Nessas Place

Once again, thanks to Mom Select and Mommyparties, I got to be part of some really big smiles and alot of laughs. Some lucky kids got a chance to get a free Dragon courtesy of Megabloks.
When I signed up to have this party I hadn't even really seen the dragons yet. I didn't even know what they were, but I knew that the Megabloks name was usually synonymous with a good time for my kids so I wasn't too worried. I was sure that whatever this "dragon" was, it'd be a great quality toy that the kids would love.

What I didn't expect was that it was going to be so hard for me to stay out of the toys myself lol. They just look so neat and the huge warships were all brightly colored and looked like they were going to be a blast! I managed to keep from opening the big warships but I did finally have to open and dragon egg and check it out. I just couldn't help myself! My boyfriend and I put it together, well okay, mostly he did but we played with it for almost half an hour. No kids were around either lol. It was just so cool!

I couldn't wait to present them to the kids. I wasn't a bit disappointed either! The boys loved them and put them together in short order. One of my nephews put together several of them and spent the next hour or so pretending the dragons were flying and shooting some bad guy from somewhere or another.

The toys were easy to assemble, especially thanks to the directions, otherwise it could be a little tricky for us adults. The kids of course had no such trouble. The ships offered a little more trouble but my nephew figured it out pretty quickly and he was off to the next step. Even my 2 nieces were intrigued with the dragon toys. They're a great way for the kids to use their imagination and just have a grand ole time.

I'm so glad I signed up to host this particular party. I loved seeing the smiles on the kids faces and the ways in which they used the toys to suit their personalities. Some Dragons flew fiercely across the sky and some were sweet dragons simply looking around looking for something to munch on. Imagination is a wonderful thing! Thank you Momselect, Mommyparties and MegaBloks for such an awesome product!

Have you heard about the new Zhu Zhu Hamsters this Christmas season? If not, let me tell you, these Hamsters are ready for battle and still just as cute as their more tame cousins. Thanks to Mom Select/MommyParties, I got a chance to share these cuties with some great munchkins and they had a blast. Just like the ZhuZhu Pets, these tough guys make the cutest sounds, they just do it in battle armor with "weapons". The best thing about these for a parent is, they have the cuteness of a fuzzy little hamster, but no mess to clean up, no food, no water. Just 100% fun.

While these Kung Zhu's are more directed to the boys, make no mistake. The girls like them too. In a big way! I've heard there are also some Fashion Model Hamsters as well that are very much girlyfied but none of the litttle girls at our party cared if their Hamster was decked out in battle gear or all dolled up. The girls just loved how cute they were and the boys loved the new "tough" look.

All in all it was a great time! Thanks to MomSelect/MommyParties and the makers of the ZhuZhu pets for a chance to put some fun smiles on some adorable faces.

Running my business has just gotten so much easier. Through Bzzagent, I was offered the opportunity to try out a Dymo LabelWriter 450 Du0. I have to say, I didn't really see how this was going to help me all that much but I was willing to give it a shot. I'm always sending out samples and anything that could possibly cut my time by making things easier is more than welcome.

As it turns out, I'm not sure how I lived or worked without this thing. It literally has increased my production time by about 50%. Instead of loading label sheets into my printer, after finding the right format and typing in the address, I literally open the software, paste the address in for my label and hit print. I can also print postage with the same ease, saving me trips to the Post Office.

For fun, today I printed out all the address labels for my Christmas Cards. Well over 75 addresses! It took me less than 30 minutes and only took that long because these addresses were new and I had to get them from various places such as facebook, myspace, etc. The addresses are now saved and to print them all out again next year will likely take me around 3 minutes tops. Not only did they print fast, but I was also able to add clip art to the labels to make them cuter and it took no extra time at all. I can't tell you how many times I just gave up in the old days trying to use other programs.

One of the things I like best about this Labelwriter is that there is no ink needed. It works off a thermal print head and all I will ever have to buy is labels from now on. How awesome is that? No more trips to the post office, no more ink, no more frustration. Thank You Bzz Agent and Dymo for this opportunity. I can't tell you how much time, money and headaches you have saved me with this campaign.

Me, my Sister and our cousins. We Are Family!!

