Saturday, December 27, 2008

R.I.P. Justin

A Fighter I know from working all the local fights, was murdered Christmas night. I had Mc'Gyvered him up during the November fights after he had cut his leg cutting up tape for gloves. Justin was a Huge guy, with hands the size of my head. He could be boisterous and ornery, but was also known to be a gentle giant.
Justin came up to me the last fights, Dec. 12th, and showed me his leg I had fixed and gave me a hug and said thank you for taking the time to fix him up. He said his pants with the huge gash on them were now his lucky pants...he was wearing them the night of the fights.

Please take a minute to read below and say a prayer for Justin and his family, as it has been revealed that 2 young children were in the home at the time he was shot.






R.I.P. Justin










Saturday, December 27, 2008by Loretta Hunt (lhunt@sherdog.com)
15598
Justin Eilers was shot and died shortly after on Friday morning in an apparent domestic disturbance at an acquaintance’s home in Canyon County, Idaho. Eilers was 30 years old. Canyon County sheriffs arrived at the residence at 10:44 p.m. MST, where Eilers was found shot and wounded. "Emergency medical staff took live-saving measures, but they were unsuccessful," said Capt. Dana Maxfield. Eilers was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy conducted Friday released the cause of death as a single gunshot wound to the chest. The bullet reportedly punctured Eilers’ lung before exiting his body, said Monte Cox, Eiler's longtime manager.
Cox said Eilers had gathered with relatives for the holidays, but tensions escalated with an ex-girlfriend, also in attendance. Eilers was asked to leave the residence, but was said to have refused and began throwing dishes and other objects in protest. The home’s owner was then said to have pulled a gun on Eilers and shot him in the chest after a brief verbal confrontation.
Eilers’ ex-girlfriend, mother, and young son were said to have been in the room at the time of the shooting.
James Robert Malec, 48, was arrested and charged with second degree murder in relation with the shooting, said Capt. Maxfield. It is believed that Malec is Eilers’ mother’s boyfriend.
Capt. Maxfield could not confirm this relationship or Eilers' alleged interaction with the ex-girlfriend. Maxfield did confirm that numerous relatives were at the scene at the time of the shooting.
Eilers was introduced to the fight game by close friend and former UFC champion Jens Pulver, who saw potential in the former Iowa State middle linebacker. After a brief tryout, Eilers became a member of the formidable Miletich Martial Arts team. A well-liked figure in the fight community, the athletic heavyweight quickly rose through the ranks and fought for the UFC heavyweight championship against Andrei Arlovski at UFC 53 in June 2005. The fight was stopped 4:10 into the first round when Eilers incurred a knee injury and collapsed to the canvas. Eilers (19-7-1) appeared in the Octagon four times, and went 1-3 in the UFC.
The Boise native reeled off 10 victories in his next 11 fights and got his second title bid for the EliteXC promotion in 2008.
After a second-round loss to the much heftier Antonio Silva last July, Eilers announced he’d be moving down to the 205-pound division. “He was really getting his fight career together,” said Cox, who called Eilers a good friend.
Jeff Sherwood and Brian Knapp contributed to this report.

Monday, December 15, 2008

NINJA....

Sorry it has been a while...I seem to lose track of time and the days all smoosh together and I find myself at the end of the line. :-)

I had fights recently, waiting for my friends (who got AWESOME photos of me doing my thing!!) to get the pics to me to post....BUSY night....lets see-18 fights =36 guys who want to pummel each other. A Full moon, Friday night and Beer....see where I am going with this...hehe
We had broken collar bones, noses, facial bones, knockouts and some that just begged to be done because they were exhausted...it was quite the night. We arrived for pre-fight checks at 5pm and got out of there around midnight.

Saturday was a Cheer performance at 9:45am and then Demi and I tackled the grocery store. Once we were done we chilled at home and TRIED to get things done and Sunday hit church. I came home Sunday and had Women's Self Defense.
YES, I am taking ANOTHER class...hehehahahoho. This one is on going and will be moving from 1 Sunday a month to 2...Thanks Scott, Love ya for it!
Sunday he offered for us to break boards with our forearm/elbow areas. Do you think I tried....YES! I stood my ground and gave that board a hard smack and I really think it hit me back..OUCH. I tried again and still it didn't break. Scott tells me "LeAnne, you are trying to hit the board and slowing down, pretend you are trying to hit me...not the board!" That was all the encouragement I needed. I hit that thing a 3rd time and my forearm went right thru it...I BROKE IT IN HALF!!! Of course my arm lost some skin on the elbow and I have a pretty purple mark, but doggone it, I did it!!! I am a freaking NINJA! ;-)

For all of you who have been praying, THANK YOU....Derek is hanging in there right now. Last update we received we heard that the insurance is making him wait until around Jan. 1st to be on the list. We are hoping he hangs on and things will move quickly once he is approved so a new liver can be transplanted. He has his 29th B-day Dec. 29th....hoping he will be feeling well enough to have a nice dinner with his Girlfriend, Kami.

Well, off to bed. I am so tired and need my beauty sleep so I can get up tomorrow and do it all again!

Monday, December 08, 2008

A Little Weird Around Here

OK...today we had a TOTAL Schneiderville moment around here. :-P
Curtis had gone into the boys room to talk to Hunter about being a typical pre-teen and went over to check on how Rocco (Hunter's Turtle) was doing. Low and behold I hear him holler for me to come upstairs..NO ROCCO! We dug in the rocks thinking maybe he had buried himself to do a little hibernating etc but still could not find him. We got out the flashlight and looked in all the bedrooms. That little turkey (or turtle I should say) made it all the way across the boy bedroom, down the hall and into our bedroom...quite a safari for the little guy. Not sure if he is glad to be back home or if he enjoyed himself out and about. Of course, Hunter's biggest fear was that Skittles or Norman the cats ate him. We decided that ol' Rocco was smart enough to escape, he is smart enough to hid in his shell to avoid the cat monsters!

All I could say the whole time is..."If we can't find him we have to move cuz I am NOT living in a house with a loose turtle or a house with dead turtle stench!" hehe

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Can't Even Breathe I am SOOO Frustrated

Got word today, day 2 of Derek supposedly being added to the Donor List for a new liver.

Today the Donor Board called Derek to ask him if he had supplemental insurance. WHAT??...He has main insurance that he has waited 6 months to pass the probation period on, then the old employer switched insurance from Blue Cross to Blue Shield to Aetna, he waited 6 months and when that was almost up the company switch back to BC/BS, causing him to have to wait ANOTHER 6 month probation period (the first one didn't count ya see...)
NOW, the Donor Idiots, excuse me, BOARD...wants to know if he has supplemental insurance as well since the cost could go over $250,000.
When Derek said no, and explained that he is on BC/BS on the Cobra plan, they shook their collective idiotic heads and told him that they WILL NOT PUT HIM ON THE LIST YET.....

I am sorry, but could they possibly get off their collective asses and look at him as a human and NOT a number....he is a valuable life that is dying, yes I said it out loud...HE IS DYING and will not live to get supplemental insurance let alone find a company that would give him insurance knowing he is going in for a transplant.

We are all so frustrated, sad, angry and just in absolute awe of the idiocy that is being thrown in front of Derek that we don't even know what to do.

I have told Curtis family they need to talk to the Media, a Lawyer, anyone who will listen to get Derek's story out there to the public.

I know how Curtis and I feel, I could not imagine how it feels for Derek, or Curt's parents, knowing that one of their children is dying in front of their eyes because someone is worried about the bottom line of a large hospital and insurance corporation. YUCK!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Recent Updates On Derek and My New Body.

A couple of recent things.


1. Derek is supposed to be listed on the National Donor Registry Monday!!! Our hope and prayer is that he receive a liver soon. The sad thing is that someone must pass before he can get a liver...double edged sword...our happiness and hope is someone else's sadness and loss.
He is suffering alot of pain and cannot wear regular pants or shoes due to the swelling he is having right now. He is extremely jaundiced and feeling pretty yucky right now. He was unable to join us here for Thanksgiving, but we all understand and were able to visit with him via Video phone...wonderful.




