soooo freaking frustrated!

the title really does say it all...

Yep...i know things will get better.... I know it does no flippin good to try to worry about things that are not in your control... and I know I need to count my blessings ( of which I really do have many)...

Just right now, at this moment... i am frustrated about a whole bunch of stuff that isn't in my control, and I suppose in the grande scheme of life and death really don't even matter.

Why... oh why... can't everyone just agree w/ me and do what I think is the right thing to do,lol.....

Carry on....

just to clarify things....

Feb 1 is not the #1 day,lol..... Superbowl Sunday is the #1 day for DV in this country, followed by Christmas at a close second.

saturday

I spent the day at my parents, who were watching this adorable creature... my nephew.My mom does my hair color every month... so today while it was doing its thing... i took a few pictures of my nephew, with his most favorite person in the world.

Work is a little stressful right now, my supervisor and I were at odds... i think that has worked itself out for the most part. There will be changes happening... and ya'll know how much I like change...

Tomorrow will be a fun day... more baseball for joel and then working on the #1 day for domestic violence in this country,lol.

With that said... be kind to everyone!

Lisa

Friends.....

These 3 boys have been friends for around 6 years... now they are roomates. The end two are in school still... the middle guy just graduated and bought a house. I love to watch them interact w/ eachother. They joke,banter... and truly have eachothers backs.They play sports together... relax together... shop together and are learning about life together. They all have different strengths... its awesome. They would never admit it... but I think they love eachother... they are kinda like a family.

This has made me take a look at my friendships and get to work on building some like these guys have.

Friday fill ins... on Friday even,lol.

1. The world is __ours... lets be good to it__.

2. ___"Craptacular"__ was the last thing I said.

3. I wonder _what I will be doing next year at this time____.

4. ___Peace is __ at the end of all things.

5. There's something to be said for __honesty... just do it___.

6. ____Taking a nap on the couch_ is where I want to be.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to ___karaoke__, tomorrow my plans include ____being lazy_ and Sunday, I want to ___have lunch w/ my sons and head to work__!

I know its Sunday... but here are my Friday fill ins...

Friday Fill in... day late... dollar short,lol.


1. I must __find love___ before I die.

2. You can't stop __time___.

3. I wish I never had to buy __tires___ again.

4. _franklin covey____ has helped me change my life.

5. I know the song __what the world needs now___ by heart.

6. If I weren't so afraid, I would _trust more easily____.

a peek into our christmas

This is my jokester josh... My camera was on some freaky setting while opening presents... so when I asked him to recreate the scene... well.. this is what I got.

We had a wonderful time w/ family... as always.

Hope everyone else had a wonderful time too.

Peace

ho ho ho

Merry Christmas!

Just a quickie

Just some journaling prompts from another site...


1.My stomach is crampy.
2. Broccoli cheese casserole is what I ate the most of on Thursday.
3. The yard is ok, just ok.
4. My scraproom is where I'd rather be at any given time.
5. The smell of apples reminds me of when i was teaching.
6. Peace is what I need right now!

Happy Thanksgiving

As in recent years' past... the boys and I headed to my Mom's for Thankgsgiving.Again, as usual... I took the rolls and the pies... if I do say so myself, I make the best rolls and the best pies on the planet.

My dad had a football game to go to, and my sister and her husband had a basketball game to go to, so after dinner when everyone cleared out, my mom colored my hair. All of a sudden Joel remarks "hey... its quiet in here... oh yeah... Grandpa left" LOL... which lead to a huge discussion about how grandpa is,lol.He is the nicest man ever... but is always talking!!!

Max was so excited to have everyone around that he didn't eat much... but he was a pretty loud guy too. He is starting to learn people's names, and he could say Josh's name, so he just kept saying it over and over and over. Too cute!!!

I am more thankful for today however... stay home w/ a new magazine on a cloudy arizona day... very cool indeed.

ouch

Well... you know how we celebrate our children's milestones? I am not celebrating,lol. It's Joel's first accident. Ugh....

What I am celebrating is the way he handled/is handling himself. Being a 911 dispatcher I often hear about people leaving the scene, or starting fights, or behaving badly in light of a stressful situaton.

