being a prime example.

Last night, Ash's new friend asked if she could borrow my cell to call her Mom. I said sure and the next thing I know I see her going by me crying and Ashley has that outraged look that only a teen can make. Ash handed me the phone and headset and explained to me what happened.

Apparently the mother called the girls cell phone and was all sweet asking the daughter to call back. The daughter didn't have enough minutes on her phone to call Mom back so that's why she borrowed mine. As soon as she called back the Mother started screaming at her calling her a "white trash bitch" and "a rebellious whore". After that, the grandmother got into the action by telling the girl that if she blew her own brains out that'd be just fine with her and alot less trouble. Nice huh? Not a thing dysfunctional or screwed up about that.

I explained to Ashley that she was talking to the wrong person and sent her to console her friend outside. I sat here for a bit working and then went and told them I was going to bed and they needed to come in. I no sooner got in bed than here they come. The girl wanted to "talk" and Ashley thought I could help her somewhow.

Sure I'd LOVE to help the child, but I CAN'T! Not just that, but I have a feeling that there's a whole lot to this story that I don't know since the girl mentioned she was sent to Military school AND she's on probation. She's also 20 and is considered a freshman in high school. Her Dad is either in Jail or prison, i'm not clear on that and her former boyfriend beat her. The Mom has some sort of disease that causes strokes and other issues as well obviously. See the issue here? It's not a problem, it's a clusterf*ck.

I feel sooooooooooo sorry for the girl. I really do. From what i heard she's had a rough go of it and some of it she's done to herself. I basically told her that she can choose to be a victim or she can rise above it all by being someone she can be proud to see in the mirror. That and that she's not responsible for making her mother happy or anyone else for that matter. She's responsible for no one but herself. Then i told them to go to bed since we had to be up early so i could drop them off at school early today for a school ROTC competition.

I found out this morning that the girl has a date for the Military Ball but her mom refuses to help her with a dress so i'm going to work on that today. Ashley has a gorgeous dress that we could have altered down for her but i'm going to check Freecycle too and see if anyone would like to donate a dress. The way I see it at this point is that 20 or not, she could use some kindness and while I can't solve her troubles, I CAN at least try to give her a smile that might make a difference in her life. I just pray i'm not opening myself up for more drama. That would NOT be good at all.

Nessa

For the last few months I've been checking my credit report, checking into any incorrect information and the like. Well, I found an error. It was only for like $175 dollars but it was still a negative mark on my credit report that *I* didn't have anything to do with. Soooooo, I contacted the credit bureau and got the issue straightened out and it is to be removed from my credit report.

I really thought it would be harder to do and apparently some of the time it is, but certain issues are easier than others to have removed and easier proved too. This was one of the latter. I know it's just a little thing but it still feels good. I'm really glad that I've tried to stay out of debt, thereby avoiding needing to worry about Debt Reduction. I can't imagine how bad it would be if I owed more and didn't stay on top of the bills.

Anyway, pardon me while i pat myself on the back lol, i'm just pleased as i can be.

Nessa

After seeing this over at 1stopmoms every week, I've been meaning to join this meme and just hadn't gotten around to it. Well no more! I've done it. Yay meeeeee lol.

What is Aloha Friday you ask? Well, i'll tell ya. Aloha Friday is Kailani's weekly meme where participants answer a question and they can have a nice easy bloggy day. Don't take my word for it though, In her own words here's what it's about.

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

Yesterday Daniel and I went to do some shopping and we were talking about his car situation. Mainly the fact that he has no car in his situation lol. I filed my taxes Monday I think and i have promised that with my refund i'll give him $1000 to put down on a car.