And now, what you all have been waiting for...not...hehe



2. Here are two recent pic's of me and my progress. I see the change, but wish it were more pronounced...oh well, gotta keep going before my days as a Victoria's Secret Model can take over! ;-)
Here I am with 50 lbs. gone.




Sunday Nov. 23, 2008



















Nov. 23, 2008


Gotta keep working on the bat wings...hope they tighten up and go away some day.












Sunday, November 23, 2008

PRAYERS FOR DEREK DESPERATLEY NEEDED!

Quick prayers for My Brother In Law Derek. (His story can be found at the Caringbridge link on the right of my page).
We are not sure what his current MELD Score is (which determines how his liver is or is not functioning) but we do know that his feet and legs are so swollen that he cannot wear shoes right now. He is in A LOT of pain (for us to know there is pain, it has to be horrific since Derek always wants everyone to believe that he is doing just fine).
PLEASE, major prayers are needed that Derek makes the Transplant list in Dec, Insurance will be approved and he can receive a Liver soon.

Thank you in advance for the prayers, Derek can really use them right now!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Have you Ever?

Have you ever taken your kid to the Dr. cuz they wont #2 right? :-P

Well, took Nikaya to the Dr. today cuz she has been having issues with her pottying and training etc. She has aced #1, but #2 seems to elude her.....or the toilet...not sure which.hehe
We have acutally been worried about her bowels for a while (infrequent pottying and distended rice belly that never went away), but then believe ourselves to be over worrying things etc. When Alice, our daycare Diva, stated she thought there might be a problem we decided we would not look to weird if we took her in for it.
Spent this AM with the Dr. and he feels that N suffers from Chronic Constipation. When this continues for to long the brain quits telling the belly to empty and then you have a MAJOR problem. So, we will being giving her some fiber meds, watching how much dairy she is eating to see if there is Lactose intolerance (my thinking not Dr) and see where we go from there. I had to laugh, we had an x-ray completed and all they found was large amounts of #2 in there...we actually paid money to find out one of our kids is full of crap...hehehe :-) Curt and I have to laugh at that one!

My chest cold is mostly gone so I am back getting my cardio up and going again as oppposed to just weight workouts. The last 2 days I have begun walking again and remember why I love it! The staff at the Y laugh at me because I put on my headphones and tune out the world and walk for all eternity, jamming out the whole time.
I really must take a good photo of me (without old clothes on that are baggy) so you can see the new / less me.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The 411 on My Life

Things are perking along here just fine. Busy to be exact.

I was supposed to have a meeting (another one) for Nikaya to get her into Preschool. They called me about 10 minutes before I was to leave to tell me that they miscalculated her score and she does NOT qualify. OK...I am glad that my child isn't all that delayed, but she and I were really looking forward to Preschool...not sure who was really looking forward to it the most, but we both were excited for it. Now, she will have to wait for Kindergarten and just spend her days with Alice, The day care Diva. :-P
Nikaya came home the other night and had food on her shirt. I asked her what she had on her and this was our conversation:
Mom "what do you have on your shirt?"
Nik "my lunch"
Mom "what did you have for lunch today?"
Nik: "Wizzo Whips"
M "what is Wizzo Whips"
Nik "You know...K..Y..P..Wizzo Whips" (like she is spelling it to me)
M "WHAT is Wizzo Whips"
N "I don't know, but it is good!"

Today I go to Alice's house and ask what was for lunch...Pieces of steak, coleslaw and mashed taters. MMMM...How do we get Wizzo Whips out of that? OH....Alice tells me she tells the kids everyday that they are eating LIZARD LIPS! Problem solved...hehe

Started a new Ladies Self Defense class Sunday. One Sunday a month I will go to Women's Self Defense after church. My friend Scott (Brown Belt in Ryu Kenpo Karate and Muay Thai Fighter) teaches it...LOVE IT...I think I am addicted to it or something. Maybe someday it will replace chocolate..........OK, lets not go crazy I guess. :-P

Blessings,
Me

Thursday, November 06, 2008

A Funny For Your Day

THANKS ANGE...TO FUNNY NOT TO PASS ALONG! ;-)


I just want to thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year.
Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.
I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.
I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.
I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking your nose. (Although cell phone usage may be taking the number one spot.)
Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of transfat I have consumed over the years.
I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom. Yuck!
I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.
Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.
I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.
I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.
I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.
I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.
I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.
Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.
I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans.
I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.
And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.
I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.
I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.
I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.
I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore and Uzbekistan.
I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.
Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.
And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.
I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain oil companies!
If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

Thursday, October 30, 2008

I've Come A Long Way Baby!!












My Self defense Class!









Me ready to rock and roll!!!







Last night was my test for women's self defense. I can sum it up in 1 word...WOW! :-)


I was asked to go first. None of us knew what to expect and Marko and Victor know me since both of them have fought in the past and are Martial Arts Instructors in the area.

I gloved up with the boxing gloves and stood in the middle of the mat with 1 guy on each corner..none of them were small, and ALL of them had Mixed Martial Arts experience.

(Side Note: I woke up yesterday morning with the feeling that I was beginning to get sick. I had a cough, stuffy head where you feel like you are in a tunnel etc..not good for my testing I tell ya)

The instructions were given: The timer will yell a name and that guy will run from his corner of the mat and attack you and you must fight him off for 30 sec. (I will tell you that 30 seconds seems like a LONG time when you are fighting..hehe) Once the timer hollered another name the first guy will leave and a new one will come up and you must fight him as well for 30 sec and so on...Without ending, timer will yell and 3rd time and 2 different guys will attack you at once.


GO.....I looked around and saw Victor (one of the instructors) coming for me. I hit him repeatedly, kicking and elbowing. I heard another name yelled and turned around in time to see another guy coming for me. I fought him hard as well.

During this time Marko (main instructor) is yelling at me to pace myself. All I could think was "this dude is trying to take me to the floor and you want me to pace myself?" I should have listened. I heard another holler and 2 guys, 1 smaller guy, Nate, came up to me in front...I heard someone yell "look out" just in time to turn around to see Cameron (HUGE...Cameron) coming for me. He bear hugged me and picked me up off the ground and down to the mat we went.

I began to really struggle to breathe. I was exhausted, could not get air and the room was spinning. I punched, kneed and kicked, almost hitting poor Cameron in a bad spot for future children..hehe.


Sometime during all of this I had lost both of my socks and ALL of my ability to breath. :-(

Marko could see I was struggling and asked if I wanted a couple...."Minutes?" I ask, "No, seconds!" ...I got 10 sec. to catch my breath and go down for choking maneuvers.

Victor began choking me...I got him in a full arm bar with ease....very proud of myself for that one!


Next move was 2 guys on you while on the ground choking and kicking at you.


I DID IT....I made it thru and completed for my certificate.

I have a new respect for the fighters since this was the longest 4 minutes or so of my life.


Once I got home, the stress on my lungs had accelerated the cold I was getting and now I sound like Darth Vader...hehe, but I DID IT!


This is something I would not be able to do ever before, physically I was to heavy and way to out of shape. Don't get me wrong, I have a long way to go, but I have come a long way baby!!!


Here are some pic's for your enjoyment!!!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Update the World

The last few days have been good..busy, but good.

Had Women's Self Defense Class last night...LOVE IT! WE learned grappling...where you take someone to the floor and pull their arm funny ways until it makes a popping noise...hehe..good times! We didn't actually pop any ones arm out, but we did practice it, getting ourselves up from a sitting position while being attacked and never letting the guy get our back to the floor. I am amazed by the strength that I have gained along with the confidence. I did come away from last night with a hickey looking mark on my neck...ooppss!