What Joel did was call his brother first...(and while I am a little annoyed at that... he was on the way to pick him up) stayed there, checked on the people in the other car, was respectful to everyone there and handled himself in a generally grown up fashion. Of course I was at work. Since I have been working there I had always wondered how I would handle things if one of my kiddos had an emergency while I was there. More on that tomorrow... its a "deep thought" thing,lol.

Not sure what we are going to do w/ this car exactly- it all depends. For now, he is skateboarding everywhere he needs to go, which is pretty convinient for him at school.

Drive safely everyone! ( and no he wasn't texting at the time of the accident,lol.)

updates and a new photo

The date was fine. He is nice, he has a lot of the same family values as I do. That's the good part... He seems to have a facinaton w/ dragons... I am not sure what is up w/ that yet... I may go out w/ him again...

I did go to the zoo on Saturday as well... and I always take pics like I have never been there before,lol. But who could resist this sweet face?? Our zoo is working on a new exibit for these guys... a multi million dollar project... It is in process now... anxious to see what happens.

I had a pretty busy weekend... didn't really relax much... now I am going into my work week a lil tired. I guess I am not as young as I used to be,lol...


Short post... that's all for now! Peace!

being sociable is tough

or is it just me??? Meeting new people, smiling, dating... being nice... ugh...

I think I just am going to buy some cats... and become the crazy old maid on the corner,lol.

Ok... I am going out to dinner tonight... lets see how this goes

I'm back baby... I am back

This photo was taken at the end of october- at the first game that I have been "allowed " to go to in over a year. Last year, Joel played w/ some college friends, but he said " Moms don't go to their son's games if they are adults... geez". So... I didn't go, but I was sad. I get that he's an adult.. and this isn't T-ball anymore.

But, for years, my whole social live revolved aroune his sports activities and when he went off to college all of that stopped. I had nowhere that I had to rush to... no games to watch.

I was thrilled to be invited to this game. Joel is playing w/ some kids from his former high school... that I used to watch him play baseball with. That was awesome as well. I was bummed to find out that last week (when I wasn't invited,lol) he hit a homerun... ahh well... maybe next week! They won this game... as well as the game that would be played the next week.

Again.... we are back in 1993 (can you tell this is how far I have gotten in my LOM photo organization,lol) anyway, thats my sister, and my boys... hanging out waiting to go trick or treating...

This Halloween, in 2008 we are all doing our own thing. Joel is in Tempe... going to a party that I am pretty sure I want to know nothing aobut.Josh is going to a party with his girlfriend ( and to be honest... they both do not need costumes) so today, after telling me yesterday that "costumes are gay" we had to go on an emergency shopping expedition in our small town,lol. He is a "zombie doctor" whatever that is. They are attending a party at her church.

I had a few different things to choose from. I am going on a dinner date, and then to karaoke... at least... at 5 pm... thats what I think I am gonna do..

Anyway... Happy Halloweenie to all....
lisa

advice

I don't know if this is advice exactly... It is something I said to someone last week, and for some reason has been weighing on my mind a lot today...

Marriage is hard...Divorce is hard...Life is hard...

Not sure why its on my mind today. Maybe I am supposed to remember that as I go to work today, or maybe I need to remember it at my own house...

Today I am going to do my best to be as kind to people as I possibly can... everyone is having a hard time.

Lisa

Max

This is Mischievous Max. He isn't really,lol but that look on his face almost has me convinced otherwise.

I had my sons at 22 and 23 yrs old. I had been married 4 years when we had our first-Joel. Josh came 18 months later, and although at the time I was one tired mama... I wouldn't change a minute of it. I am still tired,lol much older but it has been a great ride. Joel is now 19, Josh is 17.5.

As with most people without children... my sister knew she was a way better parent than I am. For 16 years I stood by... doing my best, however imperfect it was... listening to how I was doin it wrong. Its only fair... I taught for 8 years before I had Joel, and while I would like to think I was not as judgemental as my sister... I am sure I thought at least once that I could do it much better. Karma.... lol.

Joel was so intense from birth. He cried loud and hard and knew what he wanted. As he got to be 2... His temper tantrums were as intense. So was his joy... but no one ever faults a parent for that,lol. Josh was more easygoing... which was great then, cuz Joel was about enough...