I'm a little hacked off about this though. See not that long ago I had to go to court with my ex over child support. Not that he wasn't paying it, just that he was barely paying anything. He makes over $80K a year according to what i've been told and he was paying $300 a month. The kids needed things and I was tired of really being the only one to provide them. Now he did help buy some school clothes too but I did it all year long. Don't get me wrong, I know there are Mothers out there who have to do it ALL because they're ex's do nothing. I'm not ungrateful, I just figure if he could afford to do things for everyone BUT his kids, he needed a little financial re-direction in favor of his own children. Sooooooooo, it was a huge drama, but we went to court. In return for me not raising the child support he agreed to buy Daniel a car by that following August. I was cool with that because it took a considerable load off me knowing *I* didn't have to come up with the money myself. Like I said, All I was really wanting was help! Anyway, That was over a year ago now and he didn't do it.

Now I can debate all day whether or not he COULD, he says he can't though and it's not really like I can force him. I could take him to court but in the grand scheme of things, I'd rather not see his and Daniel's relationship suffer anymore than it already has. Plus, i have to admit he has been being more helpful as of late in several ways. I'm not at all above giving credit where it's due. So, It's easier to just put the down payment down for Daniel. He can have some freedom, a job and we'll be done with it.

In the ex's defense and to his credit, he did say yesterday when i mentioned all this to him that if I put down $1000, he'd do the same so that maybe we could buy Daniel a car outright to get him back and forth to work til he could afford to pay payments. Daniel likes that idea so i guess that's the plan we'll go with.

I'm actually hoping that the arrangement will help their relationship as well. Maybe it will finally convince Daniel that his Dad really does love him.

Nessa

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who left encouraging messages and thoughts regarding Ashley yesterday. As much as I hate for her to have her feelings hurt in ANY way, i'm thinking that maybe this dress shopping was just possibly a blessing in disguise. She's definitely making an effort to do something about the issue so far. I noticed she is being more careful about her portions and she even went and played Dance Dance Revolution last night for awhile. I bought it hoping it would inspire some moving around and encouraged her to give it a try. After I explained that she didn't have to win the game or be perfect at it, that just the moving around would help her accomplish her goal she seemed more willing to try it.

She played it in my room and insisted the door be shut. I banned the boys from trying to watch her under the door too lol. After work tonight I am going to go play it with her. Maybe playing it together will get her more interested too. I'll let ya know how it goes. If I'm not here tomorrow........send an ambulance lol.

Anyway, thank you to all of you for your thoughts.......one way or another i'll get her past this.

Nessa

I joined Accobay this morning and i have to say it's a little different from other networking sites. Instead of networking with people you are related to, know from work, etc, this is a consumer social network which connects you with other consumers who are interested in the same things you are.

It's easy to sign up and add Stuff to your profile. You can add anything you want, including your love of blogging. Now i haven't added much just yet but i plan to over the next few days and see how well I like it. It's not like some of the other networking sites where the "popular" bloggers take over or anything and I can see where artisans and crafters might be able to use this to bring attention to their products. Anything bloggers can do to get their name out there and expand their reach is a good thing in my book.

Check it out and see what you think. I'm going to give it a good 30 days and see what it does for me. I'll post about my experience with it after the 30 days too. I'm thinking it could be interesting. We'll see what happens.

Nessa

Yesterday in my blog travels I visited Candles Crafts & Whatnot and i found the cutest earrings for Ashley. They're based on Twilight and she'll flip when she gets them. Aren't these adorable. The price was superb too! She's got some other stuff too so i suggest Twilight fans head over there before i get more money lol.




Nessa

I've mentioned a few times that my daughter is really unhappy with her weight. She truly isn't that much over her ideal weight. She's got her Daddy's build and she will never be a teeny tiny. It's just not in her genetic makeup and someday she'll realize that and be okay with it. She does have some tummy fat that she needs to shed but that's about all. Any other problem areas she feels she has can be fixed with some toning. She's just not the cow she sees herself as at all.

Last night didn't help either. She went dress shopping with her Granny and apparently there were just no really nice dresses in her size and the few that were her normal size didn't fit. She came home and refused to eat dinner and peeled herself an orange and an apple to have for breakfast this morning.