I have been working out regularly for about 1 hour a night at least 4 nights a week, 5 if I can make it all week long. Curt was laughing at my arm muscle that is emerging, and I am hoping the bat wings go away some day. I have lost a total of 51lbs but have hit a plateau...even gaining a few pounds here and there. The trainer reminds me that muscle weighs more than fat so not to freak out on him! ;-P

Nikaya tested for preschool (the BIG test that took 3 hours.) I was as tired as she was afterwards. She qualified (barely, by needing a -2.00 and getting a -2.00) as Mildly Developmental Delay in Cognitive are. This just means that she is behind kids here age in things like colors, numbers, shapes etc...I already knew that, but it is nice to know I am not making things up that I should not really worry about.

During the test Nik had the teacher in stitches. She is an absolute jokester with quite the personality. The teacher asked her the following questions:

Teacher: Nikaya, if you are thirsty, what do you do?
Nikaya: Get a drink
T: If you are hungry what do you do?
N: Eat
T: If you are playing and you break something, what do you do?
N: I didn't do it!
T: I know honey, but IF you broke something then what do you do?
N: I said I didn't do it!
T: OK....but what if you and your friends or brothers and sister were playing with something and it broke?
N: Someone else did it, not me!

hehehehe Cracked the whole room up. She was so serious in her answer as well. They are excited to have the little social butterfly in the class and feel that she will more than likely be the class clown.
After they call me we will get an IEP meeting and then get her started. She can hardly wait to ride the school bus.

Well, off to bed, I am tired and the days are busy...Friday I work, work out, grocery shop and Sat. is cheer and fights, Sunday Church and then it starts all over again...whew

Sunday, October 19, 2008

HELP SAVE DEREK...New Web Page

To the right of the blog I have added a website link. This link will take you to the new HELP SAVE DEREK web site and journal. You can read about Derek (Curt's brother, my Brother-in-Law) and how he is doing in his fight against PSC.
I have more to post on this, since last night was a fantastic auction and dinner on his behalf that was done for fundraising. I want to get the pic's up and tell you all about the great community effort that went into getting money raised to go towards Derek's cause. I will also be putting up links for organ donation and a poem in honor of Derek....very powerful.

Most of all, Derek is asking for prayer. Prayers that he get on the donor list soon...hopefully before December. I am not sure how it all works, but part of getting on the list is showing the hospital that you can raise your own money for surgery....his portion will be about $250,000 for an uncomplicated surgery. :-(

Of course, prayers for God to find a way to help us fund this venture to save his life.

That the liver will take and be ok....60% survival rate for 5 years...Derek has always been a good gambler though..hehe

And that once the liver can become available, prayers for the family that has made the decision to give in the wake of loss.

More on it all later!

Blessings all around!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Busy,Busy

Busy, busy. I have had a busy few weeks. Wednesdays I am enjoying a Women's Self Defense class at the YMCA. The class is taught by a couple of brothers I know that run a local Karate school. Last Wednesday we learned defensive moves during an attack. This Wed we learned how to use Pressure points in self defense. Next week we will learn how to handle multiple at attackers. I have to say, the class is extremely informative as well as a stress reliever...where else can you go and hit a guy in a padded suit, and get some aggression out. :-P
Once the class is finished, we will have attackers go at us all over the Y until we cross the finish line to receive our certificate of completion....definitely have to take pictures of that!

Fights have been good, got 2 more coming up this month...Oct 18th at Speedway and Oct. 25th at Qwest. Looking forward to seeing my guys again in the cage and helping any way I can!

Work is going well and I think I am getting the groove down. I have found a few places where I still look at things and say "huh?" Oh well, one day at a time I guess.
I often look back at my Bible and remember the saying "Today is all ya got, all ya need and all ya can handle" phrase Pastor said one Sunday...definitely true for me!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Whats New Pussycat??

Hello blog world....sorry it has been a while since I posted.
I have been busy trying to fit all of life in a tiny 24 hours I am given and making all ends meet somewhere. hehe

New job is great. It is easy going, I am learning alot and enjoying my time in the 'grown up world'. I do have to say, working in a guy only world cracks me up most days, they treat me well and I keep them in line.
Kids are enjoying their prospective care places, Nikaya at Alice's and Hunter, Demi and Kai at the YMCA. I love the fact that the afterschool program goes until 6:30pm. It allows me to pick up N and go home to change and fit a workout in before they are done with their activity. I am not allowed (according to the kids) to pick them up before 6 because 5-6 is fun time such as wall climb, swimming, dodge ball etc. When the kids arrive they get a snack and do homework and fit in reading time before fun time begins. This is so nice that once the kids come home, they are ready to enjoy family time, AWANA'S (Wednesday) and showers etc...very nice.

Mid October I have my referral meeting for Nik to see what test they are going to give her and when we can take it so she can begin Preschool. She is anxious to go and ride the bus and have lunch at school with the big kids. It breaks my heart that she will be morning Pre K andwill only get breakfast, not lunch...we wont tell her yet! ;-)

I had fights Saturday night. Fun times were had by all...maybe most, not all! Pretty mellow night with a few injuries and one pretty good concussion that required a ride to the hospital. The kid returned later feeling better, but still like he was run thru the washing machine on high speed.

I will be helping at a MMA Fight Oct. 18th. This one is free to the public and all proceeds from donations and table sponsorship as well as raffle proceeds will go to Make a Wish. I am excited to see our turn out and how much we can make for the Make a Wish group. So far there are 14 fights on the card (4 of them are women!!!...NONE of them are ME! ;-)))

Hope all is well with all of you out there. I have to head off to bed...these early mornings are killing me!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Last Fight Night..No Surrender






Here are some pic's from the last fight I did. I have another one coming up this Sat. night...the big ones i do at the Qwest Arena.

Here is one of my guys getting off the ground.











Here is my friend Jen, Me and the Ring Hotties. She was soooo mad I had us get our pic taken with them...she just knew we would look huge next to their skinniness...hehe Not bad if ya ask me! ;-)

















This guy was 6'9"...1" shy of being 2 feet taller than me. Whenever I check him I needed a stool...hehe
He asked me how tall I was and I told him "FUN SIZE!"




















One of my guys with a broken nose and concussion...he gave his all and I had to call the fight. His corner guy threw in the towel as well...he would NOT tap.

Friday, September 19, 2008

My New Life

Well, my first week of work went well...I didn't set fire to anything, get fired or embarrass myself TO much!
The office is pretty laid back. Where else can you be the Front Office Manager and wear T-shirts, shorts and sandals??? I answer phones, learning to invoice, do accounts payable and accounts receivable. I think I have it MOST of the way down, although it gets jumbled and I have to look at my notes sometimes. Sometimes I find that I skipped a step...oops...but I find my way back pretty good and fix it.

I have been stressed with so much to do. I feel so rushed, my day looks like so:

6am shower and get ready for work (pull myself together)
6:30am Kai and Demi up for school
Make breakfast
comb girl hair and lotion bodies if needed
make sure all homework is is bags etc (usually done night before to be more efficient)
I eat breakfast and make my lunch
7am: Hunter and Nikaya up
Hunter showers while I make breakfast for them
7:10 Kai and Demi on bus
7:15 Hunter meanders down and eats breakfast and gets lotioned, dressed etc.
Nikaya is usually done so I get her dressed and washed, lotioned etc. for the day.
Make lunch for Curt
7:45am Hunter on bus
Until 8:15 Nikaya watches cartoons while I clean up the kitchen, open curtains, potty the dog etc.
8:15 Nikaya to Alice's. Alice is our new daycare lady...SHE IS WONDERFUL! She is down the road, went to school with my dad (stepdad) and has kids from the school as well as Teachers kids...Nik fits in well there. She has a big Noah's Ark in the yard with slides for the kids to play on. Nikaya calls it a Pirate ship and says "aarrgghh" every time she sees it..hehe

I have to be to work by 9am and get off somewhere between 4-4:45pm. I then rush to get Nikaya and the kids at the Y so we can be ready of we have evening activities.
Mon-Demi Choir
Tues-Mom Choir
Wed-AWANA
Thur-Nothing
Fri-Nothing....yeah
Sat-Cheer
Sun: Church and Choir

WHEW...I am glad it is the weekend!!!

