Nessas Place

As 2009 winds down I've decided to start keeping count of exactly how many visits I receive from my stalker. (It currently stands at 1258 visits since January 1st)Why am i counting now? Well first, I have my reasons that I've been advised not to divulge, but mostly just because it's fun to make fun of her and frankly she really makes it easy.

I guess she thinks it bothers me that she's here so often. Apparently her and her whackjob family and drunk friends thought I was kidding when I thanked them for all the money they make me by visiting daily and clicking links. I'm not bothered at all, I love it. I even asked her to have the rest of her family get involved too. They make me money while I do other things. Awesome huh? If anyone needs to borrow her let me know. I can come post on your site and she'll come look to see if I say anything about her. They are falling down on the job as far as clicking links but if you have any posts about jewelry, bad mothers, psychotic females in Jacksonville Florida or pretty much anything else, just let me know and I will hook ya up. I'm happy to share the wealth lol.

Nessa

Due to the fact that Ashley had to be homeschooled for a short period, she is having to catch up on credits in Public School. Even Redneck Hell ISD makes students accumulate so many credits in order to graduate. Soooooooo, we're working really hard on getting her caught up. I can tell you it's pretty close to being a nightmare. Why?

Well, to catch up on the credits she has to work on these computer programs. It's a self paced tutorial that tells the student the information and then quizzes them on what they learned. The problem is that Ash's learning disability is pretty much ONLY in Math. So, she goes to the teacher and tells them she doesn't understand the tutorial and they say "the answers are multiple choice, just keep choosing different answers til you pass." No, I'm not kidding.

Between my work schedule and the fact that I hate Math, I'm not much help to her. Tyler has helped her a bit but it's 12th grade stuff and he's only in 7th so he only knows so much. So she just isn't getting the math answers she needs as far as really learning to do this stuff.

I've thought about finding her some sort of online math tutoring to see if that would be a viable answer to the problem. She HAS to pass this course in order to graduate though so maybe it can't hurt. Any insight she can get into solving the math problems would be helpful at this point.

She needed chemistry help and we were able to help her with that. I was always really good in the sciences, just not Algebra. Thank goodness she didn't need Precalculus help or statistics help too. I am definitely going to look into the online tutoring option, but for more than one subject it might be a little more than I can afford. We'll see.

Nessa

My youngest nieces are verrrrrrrrry girly. Their background before coming to live with my sister was pretty rough so whenever I can I like to bring some "pretty" back to their world. My sister does a great job with them of course and keeps them in the cutest stuff but what's an Aunt's job if it's not to spoil?

Soooooo, check out my latest creations. My model sure looks happy to wear them, I hope the girls will be just as delighted.



Are you crafty too? Join Us and show off your pretties!

Nessa

Ya Know I keep saying that I love the Holidays. I decided today that I only THINK I love the Holidays. I've been trying to talk myself into loving this madness for years now and I've finally come to the conclusion that lying to myself isn't helping anything.

That said, I'm fairly sure that if I didn't have to go anywhere to shop or deal with the grumpy people also trying to convince themselves that they love this season, i'd be okay and could live with my delusions just fine. The sad fact is I HAVE to actually deal with people and for the most part it seems that there are quite a few Mother's and Father's out there that should have put their children in time out while they had the chance.

I don't mean the little kids or even teenagers either. I'm talking about grown ups.....well, people who are supposed to be grownup anyway. It's crazy out there!! I went to the store the other day and was about to pick up a set of journals for Ashley that have been out at LEAST 3 months. As I reached for them I swear I heard this woman growl as she snatched them up. Considering she was older than me, was about 2' taller and had a cane, i figured my chances weren't too good of snatching it back so I didn't press my luck. I was probably lucky she didn't just whack me for reaching for it. ::Sigh:: If only My Mother hadn't taught me to be respectful to the elderly.


Anyway, to avoid further incidents i'm looking for great shipping deals and online sales. There's quite a few out there thank goodness so that's at least helpful and i don't have to worry about being bitten or beat with a cane. Tyler is wanting some cargo pants to go with his new grungy look. It's all part of his " I will be a Rock Star someday" plan. So, while looking for something along those lines I found some Burton cargo pants that he'd probably like. I'll have to ask one of his grungy friends to be certain though. I hate shopping for teens!
I hope wherever you are, shopping is safer and more fun and well, more like Christmas. If not, shop online too!

Nessa

Okay, So now that I am not sick anymore, well mostly, and I've mostly fixed my blog, here are a few tips to help get through this holiday season with Joy in your heart while blessing others as well.

1. Homeless Shelters are always needing blankets and coats as well as shoes. I gave away 3 jackets that my boys never even got to wear over the weekend to a local charity. The weather was just so mild last year that they never needed them, but it's not so nice this year so far. I'm sure they'll be enjoyed by someone who can use them.

2. Consider buying a gift for a woman in a Women's' Shelter. If you can't buy something, consider donating gently used clothing. The women in these shelters need every bit of help they can get to make this change in their life a permanent one. The first step is leaving the abusive situation, the second is learning to sustain themselves. Part of that is having the confidence in themselves to keep pressing on. Looking nice helps inspire that confidence.

3. Do your kids have too many toys? Explain to them that there are kids who don't have any. Let them help you go through the toy box to donate gently used toys to other children. I think this is one way to really teach children to give from the heart and it also makes room for new goodies from Santa.