I keep pushing portion control to them but they just don't get it really. Or they pretend not to anyway. I suspect that's the true issue. They don't WANT to see it til something like last night happens. I'm leading by example. I'm watching what I eat, eating smaller portions and working out. I'm buying very few unhealthy snacks and pushing fruits and veggies as options for cravings instead of snack cakes and junk like that. I'm dropping weight fast because of it too.

Daniel is doing more too now. He wears a sauna suit or "a giant trash bag" as Tyler calls it and walks a mile a day then works out with his weights. He's only been doing this a week but he's already feeling better.

Ashley just doesn't want to do anything to physically help herself. I don't know if it's a lack of energy or just tired because she's in school all day or just laziness. I don't think it's being lazy really but could be a combination of all the above maybe.

Whatever it is, i want to help her feel better physically and about herself. I hate seeing her so disappointed and feeling bad about herself. There's just only so much I can do to help her if she won't help herself too.

Just in case it's an energy issue I looked up some information today on phytonutrients. This is basically just plant based nutrition that is a highly important part of the diet for energy, immunity health and antioxdants among other beneficial dietary needs.

So far the best place i've found for the info is phytolife.com. There's some fabulous information about how to get more phytonutrients into your daily diet by showing what nutrients are available in certain veggies and other natural foods. There are some great, easy phytonutrient rich recipes too. Many of the recipes use bagged salads and veggies you find in the supermarket already cut, chopped and ready to use. I love those things!

After work today I'm going to get the ingredients I need to make Ashley and I a Ruby Reds, Feta and Watermelon salad. I'll also pick her up some of the suggested veggies and see if I can help her a little by increasing her energy levels. Maybe that will give her the extra umph she needs to do more for herself instead of it taking incidents like last night to open her eyes. It may not work, she does eat lots of veggies already, but the worst that will happen here is that she eats more veggies and gets healthier because of it. I can deal with that just fine.

Nessa

Ever since that debacle not long ago when Dipwad decided to watch porn on my son's laptop and then my recent issues with my own laptop i've been looking for a good program to use for virus removal and prevention. No I wasn't watching porn either. I honestly still have no idea what happened. It just slowed down, I forced a shut down and it wouldn't load windows after that.

I ended up having to reload Windows onto the PCs that it happened to and
of course everything was lost that i'd had on the computers. Thank gawd I back all my pics up to my online storage for the most part so i lost very few. I did however lose some things I had wanted to keep as far as documents the kids had typed and things like that.

So anyway, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure when it comes to PC infections. I have a few preferred programs i like to use but i'd like it a great deal if i could just find one good program that does it all. Spyware, virus and identity protection being the most important aspects I'd like to have in said wonder program.

I checked out Cyber Defender this morning and it does seem to do all the things I want a program to do. I downloaded the trial and it found a few issues, not anything critical but things like cookies and some registry errors. Nothing I can't deal with. One thing I did notice and didn't install was a toolbar that goes with the software. I'm thinking if children use your computer this might actually be the most valuable aspect of the program itself. Especially as far as preventing issues before you have to do any virus removal. The toolbar has a few different features but one i'm interested in is one that tells you the security risk of the site. If the site is known to be safe there's a green box with a smiley face. If the site is known to be a risk or indeed a bad place to be, there's a red warning box.

Let's face it. Kids just don't understand that the most innocent search can turn ugly in a flash. Not that long ago a search for "Snow White" could have been a real eye opener for a munchkin before some of the search sites implemented a few safety measures. Not just that, but my boys love going to look for cheat codes for the games they have beaten already to see what else they could have done. You wouldn't believe how many of the sites that offer these codes look legitimate in the search screen but once loaded, they're full of porn and/or viruses. The kid didn't do anything wrong really, but it's now a big headache for a parent who has to explain the images or fix the PC or both as it usually works out.