Older kids are enjoying the YMCA. We were able to get a membership so the kids could go after school and then Nikaya could go and play while I work out. I have had my first meeting with the Trainer in the Wellness For Life program so I am hoping to get going in the next couple of weeks. I try to fit this in on days that we don't have anything after school and work or if the kids want to spend a little more time playing there.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Tomorrow is My Big day

Tomorrow is my big day...the first day of my new job. I have all sorts of feelings inside..excitement, fear, nervousness, happiness..that I cannot put it into one definite feeling.
My OCD is starting to show quite a bit today, as I have gotten the kids clothes for the entire week set out, the entire house vacuumed and cleaned and snacks all put in baggies for the whole week...I would probably pack lunches for the week if they wouldn't ruin on me...hehe

Please, prayers for me as I being this new journey I am on!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Matt Damon in Haiti

Story from Associated Press, check http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iFBcwZNj9Zs8d0zycBhQ6kt77J6QD9365TBO0
for photos!

Matt Damon, Wyclef Jean help Haitian storm victims

By ALEXANDRA OLSON – 4 hours ago


CABARET, Haiti (AP) — Matt Damon kept his cool as he helped distribute food from a truck that got stuck in the mud in a western Haitian town where Hurricane Ike left hundreds of people homeless and hungry.
He arrived with Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean to hand out rice, beans and cooking oil in Cabaret, a town that saw 60 people die in flash floods when Ike grazed Haiti last week.
Things got rough when the truck carrying 300 bags of food ran into a ditch, forcing the rest of the caravan to stop. Hundreds of Haitians mobbed an SUV carrying the celebrities, chanting "Wyclef!"
"I want to see Wyclef because he is my artist," said Jean Sadrac, an unemployed 25-year-old. "I want Wyclef to help me with money or water."
Jean clambered onto the roof of the SUV to calm the crowd, while bodyguards helped Damon make his way toward the truck with the food. He reached it easily; nobody recognized him.
Damon said he enjoyed being in a place where few people have seen his movies.
"It's nice, it's really easy to move through a crowd like this," Damon told The Associated Press, grinning wryly as he watched Jean talk to the crowd.
About 20 people from Jean's Yele Haiti charity formed a barrier around the back of the food truck, which leaned perilously to one side. The distribution took place right there. Damon tossed the bags to Jean, who placed them on the heads of women as they approached one by one.
Outside the human chain, one young man jumped up and down, waving a DVD of "The Bourne Ultimatum" that he had retrieved from his house after finally recognizing Damon, who laughed and nodded.
The two stars then walked to a nearby church where about 600 people were sheltered. They knelt to talk to an emaciated, elderly man lying on the muddy floor before they began serving food. Damon poured red vegetable sauce over plates of rice that Jean handed out to people.
Damon and Jean encouraged more people to help the United Nations raise more than US$100 million for an estimated 800,000 Haitians in need of aid after four devastating tropical storms and hurricanes since mid-August.
"What I'm doing, I'm doing from the heart because I love Haiti," Jean said.
Jean, who moved from Haiti to Brooklyn as a child and leapt to fame with The Fugees, has often brought his famous friends to draw attention to the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt visited with his charity in 2006.
"Hopefully we can make enough noise that people will pay attention," Damon told reporters earlier at a news conference in the capital, Port-au-Prince. "I truly believe in the people of my country."

Friday, September 12, 2008

Fight Pic's and a Haha Story


Me with my friend Jen, who helps out with my supplies, and Doc Rohm our new Fight Doctor...we have a blast..ALWAYS! :-)







I have to tell ya a funny story about the pictures below. Last fight in July, the Ref and I made a call that NO ONE liked. This poor fella was hit in the chin 2 times before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground. He recovered pretty quickly, but he was not 'with it' so the Ref called the fight. His corner erupted into yelling telling the Ref and Judges to let the Medical Team look at him. I already was pretty sure of what my answer would be, but gave the kid the benefit of the doubt and went to him. After taking one look in his rolling eyes I agreed with the Ref and called it for sure...the crowd started yelling and screaming and booing. I giggled since I have been booed by about 6,000 people before, so the crowd of about 1000 was nothing...hehe
Low and behold everyone was telling me "he slipped, you are penalizing him for slipping.." I explained that I SAW what happened and that was NOT a slip....the call stood. I became a very popular person that day and gained MANY new names for myself that cannot be put in print..haha
Well, the 2 pic's below are from the fight I did on Sept. 5th. The kid fought again and made it to the 2nd round. He got hit on the chin button again and fell like a log...totally unconscious. I got into the cage and woke him up. When he came to, I looked him and his corner guy in the face and said "____can you hear me?
"Yes." he replied...
"____, DID YOU SLIP?"
Anyone in earshot busted out laughing, including the Doc who said he could NOT believe I just asked him that...hehe...I was on a roll that night! ;-) Corner guys started laughing and hugged me afterward and said they thought I was pretty OK...another fan..what ever shall I do?!
Here it is for your enjoyment (please, ignore the wonderful shot of my hiney!!!!)


Thursday, September 11, 2008

I Got A JOB!!!

OK.. This post may ramble, be totally incoherent etc so please bare with me!

I got a J.O.B. I have not (other than working from home with adoptions) had a job outside the home since 1996...YIKES!

First let me tell you about yesterday.
I met the boss, Hugh, yesterday for an interview. I was so freaked out....I think I did OK in the interview, but I will be the only woman in the whole office. Not a big deal, since I think that offices full of women can be catty at times...hehe and the boss thinks it is crazy that I get into a cage full of fighters :-) During the interview he told me that the hours would be 9-4:30pm i thought I would vomit on his desk...what about my babies? Who would watch my babies? I have never had any of them in daycare...EVER.....I came home and had a good cry..searching for the good in the situation listing the pros and cons (the OCD side of me came out big time) hehe

Today I ran around looking at the ONLY daycare I would consider putting Nik in, a church daycare where my Grandparents attend. They Will have an opening the end of the month when a child moves, so I lucked out there! Until then, my awesome Aunt Pam is going to watch Nik during the day until the daycare is ready for her.
I went to the local YMCA and petitioned for reduced fees so I could afford to send Kai, Demi and Hunter there to the after school program on the bus that leaves their school everyday....managed to qualify for 40% discount...PRAISE GOD...all kids will be taken care of.
One final thing was to talk to the new boss and explain the 1 day a month for Teacher Collaboration that I would need off. He was good to me and said we would work on what is needed...1 or 2 days a month was nothing in the long run. YES..GOD IS GOOD TO ME AGAIN!

I am 50% excited, 50% frightened out of my mind and looking forward to my new start date of Sept. 16th @ 9am....Pray for me as I leave the kids, something that I have not had to do before and thank you for the prayers so far in help getting a new job!