Sunday morning I got up early and went with Phillip to the flea market to look around. I mostly just got irritated at the stupid music being played so loud and we didn't find any good deals really, so that didn't help. Then we went to the State park to hike a few miles on one of the trails. That didn't exactly work out as planned. In fact it worked out exactly NOT as we planned and instead of 3 miles we ended up hiking almost 12 miles. However, despite some sore muscles and very sore feet, we still had a great time and are now planning to go back with bikes to go on the bike trails. I can't wait. We saw a great deal of very pretty areas and it was really nice to just get away for a little bit, even if it was longer than we thought it would be.

Lake Isabel, creepily beautiful

He's even better than the scenery!

I’m a little peeved. Okay, I’m A LOT peeved. I’d personally like to go to Wal-Mart, smack around a manager and teach him a few manners. Why? Because my nephew is doing something awesome and this manager seems to be a moron.

My nephew is 7 years old. He signed up at school to participate in a jump rope fund raiser for The American Heart Association. He decided to raise $2,000. Now as adults, we know that’s a great deal of money, and so does my nephew, but he doesn’t understand just how hard it will be to raise that much. I admire his goal though and his tenacity in trying to raise the money for such a wonderful cause. He has gone door to door with his Mom in tow asking for donations. He asked his Mom to take him to other neighborhoods as well. He really wants to raise this money!

Today he decided that he should go to Wal-Mart in Montgomery ,Texas and ask if he could set up to take donations there. He was even going to jump rope to show people how talented he was to get them to donate. Personally, I think he’s a GENIUS!! Well, my sister took him up there and the Wal-Mart manager stated that he could not do so because it would only benefit my nephew. Say WHAT? He even implied that the money might not all go to the school’s fundraiser. As if my nephew might keep some of it? This is one of those times it’s a good thing I don’t live near my sisters because I think this guy needs a pop in the mouth and I’m just the Aunt to deliver it!

Despite my sister explaining how much he was trying to raise, that it was for the American Heart Association and that he most certainly would turn in every dime, the manager said no. That might not be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that they allow others to ask for donations all the darn time!

Girl Scouts are selling cookies to be recognized for selling the most cookies in their troop. The girl scouts as a whole might do things to help their community but ultimately the little gals will chase you down to get you to buy cookies because they get a badge for it. (I’m just waiting for someone to sue them for making them fat if you want to know the truth, but that’s another story. Helloooooooo Thin Mints!) Anyway, all my nephew gets is the satisfaction of helping people who need it. So it’s okay to shoot for a badge, but not to help people?

At my local Wal-Mart I’ve been approached by people raising money to help teens like themselves that are in drug rehab facilities. The person requesting the money looks like a crackhead, not a recovering one either, and it’s okay for THEM to stand at the front of the store, but not for my nephew to raise money for a major charity. I donated but I feel sure that there was as much chance it would go to a guy on a street corner as there was it would help anyone else. I mean, my nephew is a redhead and he has a few teeth missing, but he’s 7 and many of his class mates are about the same. He’s no crack head, recovering or otherwise.

Just last week, I was approached by 3 young black girls, asking for donations. I asked what they were raising money for and they said they were doing something with their church. They were a little unsure it seemed about WHY they were doing the fundraising and they were harassing white people who were declining to donate. They could have harassed other races too, but I didn’t see that. I gave them $10 because if they really were doing something with the church that’s something to be encouraged, but their manners left a great deal to be desired. The point is, my nephew wouldn’t have harassed anyone. He’s a cute little guy who wants to do some good. Period.

I think Wal-Mart needs to remember that they were supposedly founded on the ideals of “community” and American pride. What’s more American than wanting to help people who need it? Especially when it’s a SEVEN year old!! Other kids can’t be bothered. They want to play video games, play outside with their friends or text til they get arthritis. They aren’t looking to do something to help others. My nephew is though and he should be allowed to do so. Gawd how many times have you seen people in the Wal-Mart parking lot giving away free puppies or kittens because they were too irresponsible to get their dog fixed? That’s okay, but don’t let a child ask to get donations to help others. Nope can’t have that!