A simple smiley face or red warning would be a great tool for kids allowed to use the internet without parental guidance. I ALWAYS advise sitting with your child when they use the internet but I know that many parents don't. So they should take extra steps to protect their child from things they shouldn't see and they're assets as well in the process.

I haven't decided whether i'll take advantage of the tools i found in Cyber Defender. I typically don't purchase any software online without a hefty recommendation from a trusted individual or I have the option to test drive the software in full functionality for a few days. If I do though, I'll let ya know what I think.

Nessa

As my regular readers know I'm quite attached to a little turkey who likes to beat me up and gives me the best hugs ever. Some of you know her as Nannito Bandito, which i call her when she's being a toot, others just know her as Hanna.

Hanna has an epilepsy disorder that requires she be on daily medication and keeps the entire house on edge. Her seizures are unpredictable and so far despite tests and experimenting with foods and other environmental factors, we've found no real common denominator with what triggers her seizures. We may never find one. What we are grateful for is that it appears that the seizures are NOT associated with any other type of disease or defect. No tumors or anything like that.

So far, other than the seizures themselves the biggest struggles are helping her with her speech and letting her live like any other precocious 3 and a half year old. The speech issue will resolve itself i think with a little help from some good teachers and the fact that we all work with her as much as possible. The letting her live as any other kid is a little harder.

Hanna sometimes has seizures in her sleep. They can be extremely low key, very little twitching involved and usually only last less than a minute. Regardless of the non-violent nature and brevity, my sister and myself too when i keep her overnight, sleep very lightly in case she needs us in the night. Where she is old enough of course to sleep on her own like a big girl, neither of us want her to do so just in case something happens. There's always a chance that the seizure could last longer than normal, that she could be injured during it.......etc.

So, my sister is trying to get the family dog, Ladybug, to be trained as an alert dog for the seizures. Ladybug is the mother of my Sargie and is thankfully MUCH calmer than her son is lol. Hanna knows and is comfortable with Ladybug and vice versa.

The problem is that Ladybug has to undergo training and be spayed before Hanna could benefit from the assistance an alert dog would give not only to her but the entire family as well. My sister has found a foundation that will train Ladybug for free and there are sponsors that will cover most of the cost, but not all of it.

I've mentioned before that while my sisters family is able to pay the bills and get by, there is just not alot of extra money that can be earmarked to finish up the money needed to get Ladybug trained. As much as I'd like to help, I'm limited in how much I can contribute and so is the rest of the family.

Soooooo, my sister has created a new blog dedicated to daily life with Hanna and the struggles as well as the successes Miss Toot faces. There is also a donation button on the right sidebar if you'd like to help us raise the money needed to cover the rest of what's needed to get Ladybug spayed as well as other necessary expenses for the training, such as gas money, hotels if needed, etc.

Please consider making Helping Hanna a regular stop in your blog reading travels. You can leave encouraging messages for Hanna and/or the family. Donations would be greatly appreciated as well, but of course aren't necessary. More than anything I think it would help my sister just hearing a kind word here and there from people who don't HAVE to say them, instead of just from the family.

I'll also update on Hanna's progress here as I always have for those of you who read here.

Nessa

Do you know how hard it is to find a Wii right now? I'll tell you......it's pretty freakin hard unless you want a huge bundle that costs over $500. Guess what i DON'T want.

I only wanted the Nintendo Wii because I want the ability to not have to fight with the controllers all the other game systems use. Wii remotes and accessories are so much easier for people like me who aren't really gamers and don't have all the dexterity to imitate an octopus or something with 100 thumbs. This is why i STILL prefer the very first 2 nintendo's ever made. The controllers were easier!

Anyway, i'm not really giving up on finding a Wii because i really want the Wii Fit more than anything. I am frustrated over it though. It's literally sold out everywhere locally.