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

More Haiti News


Please pray as I have found out that many have died in Kai's hometown area of Mirebalais.
Cabaret-Area near Port-au-Prince, Haiti








Officials in Haiti continued aid operations in the flood-stricken town of Gonaives, devastated by flooding from Tropical Storm Hanna.
Forty-seven people perished in the Haitian village of Cabaret, near Port-au-Prince, in flooding caused by Ike, officials said Sunday.
"Many homes were destroyed in Cabaret, and we have seen some bodies of children in the water," a journalist for UN radio who spent the night on the roof of his house told AFP.
Ike late Saturday plowed across the low-lying Turks and Caicos as a powerful Category Four storm, causing some injuries and extensive damage on the British territory and tourist haven, before weakening somewhat to a Category Three.
The hurricane also raked the southeastern Bahamian island of Great Inagua, toppling trees, blowing off roofs, causing an island-wide power failure and forcing many of its one thousand residents to seek refuge in shelters.
But the greatest concern was Haiti, where a humanitarian crisis deepened after four storms in three weeks left at least 600 people dead and hundreds of thousands in desperate need of food, clean water and shelter.
Hundreds of bodies were found in flood-prone Gonaives, a town of 350,000 in northwestern Haiti, after a five-meter (16-foot) wall of water and mud engulfed much of the town.
UN peacekeepers on Saturday evacuated several thousand residents from Gonaives, a local official said, but thousands more are still awaiting relief.
Some 650,000 Haitians have been affected by the flooding, including 300,000 children, and the task of delivering crucial aid has been complicated by dismal transport conditions, according to UNICEF. Officials said 200,000 people have been without food and clean water, many for four days.
"What has happened here is unimaginable," member of parliament Pierre-Gerome Valcine told AFP from Cabaret, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital Port-Au-Prince.
Massive flooding over the past week in the poorest country in the Americas has triggered a humanitarian crisis that was worsening by the day -- and prompted prayers from Pope Benedict XVI.
"I want to remember the dear population of Haiti, greatly distressed in recent days by passing hurricanes," Benedict told pilgrims on the Italian island of Sardinia.
Continuing stormy weather hampered relief efforts Sunday, when heavy rains led to the collapse of a key bridge which severed the only viable land route to Gonaives.
The bridge gave way overnight at the town of Mirebalais in central Haiti, forcing three trucks loaded with emergency supplies and bound for Saint-Marc, where thousands of desperate flood refugees from Gonaives were crowding into shelters, to turn back, according to a World Food Programme official.
Many bridges in other areas of Haiti have also collapsed, homes have been washed away and crops ravaged.

Hurrican Photos

Please check out the Rescue Centers blog for pictures of Haiti...sad, the devastation is unbelievable!


http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/

Rain Soaked Haiti

Please pray for Haiti. Demi's Birth Family is from Les Cayes..mentioned here as hard hit by Hurricanes and suffering large death toll numbers.



In Rain-Soaked Haiti, No Identifying The Dead
September 9, 2008 in HT News, US News
By JONATHAN M. KATZ

A man pulls the body of a person floating in floodwaters with a rope in Gonaives, Haiti, Monday, Sept. 8, 2008. Four storms have killed more than 300 people in Haiti in less than a month.
GONAIVES, Haiti –
Nine people died at shelters, including two children, even as floodwaters from Hurricane Ike receded from Gonaives and a U.S. Navy hospital ship equipped with helicopters and amphibious boats arrived in the capital to deliver food and water to cities still marooned by flooding.
But with most roads across the country still impassible, Haiti - and the world - still lacked a complete picture of the destruction, and desperation was setting in among people who have spent days in the floodwaters and mud.
A Red Cross truck trying to reach Les Cayes on Haiti’s southern coast had to turn back, one of many international aid efforts still struggling to leave the capital.
North of the capital, shelters across Gonaives sustained nine deaths on Monday, according to Daniel Dupiton of region’s civil protection department.
It was not immediately clear what caused those deaths. Provisional shelters have been set up in schools, churches and homes on high ground, many with scant supplies or supervision.
“We cannot confirm that they died because of hunger,” said Vicky Delore Ndjeuga, a U.N. spokesman for the mission in Gonaives. “We need to make an examination to make sure it was because of food.”
The national death toll - which government officials said stood at 331 people in four tropical storms in less than a month - is sure to rise as more bodies surface in the mud.
Two more bodies were found Monday in coastal Cabaret, where 60 people died as mudslides and floods unleashed by a swollen river crushed homes in the middle of the night. Sixteen other people - mostly children reported missing by their parents - were being searched for in the wreckage, Cabaret civil defense director Henri Louis Praviel said.
Late on Monday, authorities confirmed 10 more deaths, five attributed to Ike and five to Tropical Storm Hanna.
There was still no word from many cities and remote areas cut off from contact.
In Gonaives, Police Commissioner Ernst Dorfeuille said his poorly equipped force - 15 officers for the city of 160,000 - has buried dozens of badly decomposed and unidentifiable corpses in graves outside the city.
“After three days, those bodies could not stay,” said Dorfeuille, adding he witnessed the burial of five people.
It wasn’t clear how these bodies fit with previous tallies of the dead, but Dorfeuille denied reports citing him as giving a death toll of nearly 500 in Gonaives.
On one city street, a man used a rope to drag a bloated body through the floodwaters.
Lines of storm refugees trudged down from denuded hills Monday to the wreckage of their homes and stores.
“They told me it was destroyed but I wanted to see for myself,” said Evos Chayot, who slogged through water up to her thighs to find her corner shop filled with black mud and debris.
Broken pews were scattered across the mud-smeared floor of the Gonaives cathedral, where about 50 people now live in the choir balcony. They gathered around a small cooking pot, stirring some goat meat and cornmeal to share.
Meanwhile, inmates at the city’s jail clamored for deliverance from the overpowering stench of filth and sewage, and supplies for jail staff and U.N. peacekeepers as well as the 224 inmates were perilously low, said Dr. Manvoor Ahmad, a Pakistani member of the U.N. mission.
All across the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, desperation was evident.
“People are starting to move back because they have nowhere to go,” U.N. development official Eric Mouillefarine said Monday. “They want to protect their homes from looters.”
The USS Kearsarge was arriving in Port-au-Prince Monday after it was rerouted from a humanitarian mission to Colombia. With eight helicopters and three landing ships, it can deliver cargo and equipment all over Haiti, providing much of the logistical support needed by aid groups that have not been able to get through on land.
Some of the helicopters flew ahead to find dry places large and secure enough to offload, and the amphibious boats can reach places where even helicopters can’t land. The Kearsarge also has four operating rooms and 53 hospital beds, which may come in handy once the ship reaches the hard-hit cities of Saint Marc and Gonaives.
“We can deliver several thousand tons a day. It’s not what we can do, it’s how it can be done,” said the mission’s commander, Capt. Fernandez “Frank” Ponds. “We can’t just land them anywhere, so we’re doing assessments. We have to make sure they can land safely.”
One of the helicopters delivered rice, beans and cooking oil from the World Food Program to the town of Jeremie on Haiti’s southwest peninsula. A woman who cares for 110 children at the Haiti Gospel orphanage was among about 50 people asking for a share.
“My garden was destroyed,” said Yvros Pierre, who had just two bags of spoiled bread mix left. “My food is finished. My boss told me to see if there were any Americans coming and ask them for help.”
Aid groups are appealing for donations to sustain a lengthy response, warning of a secondary disaster caused by waterborne illnesses and other problems in the weeks ahead. Even areas not destroyed by the storms need food, and Haiti’s main farming area in the Artibonite Valley was threatened again when authorities had to open an overflowing dam on Sunday.
Some Gonaives residents gave up on the city altogether, walking barefoot across mountains to reach Haiti’s northern coast, which suffered less damage. Racine Presume in Cap-Haitien said he got a desperate call from a group of a dozen relatives gave up along the way - and he was trying to find fuel for his truck to reach them.
“They are waiting for me. I said, ‘Can I bring you a bed?’ They said, ‘Don’t bring a bed because we don’t have a house. Bring food, bring clothes, bring shoes, bring lots of water,’” Presume said. “They are dying of hunger.”

Associated Press Writer Alexandra Olson, with a helicopter crew from the USS Kearsarge, contributed to this report.
Source: MiamiHerald.Com

Friday, September 05, 2008

Clarification

Wanted to clarify something. The fees I owe for our adoption are not for 1 adoption fee....the adoption fees were less when we adopted our last two, so it isn't equivalent to an adoption fee now of $9,000... less is owed than that, and I had made payments during our process. Just still owing some is very stressful, but I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Haiti Floods..Please Pray

Haiti's death toll from Hanna doubles to 137
Some 250,000 people are affected around country's fourth-largest city

updated 7:52 p.m. MT, Thurs., Sept. 4, 2008


GONAIVES, Haiti - The government on Thursday more than doubled to 137 the death toll tied to Tropical Storm Hanna, while floodwaters frustrated efforts by Argentine peacekeepers to distribute food at marooned orphanages. They hunkered down in their base as desperate people begged for food and water outside the gates.
A Haitian politician struggling to gauge the extent of the damage in Haiti's fourth-largest city helicoptered into the U.N. compound and said the situation is critical.
"If they don't have food, it can be dangerous," Sen. Youri Latortue said Thursday after arriving from Haiti's capital. "They can't wait."