I’m already peeved at the morons who run the Cleveland Wal-Mart for trying to run every customer leaving the store through a strip search. Okay well, it might not be THAT bad but it’s pretty freaking annoying. The door greeters are told to check receipts for every person who leaves. That might not be so bad except that the door greeters are almost always elderly and they can’t friggin SEE!!! So they spend 10 minutes trying to find the dog food on the list. I pretty much refuse to participate and have been known to just hand them the receipt and keep walking or walk by and say “ nothing stolen today, thanks” as I stroll by. It’s stupid and I don’t understand why they are the ONLY one out of the 6 I can drive to locally that do this. With Christmas coming up I will NOT be shopping there. Last year it was as long to get out of the store at the door as it was to wait in line to check out. Screw that!

Anyway, I think I’m going to call this Wal-Mart manager tomorrow , ask again what his objections are and then I’m going to report him to the newspaper. I just think his answer is absolutely ridiculous and I want him to at least apologize to my nephew for implying he could be anything less than honest. What a jerk!
Hopefully we can help him get to his goal, but if not, it won’t be for lack of him trying.

Nessa

Tyler says he was laying on the couch and he liked the way the sun was coming through the door. That's what the white blur is. The person behind the blur............well that's a different story. The person is too slim to be Daniel and he was asleep at the time anyway, Tyler was laying down and couldn't have thrown a shadow of a person standing up. Especially not with the way the lighting works in this house. Jonathon was working in Boston so it wasn't him. it's clearly a man, so that leaves Ashley out and I wasn't here. There's no one else for it to be, but who is it?

I have tried to recreate the situation and so far I can't. I don't WANT it to be a ghost or anything spooky but I'm kind of starting to wonder. I can say I don't feel any danger here. Nothing like that, but this picture creeps me the hell out. I just wish he'd taken it with a regular camera rather than a cell phone.

Nessa

Most times I would prefer to keep issues private since I have some class, however, In dealing with you it is quite apparent that you are willing to twist words, lie and make up whatever you need to in order to try and get sympathy for your made up issues. Because of that, I am only going to post this one thing to you and I'm saying it where everyone can see it in order to take that ability away from you. I have nothing to hide and I am ashamed of nothing at all.

If I post a blog that you see yourself in, try to dig deep down and find just a little bit of class and stop outing yourself on your own blog lol. *IF* I had been actually talking about you, you made it clear on your own blog by rebutting it and once I was notified of such I had a very good laugh. And you call ME stupid? I forgot all about your loony blog until a family member asked why you were obviously reading mine and then responding to it on yours. Rest assured, my Meth post was a paid post and every fact I posted is available on the Internet and had nothing to do with you. If you have something to feel guilty about, that's on you not me. It's very telling that you would automatically assume it is about you though. Most innocent persons wouldn't have, but whatever.

If there is something on my blog that offends you, well gee, don't read it! I've been to your blog exactly once, I laughed my ass off and thanked God for my sanity.

I did read your stupid monologue that made very little sense about my former boyfriend. Here's what I have to say about it. You helped me prove he had a kid he was lying about. You helped me prove he was still married and not separated/divorced as I believed. I did nothing wrong except believe a liar and I have nothing to feel bad about there either. I should have been smarter, but I'm no home wrecker lol. I busted HIM remember? Unfortunately, I believed him again after that but not for long. So your cockamamie stories are just laughable especially since others were involved as well and they remember you telling distinctly different stories before. So instead of embarrassing me as was your intent, you proved you're a liar to those who already knew you helped me bust him lol. WTG! Thanks for that! I couldn't have damaged your credibility any better if I had tried! The sad thing is you aren't smart enough to get that you continuously do that and have since you were a child and it's the reason no one believes most anything you say. Just like your Mom!!!

I have not ever, nor will I ever care enough to stalk you. I don't unblock you on facebook to see what you say, I don't try to see your myspace, I haven't read your loony blog but once and I won't be back because it's boring and full of lies. It would take too much time from work and spending time with my kids to sit and laugh at the things you write. Some of us actually have to work to pay our bills. So, I have too much to do in my life other than care about what you say or do. I have washed my hands of you and yours and simply don't care anymore. I pray for the kids that they are safe and happy and not affected by your need for drama, but that's it. I know that in the end things will be just fine for me and my kids because despite your claims, there are hundreds of people who can and will back up MY kids' character. I have always done what is best for my kids, even if it wasn't easy. I don't lie and pretend to be a perfect mother. I admit my mistakes and I don't blame them on anyone else or make things up to pretend I had reasons for any choice I made or that they weren't my fault. That's called being a grown up. You can keep changing your stories and twist facts to fit what you need them to but here's the thing...........other people remember things too. The funny part is that just like your Mom, you tell a different story and the rest of us all tell the same one. I guess it's a conspiracy against the 2 of you. It couldn't possibly be that the 2 of you lie as often as you breathe.