The kids have their Xbox360 that they play Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero World Tour on.I have to send the Guitar Hero drums back to be repaired or replaced though, According to the Activision troubleshooting site they're malfunctioning. it's a really fun game though. If you have several kids who fight over game time this is a great way to let everyone play. The only problem is forcing them to rotate out so everyone gets to play everything as well as sing. But hey if Jonathon can sing "Beat it", then i'm sure you can get your kids involved in it too lol. Matter of fact, my sister is horrified daily at having 2 toddlers singing "Slow Ride, Take It Easy" ever since they were introduced to the Guitar Hero game lol. No clue why they like that song but i've heard Miss Z screaming on the phone for her big brothers to play that song.

I bought myself a Playstation 2 for Christmas. A used model of course. Then I saw some games I REALLY want and guess what they're made for? You guessed it. Of course the ones I want are for a PS3 only. I haven't gotten brave enough yet to play the Dance Dance Revolution game I bought and the kids have sort of taken over that system too anyway, but i plan to kick them out tonight after work so i can play it.

The boys are all bugging me to buy Halo 3. I had told them I wasn't buying anymore war games but i might get that one since they've wanted it for so long. I think it's only for an Xbox360 though. At least I have the right system for what THEY want lol. They beat Halo 2 several times and have practically been drooling to get to play the new version. On the upside the new version has a wireless headset for Halo3 that might help one of my objections to the war games. The kids play them sooooo loud! I'll look into it, no promises though.

Anyway, hopefully soon i'll be adding my Wii and the Wii fit to our collection and I can't wait. I want that thing sooooooooo bad!

Nessa

I only had to work a few hours Saturday so I decided to make the most of the time off before the new job started Monday. I WANTED to go to the Houston Zoo but the kids complained that they practically know all the animals and can tell me exactly where they'll be sitting when we get to them since they're always in the same place as the time before. I can't say i agree with that statement but i didn't want to listen to them complain so i took them to the Downtown Aquarium. We'd never been there and likely won't be going back either lol. It was nice and pretty cool but for the $16 per person that i paid it could have been better. It was a nice day with the kids though so I can't complain really.

Sunday morning we went to the Flea Market. For those who don't know, that's a place where people sell stuff, usually for too much lol. Sort of a big yard sale. I didn't find much there really. Just some books and the boys got a football game, Ash got something to hang on her door with her name on it. She wanted a sign to hang on her door that says "Please knock and then go screw yourself", she uhhhhhh, didn't get it. She also wanted a sign that said "Bitch Parking Only".

On one side of the coin i'm just a little horrified that my daughter has such a 'tude. On the other side of it, I'm now positive that she really is MY daughter lol. I still don't know where she got her prissiness from but that's okay, I'm thinking it may be my Mom or even my Granny.

Anyway, here's some pics of our aquarium fun. Enjoy :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I have to admit I picked up Cosmo and a few other mags for a reason. The others are my faves to read. Cosmo was a split second "oh what can it hurt" decision. I knew deep down it was a mistake lol, but here's the thinking behind it.

I think it's my job as a blogger to try and impart more than just my life happenings. So i thought about doing a weekly segment of helpful information and wanted to thumb through different types of mags for inspiration. So far I can't say Cosmo helped anything but I have some ideas floating around from the others. I can't promise i'll actually DO any of them lol. That'd be like Organized or something. Not that i'm unorganized really, i'm just busy as all get out and sometimes can't get to everything i'm supposed to be doing.

So anyway, I hope to start this weekly segment next week. I can't promise what it will include though at this point. It could be household tips, it could be health tips, where to buy sexy plus size lingerie, fashion disasters involving plus size corsets or even tips on healthier pets. Maybe a mixture of all the above. I haven't had time to plan it all out just yet.

I'm leaning toward Sunday's since that's the only day i'm off and would have more time to devote to it. I reckon I'll figure it out and you'll know what I decided when you see it lol. Any requests?

Nessa