Half the homes in the low-lying city of 160,000 remain flooded in Hanna's wake, estimated Lt. Sergio Hoj, spokesman for the Argentine battalion.
Some 250,000 people are affected in the Gonaives region, including 70,000 in 150 shelters across the city, according to an international official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
Hanna finally moved north with near-hurricane winds on a path toward the southeastern U.S. coast. But there was no way of knowing how many people might be dead in the chaos, or how many had been driven from their homes.
Ike could hit next weekAnd forecasters warned that Hurricane Ike could hit the Western hemisphere's poorest country next week.
Gonaives lies in a flat river plain between the ocean and deforested mountains that run with mud even in light rains. Hanna swirled over Haiti for four days, dumping vast amounts of water, blowing down fruit trees and ruining stores of food as it swamped tin-roofed houses.
Many of the thousands of people who fled to rooftops, balconies and higher ground have gone without food for days, and safe drinking water was in short supply as the fetid carcasses of drowned farm animals bobbed in soupy floodwaters.
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Hanna floods HaitiStorm-weary country devastated by more wind, rain.
more photosBusinesses were closed — both because of flooding and for fear of looting.
People in water up to their knees shouted to peacekeepers to give them drinking water, and women on balconies waved empty pots and spoons.
The Argentine soldiers have plucked residents from rooftops that were the only visible parts of their houses, but had little capacity to deliver food and water.
"It is a great movement of panic in the city," Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime told the AP from a U.N. speedboat.
The Gonaives area accounted for most of the 2,000 victims of Tropical Storm Jeanne in 2004. Some residents said the current flooding was at least as bad.
"This is worse than Jeanne," said Carol Jerome, who fled from Gonaives on Tuesday.
Rescue convoys blockedHaiti's government has few resources to help. Rescue convoys have been blocked by huge lakes that formed over every road into town. Associated Press journalists rode in with the first group of U.N. troops to reach the city aboard Zodiac boats.
The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince declared a disaster situation, freeing $100,000 in emergency aid, spokeswoman Mari Tolliver said. She said hygiene kits, plastic sheeting and water jugs for up to 5,000 families were expected to arrive from Miami on Thursday, but the biggest problem is reaching the victims.
Food for the Poor managed to get a shipment of food and water to Gonaives on Thursday, and expects to distribute rice, beans, clothes, boots and generators in the next couple of days.
"The situation in Gonaives is catastrophic," Daniel Rouzier, Haiti chairman of the Florida-based nonprofit, wrote in an e-mail. "We, just like the rest of the victims ... have limited mobility. You can't float a boat, drive a truck or fly anything to the victims."
He said waters have receded in some places, leaving behind an almost a 7-foot-high wall of mud.
"Please note that thousands of people have not had a sip of water in 36 hours," he wrote.
That includes about 1,500 people huddled in a shelter nicknamed the "Haiti Hilton," where Jezula Preval was caring for her healthy baby boy, born Tuesday night after floodwaters swallowed her house. "I lost everything, even the baby's clothes," she said.
The situation was dire elsewhere in Haiti as well. Floodwaters swamped a hospital near southwestern Les Cayes, and nurses moved patients to higher floors. At least 5,000 people in Les Cayes were in shelters, said Jean-Renand Valiere, a coordinator for the civil protection department.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Scary Stuff For Me

Lately I have been doing some scary things in my life.
1. I have joined a church and attended regularly
2. I have now joined the choir....had the first practice last night and just realizing that I would be sitting in the front row in front of all the other people kind of freaked me out.
3. I have applied for a job as the Nurse Assistant at the school District my kids go to.

Not that these things are all around scary for most, but they frighten me alot.
I have never been to involved in a church...liked going, but was never regular, let alone joining a choir...if you join the choir it means commitment...
Alot of people have jobs...I have not had a job outside of the home (other than doing adoptions from home) since 1996...yep, 12 years.....scary prospect of putting myself out there for rejection is very mind blowing for me.

Other Stuff:
Took Nikaya to get tested for Preschool since I was concerned about some of her learning, or lack there of. So far it looks like she has qualified for Pre K based on low scoring in concepts. This means that she has difficulty processing different concepts like colors, shapes, telling you if things are in front of, behind or on an object. This does not surprise me since I had already been quizzing her on my own.
I am not sure how quickly she will pick things up. She is pretty quick with most things, English came pretty easily, but as the Preschool Teacher said, we are dealing with 18 months of her life in a home that was probably not stable, and life in an orphanage until she came home at 2.8 years old. At the age when most kids are getting the proper nutrition to wire their brains the correct way, stimulation to fulfill that wiring and proper diet to help out, she was lacking in all of those things. Now, don't get me wrong. The Orphanage that Nikaya was at was AMAZING...however, it is still an orphanage. Her Birth family LOVED her tremendously, however they still could not feed her or teach her things they themselves did not have or know.
I have felt pretty lucky to have 4 amazing children and not many long term effects of their prior life in Haiti. I do know that it is something we have planned for in case, knowing there is never a promise how a child will do once they are home...unknown genetics, no health care prior to orphanage life, lower stimulation etc.
It is just nice to get some beginning answers from someone and not thinking it is all in MY head that she needs help! ;-)
Over the next couple of months, they will test Nik some more and let me know what she needs more in depth, and when she can start Pre K....I will definitely have to post a photo of her first day on the beloved school bus (her favorite part of the prospect of school) here!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Help Save Derek Photos



Here is the pictures to go with the Help Save Derek post.

This is my Brother-In-Law Derek. Derek is 28 y.o. and needs help DESPERATELY!!!
Feel free to put his photo on your fridge for prayer time, as well as visit http://www.helpsavederek.com/ and make a donation of any size to help fund his life saving liver transplant.

We love you Derek...Lover of The Dodgers (even though I know nothing about them or baseball), friend to many, Uncle to 6 and an all around great guy!






































`

Monday, September 01, 2008

Help Save Derek

Please take a minute to check out the new web page being created for my Brother-In -Law Derek. Derek is one of Curtis younger brothers.

Derek has Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and is in desperate need of a liver transplant. Derek has been part of my family since I began dating Curt when I was 14 going on 15 yo...making Derek roughly 7 yo when I met him. I have watched this young boy grow into an amazing, intelligent and handsome young man and now he needs help desperately.
Insurance has been denying him coverage and is now telling him that they will cover him IF he waits to go on the donation list for a new liver in DECEMBER. I am not 100% sure that Derek has until December to get a new liver.

PLEASE, take a few minutes to check out the site that was made for him and see a picture of this handsome guy and help any way you can whether it be a prayer or a donation of any size.

http://www.helpsavederek.com/

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Bumper Stickers

I found a web site that has 'stickers' for your blog and myspace. I have posted a few here that kind of describe me or mean a little something to me currently...I have also pasted 3 at the side of the blog that are a mantra in my life!


MY MANTRA....




REALLY NEED THIS ONE LATELY...


THOUGHT THIS ONE WAS GREAT










FOR THOSE THAT KNOW ME WELL....THIS IS SO TRUE











SOMETHING I NEED TO REMEMBER

Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Job Search

I have been nervous as possible lately. First, I applied with the local bus company to drive bus for them....applied for the special ed bus due to my sign language skills and past experience with handicapped (no jokes about the short bu and driving it as opposed to riding it..hehe) After I applied I found out they have 4 people without routes they have already hired so my chances are slim to none right now.... :-(
I am going this week to apply for a job thru the school that I am going into with recommendations from the school my kids go to because they know me so well, but it isn't up to them if I get the job or not.
The position is for Nurse Assistant to work at 5 or so schools in the District helping out the main nurse. Good thing is I have medical training so I hope I have a good chance...say your prayers for me that I get it...I will let you know.