4. Are you a freebie freak? Do you sign up for every freebie and now have a ton of them? Check with a local homeless shelter to see if they could use the items. You don't have to give it ALL away, just some! You know you'll be signing up for more anyway :)

5. Don't forget the Food pantry's. Donate non perishables from your pantry or buy some at the store and donate them there. All the stores in my area have a special place where you can donate food. Also consider donating cash if possible. The pantry's have buying power and can stretch $5 a heck of a lot farther than you or I can.

6. talk to your church family and see about putting together a group of people to sing Christmas Carols at nursing homes or Assisted living centers

More to come.....stay tuned!!

Nessa

Sooooooooo, in the true spirit of the "Winter" season, I've been sick as a dog. I've literally pretty much laid in the recliner pondering death by cold medicine. Ok, maybe not that bad but pretty bad regardless. The bad thing is that i think it wasn't a cold after all but a severe allergy. The even worse thing.......I think it's the Christmas tree I'm allergic to.

I'm not sure WHY i'd be allergic to it. It's just a Douglas Fir. Nothing weird or different but I got sick when it came in the house and I set it up. There's been no let up in symptoms til I got some severe allergy medication rather than taking regular cold medication. I'm thinking maybe there's something that the tree was sprayed with that i'm allergic to rather than the tree itself but who knows really? I just plan to stay away from it as much as is possible.

So, now I have several days to catch up on for my "True Spirit" Series. I'd have already been caught up but apparently someone decided to hack my blog over the weekend. A sad pathetic someone at that most likely. The effort was wasted though since everything that is available, is available in plain site. Nothing is hidden. Soooooooo I hope they had fun. I needed a new look anyway, so it's all good I suppose. I just wish some people could move on with their life and stop insisting on keeping me in theirs. If they'd been as diligent in their marriage as they are in keeping tabs on me, I wouldn't be involved anyway lol. I tell ya, I manage to get in trouble without even knowing it! Like a Super Duper Trouble Magnet or sumthin.

Anyway, I've just about got the blog back where it should be so once I take my next break at work, I'll catch up on the series and get a few other things done as well. Wish me luck, Imma need it!

Nessa

Before I say a lot, I want to qualify that I understand not everyone has the ability to give monetarily during the holidays. I understand it's a struggle just to get by on a daily basis for some people. So, before anyone gets upset, remember I said that. K? Ok..so here goes.

One of the companies I work for are currently asking for donations to assist a children's cancer charity. It's something that can be done in increments as low as $1 so it's not like we're asking for a ton of money here and like I said it benefits children with cancer! HELLO???

So anyway, I had a lady call in and buy over $900 worth merchandise. I asked her if she'd like to make a donation. She declined. Now during this entire conversation she was talking about her grandchildren and how she just loved to buy their gifts. When I gave her the total she was elated that she'd shopped so cheaply. So when I asked her if she'd like to donate a dollar or more and she said no I couldn't help but be a little disappointed that she wouldn't want to help. Now to be fair, for all I know she gave a thousand dollars to the same charity or even another just as deserving. I wouldn't know if she did or didn't. It did make me think though.

In all the shopping frenzy are we forgetting something? Something like, oh I dunno, the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place? Isn't it supposed to be a time of giving? For most Christians, the exchange of gifts symbolizes the gifts given by the 3 Wisemen to baby Jesus. Other religions of course celebrate this differently and that's fine, I have no issue with other traditions at all but if you're celebrating CHRISTmas it should be done in a manner consistent with the spirit of the occasion.

If you celebrate X-mas, well then I guess it really is all about the presents and getting what you can get for yourself, be it the joy of giving, receiving, whatever. I'm not passing judgement here, that's not my place, I'm simply asking if there shouldn't be a deeper meaning to the whole thing.

Sooooooo, In that vein, I'm going to start posting a tip a day through Christmas in an effort to not only give ideas on ways to give monetarily but to give of yourself and your personal talents. It doesn't have to cost a thing. It just has to come from the heart to be special. I'll also post on things I am doing myself. My goal is to just see if there is anyway to make someone elses holiday brighter in any way.

Technically as a Christian, this is something I should be doing all year long anyway and I do manage to make lap blankets and take them to the nursing home but I cannot say that I have ever really taken the time to identify a nursing home patient that could use some company and taken the blanket to them directly and give them some of my time to just talk. So that's the goal, do more to give of myself instead of just what I can do conveniently. I challenge all my readers to do the same and if you have tips/ideas you'd like to share, please do. I will post them and give you a link back to your blog. All religions welcome of course, as long as it's family appropriate and in no way offensive, no one will be excluded. Share your culture by all means :)

Soooooooo for the first tip:

Prayer is a powerful thing. It's cheap, it's easy, it can be done virtually anywhere and it encompasses all religions. Whomever you pray to, simply offer up a prayer that those who are less fortunate will not be forgotten this holiday season and that those who can help will do so. You can also pray to be shown how you can help someone. Open your heart, take just a moment of your time and just pray for others. It feels good.

Nessa

Today's Edition: 10 Things You Want, but Wouldn’t Buy for Yourself

I don't know that these are things I actually WANT, but they're things that cost more than I would spend on myself.

1. Authentic Roger Staubach Dallas Cowboys Jersey
2. Authentic Demarcus Ware Dallas Cowboys Jersey
3. Tickets to see a Dallas Cowboys Game
4. An Elliptical Trainer
5. Godiva Chocolates
6. Godiva Coffee
7. Motley Crue T-shirts
8. Nickleback T-shirts
9. A new Computer.......mine is just hacking me off!
10. A trip to Greece.......if i'm gonna dream.........

Nessa