Here are soccer pics of my brats.
Ashley (10)--Anthony (8)--Matt(12)
 

  

I haven't had much time to be on here lately. Gordon and I are looking into buying a house. We've been really busy scouring the city for a place we like. Sells are at an all time low so now's the time to do it. 
Mix that in with soccer 5 days a week and my head is spinning. We actually have this week off from soccer because there are no games this weekend. The city is having it's annual xmas parade and all the kids (including Gordon) are in it. Matt won't be in it with his soccer team though. He'll be with the marching band. This counts towards his grade. OHOHOHOH I FINALLY have some good news. Matt ,as of late, has been getting all F's in school bc he pretty much didn't care... WELLLL I just got his latest report card and I am happy to report there wasn't one F on there!!! He got an A a couple B's, a couple C's and one D. We are so freaking proud of him!  And he is so proud of himself. Hopefully he will keep this up. We have been busy every month helping him sell stuff for his band account. Every month he has new things to sell. First it was candy from a magazine. Then it was beef sticks. This past month he has been selling chocolate bars. He has 6 more of those to sell by Friday. Every kid in the band has to sell stuff to raise $400 that will go in their account to fund their trip to San Fransisco in May for a big tournament. So far every month he has sold everything on time. The chocolate bars he is coming to a standstill with though lol. If he doesn't sell them by tomorrow I am going to feel obligated to buy the rest of them so he doesn't get behind. Ah well... I'll give them all to the kids as a treat this week.
I havn't even started Xmas shopping!!! How horrible is that? We've been saving money to put into escrow once we find a house. Plus trying to pay bills. Gordon just found out that his company will be closed the entire week of Xmas...WITH NO PAY!!! I don't know how we're going to get thru that! I have no clue if he'll be getting an xmas bonus since he's only been with the comapny a bit under 3 months now.  Looks like we may be living on xmas leftovers all that week.  Luckily my mom got the kids their most expensive gift on their wish list. So I can just buy them the less expensive ones lol.
Well... I think thats it from here. I hope everyone's staying warm. Our highs have been in the 60's. Pretty drastic change from the 120 degree summers but I LOVE the cold!

In case you missed it on 60 Minutes, this is what Andy Rooney thinks about women over 40:
Andy Rooney


As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:


A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.


Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40.


Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.


Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize.

For all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?", here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

Andy Rooney is a really smart guy!

Saturday was soccer picture day and since we have all three kids in soccer we knew we were in for a long day but I never knew it would be THAT long. The soccer peeps were so unorganized this year. We were sopposed to be there at 9:30 to get my oldests pics taken and his game was sopposed to start by 10:30. Didn't happen. His pics didn't get done untill 11:45 and his game didn't start till 12. My two youngest were sopposed to start their games by 1 and that didn't happen till almost 3. We didn't get out of the park untill after 4 and we had to rush my daughter and her friend to a bday party. All we had eatten all day was chips. I was sooo hungry I thought I might faint. We didn't end up eatting untill a bit after 7. Gordon and I anyway... the kids had eatten.

My washing machine broke last week. I spent 30 minutes at the laundrymat Friday night. I brought the clothes home to dry. We can't afford to have someone come out to look at it and we can't afford a new on right now either. We're trying to figure out what's wrong with it ourselves. Might just be a belt. I hate going to the laundrymat. I spent the first years of my adult life there and was so happy when we got one for our house. I became spoiled being able to do laundry anytime day or night right at home lol.

Sunday was a big surprise. Let me start off by saying a few months ago we had some new people move into the house behind ours. They have a tendency to jump our fence and walk thru our backyard to the front to get to our street. It really pisses me off. They did this on Friday and I am happy to say my dog was outside and nipping at ankles! I walked outside and asked the lady what the F*CK she was doing... she was too busy getting away from my dog to answer. Have I mentioned these people look and act like druggies?? 
Anyway... On Sunday Gordon and I decided to clean up the back yard and fix the gates on both sides of the house so they wouldn't be able to get out thru our backyard and maybe they'd stop hopping our fence... but it never goes that easily. 
At the very back of our yard at the fence seperating our yards we found something strange. 2 soda bottles. One had a weird colored liquid in it with some white powdery substance floating in it. The really strange part was the hoses connecting each bottle to the other. I wish I had take a pic. We decided not to touch it. We have three friends who are cops so we called one of them about it. HE said definately don't touch it and he came right over. He thought it was very strange looking and called his watch commander who then called the fire department who then called the fire chief who then called hazmat. My gosh!! You wouldn't believe how our street looked. They even closed off the street to traffic. If was a sight. The hazmat team was all dressed up in their alien suits with masks on that made them look a bit like anteatters lol. All this took about 3 hours or so. 3 hours we had to stay in our house. They even told us we might have to evacuate for safety measures . (We didn't have to though) We all stood in the boys' room with our noses to the window watching lol.  Hazmat determined it wasn't something that would blow up and removed it from our yard. They opened the bottles and did an initial check of the liquid at their truck. They told us the substance was so acidic they believe it was left over liquid from a drug lab!!!  Can you imagine!?!?!  I'm glad we found it and not the kids!  I'm not sure what they'll be doing about it from here. Testing for fingerprints... talking to the people behind us? We'll see.

What a weekend!

Borrowed from donor4him

I have signed up for this and can't wait to get started.
Check it out!!



http://www.soldiersangels.org/adopt_a_soldier.php

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband.

He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?
Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

"Look at it." He said. "Read what it says." She read the words "United States of America"

"No, not that; read further."

"One cent?" "No, keep reading."

"In God we Trust?" "Yes!"

"And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message.