It is weird looking for work when I have been out of the job pool for so long. I worked for Adoption Agencies for years, but it was always from home with occasional trips to the office every few months....mostly on my own. To now go out to search and be in the public all the time is strange. I have worked in adoption since 1998 so any job before that they will not remember me and had I left work in 1996 to get ready for the baby we were adopting...which actually took 18 months and ended being Hunter, a totally different child than we started out adopting...God works in mysterious ways. Even so, I was out of the typical 'job market' since 1996....scary prospect going back in, but it is necessary! I told Curt I hate to get my hopes up for anything since it makes me feel rejected...I take everything personal I think...hehe

Pray for the opportunities and for God to show his plan to me if possible.

Friday, August 29, 2008

A Sour Cream Day

Ok..I have to write about a funny that happened the other night.

Tuesday Curt comes home kind of grumpy. He had one of 'those days' at work, where you deal with adults who act like children, money issues that were dogging him etc. He was just a bubbling cauldron of grump that so wanted to overflow.

I was standing next to him finishing up dinner so we could eat, bathe kids etc and I could go to a meeting with Fighters and the Promoters of the next show I was doing.

Curt was about 1 foot from me, telling me about his day while finishing up his serving of potatoes etc. He reached for the sour cream and I told him I had already put some on his so he didn't need to. In his reach to return the sour cream to the counter, it fell....sour cream container- open, landed flat on its bottom on the ground in between the two of us, splattering Curt all the way up his body from his legs to the ceiling...COMPLETELY MISSING ME and COVERING HIM from head to toe....hehehe. He then looked at me and said "Do you SEE what kind of day I am having??" To which I, the loving and dutiful wife replied with a hardy giggle, as well as the kids doing the same.

Hard for him to be to mad when he is covered in sour cream and we are all laughing at him. :-P

He lightened up deciding that the good Lord had gotten a laugh at his expense showing him that life can be a little screwy sometimes, but you have to laugh at yourself!

Now, we use the term 'sour cream day' to explain if we are having a crappy day :-)

Thursday, August 28, 2008

A Confession....Prayer Request

I am just going to lay something out here that has been heavy on my heart for a while now...I hope I am not judged, but I have to just say it and get it off my chest...or chesticles as Demi and Nikaya call them..hehe

I am in the process of looking for a job.
After quiting as an Adoption Coordinator I am only helping a few families on the side by answering questions etc...getting to do what I feel I am called to do, but not having to put up with agency bull while doing it. :-)
Unfortunately, it, along with the general economy now, has put us in financial straights. Not that I was making major $$...about $250-$300 a month with the agencies I worked with, but it helped.
We have added 2 kids and growing 2 others who have been home for a while, it has been tight.
We have debt, like many do, but I have one debt that makes me ill to owe....Our adoption fees of one child. I was able to work it out to pay little amounts on what we owed to get the kids home. I still owe quite a bit to Dr. B and feel sick about it. I know that he is so financially strapped that he NEEDS that money more than I do, but I have none to provide. We had big hopes of taxes, economy stimulus, promise of help from others etc.. but all panned out to be way less than expected, did not happen or had to go to other things when they were here.
He has asked a couple of times where we are in order to pay, and to have to tell him I do not have it makes me more than physically ill. He has never said anything to make me feel bad about it, other than I KNOW his position in Haiti etc.

Please, if you feel led to pray for the situation, pass on any job leads you hear in the adoption world etc I would really appreciate it...otherwise, it is just great to get it off my chest to someone other than the Lord and hope that if he hears it from more than me he will help me find a way to remedy the situation.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

OUCH!!!!

I am extremely sore today.
2 Days ago I woke up with quite a headache. My gums were swollen on the right side on the top and the bottom. I assumed I had something in my teeth, flossed extra and tried to go on. My headache never went away so I popped Ibuprofen pills like there was not tomorrow.
Today I woke up and the headache was worse and my jaw was swollen. I tried flossing again and took a good look at my tooth and saw a crack running thru it that was not supposed to be there...I thought about trying to hold off until Thursday PM, when the kids and I are scheduled for our regular appointment for cleaning, but the swelling had me worried and the pain was now getting worse.
I called and they got me in today at 9am...x-rays showed a lovely broken molar on the right side of my mouth...CRAPTACULAR! Good news-No root canal needed since the break was far enough away from the root of the tooth! Bad news-I need to have a crown which costs $400 for my portion...YIKES..I don't HAVE $400 I can give them. They managed to numb me (EEKKK...needles) and removed the broken piece and fill it in with filling material....good to get me thru for a while...whew! :-)
I am off to take more Ibuprofen to help with the pain of my jacked up gums and try to find something to make for dinner that the family likes and I can eat!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

A Missionaries Insight on Healing...

Check out my friend Brynn's blog at:



http://jamesonetwentyseven.blogspot.com/



She has an interesting blog on life as an orphan, from the views of herself losing her own mother to understanding the very children she is living with in Haiti.


The blog is titled HEALING:
Her words: "Please don't forget these children in your prayers. They are the lucky ones in their country, but being lucky doesn't protect them from the scars of being an orphan. "

These words struck such a chord with me. Thinking of my own children who are now home and how well they have meshed into our family, what scars do they hold inside that still need healing..

THANK YOU BRYNN, FOR HELPING TO LOVE OUR CHILDREN BEFORE THEY COME HOME TO US!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Were Jumping Here

A few new things are going on around here.

1. I have fights coming up Sept. 5th at the Speedway and 27th at Qwest...should be a blast.
2. Have first Choir practice coming up , but think I have a fighter meeting the same night....gotta work that out...hehe At least my church knows what I do so they will understand when I say "I cannot come to first practice this time because I have to meet with a bunch of sweaty guys who want to punch each other"...hehe
3. Took Demi today to meet an old Friend of mine that runs a Modeling agency. She is anxious to have someone like Demi, with an exotic look, dark chocolate skin etc.
We are having my dad try his hand at taking head shots of her tomorrow and then we give them to the agency to put up on the web for people to book from. They are anxious to give her a class and get her ready for a fashion show in Oct. Should be fun as we see how she does in front of the crowds and cameras flashing at her from every angle.

Gotta run for now....peace to everyone

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

1st Day School Report

Well, today went off pretty good considering all things I guess.



Demi and Kai made their bus, even though it was EARLY...:-)



Hunter made it out the door with all school supplies and the correct bus was ridden (I swear we have 50 in our subdivision....3 different buses stop at our bus stop alone..)

All kids left without a hitch, supplies were sent and kids were fed, cleaned, dressed etc.



What we did NOT do:

Demi forgot to turn in her papers she needed to

Hunter left without his ID card that is like a mini drivers license and allows you to pay for lunch etc.



This all was managed by me with a MASSIVE headache and aching body. After all kids leave, I come upstairs and log in to check emails, pay lunch $$ for Hunter and call the school to see if it is needed that I bring his ID card to school.

I got a reprieve and had mostly junk mail, Hunter could live one day without his ID card and papers can be turned in tomorrow.



I laid down on the bed for about 35 minutes until Nikaya wakes up. She and I venture back downstairs for food and both of us collapse on the couch to watch cartoons. I doze, Nikaya gets her pillow and dozes and wakes up with a RAGING fever. She tells me she is hungry and wants cereal with her medicine...1 bite down and it all came back up again along with tears and more headache complaints from me AND the 4 yo.....We clean Nik up, lay back on the couch to stare at the walls...Good Times! ;-) As my friend Ange would add-Job Security...aint it great?!



Kids are all home, Hunter has a class item that needs done (get to know your rule book type thing) and the other kids are home work free for today...whew.



Demi has to turn in her papers tomorrow, Hunter MUST leave all school supplies in his locker (a thought that freaks him out and he would prefer to carry 500lbs of items in his back pack instead) The thought of having to remember a combination is so beyond his range of normalcy that he is refusing to conform..hehe



Dinner is on to steam (potato bar for us with leftovers!!)