Max at 2 is very different from either of my kids. My sister is a much older first time mom than I was... 36 at the time of his birth. She parents very differently than I did. Not wrong.. goodness knows I have learned never to say that... but different. Maybe Max is different because she is different... or she is different because Max is... who knows.

That boy adores my dad- which is pretty cool to see. My kiddos were closer to their dad's dad... and me. Max is able to sit in a highchair for what seems like forever to me. Joel was one of those kids who had to be walked around outside until the food came. Max is quiet. Really quiet. Joel was... well not quiet. Josh was quieter, I think, but not too sure since Joel was making so much noise. Joel and Josh both were very confident kids- not shy... talk to anyone/everyone...and wanted to do everything themselves. We had many a meltdown if I opened the doorknob instead of checking who's turn it really was,for example. Max does not talk much at all... is very shy and doesn't seem to be as insistant at "doing it himself" and looks at my dad before he makes a move to do anything.It is really interesting to see.

Now that my sister has had him... she realizes it isn't easy as it looks... I am hearing through my mom that my sister thinks her assessment of me may have been too harsh. Like I said... Karma.

Have a good one... and lets try to be uplifting to all parents out there!

the desert

This photo was taken over 15 yrs ago,lol, in the dead of summer.It pretty much always looks like this here... what everyone has heard about us not having seasons. We have hot and hotter,ya know?


I am liking my new schedule... it is more "normal" than I have been working most of the last 2 years. Weekends off.. and working swing shift. I can sleep in every day... woo hoo!

Paintball season is going strong again... Josh has been busy w/ that... and I have been busy shuffling him everywhere he needs to be,lol.

Joel is doing well at school... I hardly see him anymore... sniff sniff.

I have become an absolute IPOD freak. I embarrass myself,lol but I love it. I have accessories now too... I spend hours adjusting playlists... it is almost becoming a hobby... must stop...

I decided to try to loose weight again. I was successful last time... and at some point kinda gave up... I haven't really gained any back.. but I would like to keep going... with my new schedule I think I am going to try to start walking... My motto is no pain... no pain... so I will never be a runner or big into fitness,lol but I think I could walk a little bit.

And... I went back to church last week... something else I have not had the opportunity to do in the past 2 years. It felt great... I am going to continue that.

me a-z

A. Attached or single? Single

B. Best friend? I don't have one

C. Cake or pie? Pie

D. Day of choice? Love Sundays

E. Essential item? I dunno- water and medication I guess,lol.

F. Favorite color? navy blue

G. Gummy bears or worms? worms

H. Hometown? Phoenix Az

I. Indulgence? Sonic Drinks, scrapbooking supplies

J. January or July? July

K. Kids? Two

L. Life isn’t complete without? my kids, of course

M. Marriage date? eh who cares,lol

N. Number of brothers & sisters? 1 sister

O. Oranges or apples? I'm picky. Green apples

P. Phobias? change/chaos/disorder

Q. Quotes? Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start over and make a brand new ending. ( Thank God for this, huh?)

R. Reasons to smile? happy healthy kids, a good job, everything we need

S. Season of choice? az really doesn't have seasons but I don't like the cold

T. Truth or dare?? Truth.... always

U. Unknown fact about me? I do not like any raw vegetables

V. Vegetable? sweet potato

W. Worst habits? I worry waay too much.If I am not worried, I start worrying that I am forgetting what I am supposed to be worried about... working on it,lol.

X. X-ray or ultrasound? I've had both.

Y. Your favorite food? pizza

Z. Zodiac sign? I'm a Virgo

the times they are a changin.......

Joel doesn't need to call me every day anymore.

Josh is almost done w/ high school- probably will be taking classes at the community college next semester.

My schedule is changing again at work ( I am happy w/ the change, but I hate changing so freaking often,lol.)

The weather is cooling off a bit- we don't get over a hundred anymore.

I am beginning to like technology. I also still love the slow old fashioned antique-y kinda stuff, but this fast computer,ipod,digital camera etc stuff is kinda cool too.

Ok well- I am stumped on anymore changes,lol. Apperantly since I don't really like change that feels like a lot but when you write it down it doesn't seem as much.