I have faith in the justice system. I don't need to go and try to turn my family against you or yours. I don't need to try and demean you. I haven't asked anyone to take sides, I haven't asked anyone to support me. I've conducted myself with dignity and after today when i hit "publish" I will continue to do so.

It appears you are upset that me and my kids are doing things with our family now and that has brought out a great deal of bitterness and new lies. To that, I say this.........there is nothing stopping you from organizing your own events and inviting family members. Not one of them will tell you I have asked them to avoid you or stop talking to you. I don't NEED them to because I don't NEED to be validated. With the exception of 3 people, i told NO ONE anything at all, but have found out in the last few days that you and your mother did an awful lot of talking. I'm not surprised but i am a bit embarrassed that neither of you have a shred of dignity OR truthfulness. Regardless, I am comfortable enough in my knowledge of the facts to be okay with them being around you and hearing your sad little stories. Do you honestly think people don't know you??? Do you even get that? You are exactly like your Mother and people see that! I stand on my character and the fact that I tell the truth and have always tried to be a better person than I was raised to be. You're apparently content to be who you were taught to be and that's okay i suppose, but it's not good enough for me or even most of society. I didn't always succeed but I damn sure learned from my mistakes and took responsibility for them. So if someone chose to stop speaking to you or they don't believe you, they chose to do so of their own volition and it's likely a product of the things you have done and said through this drama or a result of the things you did and said in the past as opposed to anything to do with me.

My advice to you is to grow up. It's okay to reach out for help. It's okay to reach out for support. It is not okay to lie to get it. It is not okay to make things up or stretch the truth to turn family against family. Someone sent me some of your stupid posts on other boards telling "your story" and I laughed so hard I cried. Multiple personalities? Really? Want me to talk about the O's you can't have??? My own daughter was horrified by the sounds coming from your room and she said "if that was faking you need to be in hollywood." So, you cant even tell a consistent story about THAT, much less anything else. And yet you can't understand why your own mother called you a "f***ing liar" when you told her what supposedly happened to you? I could tell quite a few stories myself if you'd like. Like the ones about the video tapes made in dugan or your long lost "son". The difference between us is *I'M* telling the truth and I can prove it. So you can keep on telling your stories to try and get sympathy or you can act like a real parent and REALLY get help so that your kids don't have to face growing up exactly like you and it be a bad thing.

I will always in some way care for the little girl I helped take care of and loved dearly, but that little girl died a long time ago in a sea of lies, half truths and a probable mental condition that could have been helped if she'd had a better mother. I don't even blame you for any of this really. I blame your Mother for not getting you help when she knew you needed it because she didn't want the "stigma" placed on our family. It doesn't excuse you by any means but I prefer to believe everything you have done is a result of something you cannot help rather than because you have no conscience. The thing is, you deny it NOW, but you DID start getting help and we saw it was working and you let yourself be convinced it wasn't true because your Mommy didn't want it to be. Don't your kids matter more than your Mommy's own screwed up beliefs?? Don't they deserve a healthy mother? Don't they deserve a chance you didn't have?

To the family and friends who might see this, I'm sorry if any portion of this embarrasses you. I have tried not to sink to this level and I have tried to ignore the lies but it's time to call a spade a spade. It should have been done a long time ago. I'm ONLY doing it publicly because it's the only way this person won't be able to say I said something that I didn't. I'm tired of feeling the need to apologize for them trying to pull you into the drama and it possibly affecting your own lives. I genuinely tried to not let it affect the family and with the exception of the 3 people other than my sisters who I talked to and the blog post that accidentally published to facebook, I feel I did the best I could in that matter.

While I don't think this post will stop any of it, it will put them on notice that I've had enough. I'm willing to call a truce and let the justice system work because I am confident in my knowledge of the issues but I am positive they will continue to do as they have been and I apologize for that. I hope every one of you know that I love you and I appreciate the fact that you love me and my family in return despite the claims being made and for not taking sides. This is exactly how a true family SHOULD function and I am proud to be a part of it.

Nessa