Tomorrow we will begin again and hopefullyI will be on top of it instead of half way under it...

Monday, August 18, 2008

Me in The cage



Here is me in the cage doing my thing!

School Soon...

I have mixed feelings about school starting in a couple of days (Aug.20th to be exact). I always find that the rush of life, homework, activities etc. keeps us hopping around all over the place. I also find I like it because it jogs us out of our summer lazy and gets us back on a schedule.
In the summer, kids will go to bed anytime between 11-12 midnight....we are night owls for sure.
When school is in, we have Demi and the Littles (the nickname for Kai and Nikaya) go to bed at 9pm and Hunter to bed at 9:30pm.
Demi and Kai get up at 6:30am for the bus which arrives about 7:15am, school starts at 7:55 and is out at 3:00pm.
Hunter will be on a different schedule now that he is entering Middle School....man, I cannot believe I wrote that word down....yikes! His bus will come at 7:50am, school begins at 8:30 and is out at 3:45.
Any activities we do must be done between dinner, homework, reading etc....it gets our groove on though, that is for sure!

I have joined our Church Choir and will begin practice next Tuesday. I have not sung in a choir since High school, so it has been just about 5 years...hehe...made ya think huh??!! It has actually been 18 years since I sang in a choir, and I have NEVER sang in a church Choir....to involved in the church element for me in the past. I am anxious to get going and see where it goes...very exciting.

Went school shoe shopping the other day for the oldest three. Hunter is now wearing a MEN'S size 7 sneaker, Demi is in a WOMAN'S size 5.5/6 and Kai is in BOYS size 3. I about freaked when I saw Hunters shoe size...Curt only wears a 9.5 in shoes...is Hunter going to pass him?? :-)
The kids are growing so fast it amazes me...sometimes it seems like yesterday that they all came home, needed food around for a constant promise that it would always be there, and hugs were looked at as fairly alien...we are a huggy/kissy family...much to the chagrin of the kids when they first come home...hehe now you would never know it was foreign to them.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Wanna See Me 1 Year Ago?

OK..I found this video on youtube..I end up on youtube, TV etc. with the fights.
It is short and the KO is great, but if you want you can fast forward to 1:45 (right after blue screen) and I am the one in the red shirt on the right of the screen. Pause it and drink in the mass I was packing....I have not thought of it as that big of a difference until I compare this pic.to the ones I have posted lately!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Do You Have G.P.S. ?

Our Holy Spirit is our GPS...God Positioning System.

As said to us today by our Pastor Geoff. Not sure who he said originally coined the phrase, but it resounded with me none the less!

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Haitian Going to The Olympics!

Found this on my Yahoo news feed. Miami Herald posted this about this young Haitian Boxer...what an amazing man...Hope he gets the Gold!!!!!



Fight for Haiti: Boxer goes from boat refugee to Olympics contender
Posted on Wed, Aug. 06, 2008
the_miami_herald:http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/630713.html

BY DEZMA GAINER
dgainer@MiamiHerald.com

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Dressed in black trunks, Azea Augustama danced across the boxing ring, bobbing and weaving, striving for perfection with every hard-hitting punch. His goal: consistency.
A few days later, Augustama would be thousands of miles from his Miami Beach training ring, preparing for his Olympics debut. The National Golden Gloves boxing champion has come a long way from the 7-year-old who landed in Miami in 1990 aboard a rickety boat from Haiti.
''I have been working at this for 18 years,'' says Augustama, a light heavyweight who will be among 10 athletes -- and the only boxer -- representing Haiti in Beijing.
''When I'm at the opening ceremony and they light the torches, it might sink in then,'' says Augustama, 25, still awestruck about the possibility of living his dream. ``This is a lifelong experience.''
Augustama made the Olympics in mid-April by capturing the bronze medal at the International Boxing Association American Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Guatemala. He beat out competitors from Mexico, Canada and Uruguay. His accomplishment has captured the attention of South Florida's Haitian community, which last week had a fundraiser to help raise the $20,000 for his Beijing trip.
With thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries competing in the Olympics, Augustama knows there are no guarantees. But he says he is ready.
He has had more than 60 fights in the last four years. Competing in such places as Cuba, Ecuador, Brazil and the Bahamas, Augustama has an 85-8 record with 35 knockouts.
As a junior amateur, he competed in two Nationals, winning the 2001 Junior Golden Gloves Nationals and the 2000 National Police Athletic League Championships. He won the National Golden Gloves in May by defeating the defending light heavyweight champion.
But while his Haitian citizenship has created a path to the Olympics, it also has hindered him.
''Not being a [U.S.] citizen, I couldn't go to certain competitions, and Haiti is in a lot of turmoil and did not have the money to send me because it is expensive,'' Augustama said. Many countries cover expenses of their athletes regardless of where they live.
FOCUS ON TRAINING
With few competitions to bolster his competitive edge and grow his popularity, Augustama said he focused on his training: jump roping, shadow boxing, sparring with partners and the punching bag, and running four miles a day.
He paid for the training by working a construction job for the last four years. It has also allowed him to support his 2-year-old son, Azea Jr., and his girlfriend. He was laid off in March.
''I chipped and hammered all day, plain and simple,'' he said. ``It would break your joints down, and by the time I got to the gym I was really beat up.''
Augustama, who is not on any Olympic ''to watch'' lists, faces a tough road in Beijing.
Jacques Deschamps, who has a 37-year career as a boxing manager and promoter, has never seen Augustama fight. But he knows about his achievement.
His chance of winning an Olympic medal, he says, ``depends on the draw.''
''If he draws a Cuban first round, he's out of it,'' Deschamps said in a telephone interview from Haiti. ``If he has a good draw where he doesn't draw a Cuban or an American, he will have a fighting chance.''
Earlier this year, Augustama realized another dream. He became a U.S. citizen. While theoretically the Haitian Constitution does not recognize the citizenship of another country, Augustama was still a Haitian citizen while competing in the qualifying fights. Also because he and his parents were born in Haiti, Augustama and his coach say, the government saw nothing wrong with the representation.
Neither does his parents. ''It doesn't matter what happened in Haiti, we are still Haitian,'' said his mother, Cilia Augustama, who is proud that her son will represent Haiti at the Olympics. His first fight will be Saturday.
On Monday, the day Augustama and his trainer left for Beijing, Cilia Augustama prayed that he will win a medal in China. She keeps faith and is sure of his chances of winning ''because I know that God is with him,'' she said.
THE JOURNEY
It's not the first time Cilia Augustama has prayed for her son's success and safety. Born in the northwest Haitian city of Gonaives, the young boxer fled Haiti with his parents and seven of his nine brothers in 1990 in a boat. At the time, Haiti was mired in political violence as the country prepared to elect its first democratic president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Thousands of Haitians fled on the high seas.
''We left because of political reasons. They use to come in your house and question you and sometimes not even question you and just kill you,'' said Augustama, 62, a retired housekeeper. ``We needed more security and a better life and education.''
He grew up in a tough North Miami neighborhood where many of his friends and neighbors easily fell prey to a local gang.
After failing to make his high school football team because of lackluster grades, he discovered boxing. At 15, he was boxing with the Hollywood Police Athletic League with trainer Antonio Detancourt.
Soon, what began as recreation became a passion.
Among the people Augustama has trained and spared with: Jermain Taylor, World Boxing Organization Middleweight Champion of the World, and Arthur Abraham, International Boxing Federation Middleweight Champion of the World.
''I look at him as a specimen. He is the epitome of a lightweight champion,'' said Detancourt, Augustama's trainer.
Detancourt has trained more than 50 amateur fighters, but Augustama is his first boxer to qualify for the Olympics. Detancourt says the ultimate ending to Augustama's storied journey would be for him to be Haiti's first boxer to win a medal, and the first Haitian since Sylvio Cator won silver in the men's long jump in 1928.
''It would be a beautiful feeling,'' Detancourt said.