Introducing the New Blogs......

Well I don't know if I will have time for them, but we will see. At least I wanted to have a place to let you all get to know my kids. I started with their births. I won't post there often, but I will post there enough so you can share in some of their progress and a little of the joys I have with them. Hope you enjoy!

First post of Kai- http://all4kai.blogspot.com
First post of Violet- http://violetsinbloom.blogspot.com


Antibloggedy

Tuesday

Doesn't seem right to blog about anything else but sweet Tuesday....Please Pray for her, Peace, and comfort for her family.

click on the button above or here.
Antibloggedy

Cora.....

I was going to do a post all about me, but then I went to read what SneakyMama had to say in a post all about Cora......She is so beautiful, she would make your heart melt....in fact, here is a picture of the little precious angel(that I stole right from her families sidebar):




See Beautiful, right?!

This little Angel has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma Cancer. She is only 9 months old and has a tough set of "things" to deal with right now. So if you want to please send a little love note their way, Say a little extra prayer for Her and Her family and take thanks in your own good fortune. I will definitely hug my kids a little tighter today and pray for her quick recovery and for the strength to deal with the pain. Check out her families page

I will post my boasty post tomorrow...

Antibloggedy

Tuesdays TipJar

Ever wonder how to create your own button and then post it in your side bar for all of your readers to copy directly to their blog?.....click the button above and get one of the most valuable tips of the entire century! =)
Check it out, I am serious! It's good stuff.

If the button doesn't work, Click HERE! (I am not an expert, which is why I am sending you to Sneaky Momma!

My Tip today: Check out someone elses tip!

Antibloggedy

Not Me Monday!!!!!!.....My first Participation...I mean I did not participate.

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.



I did not participate in Not me Mondays, because I did NoT like the idea of it....=)
I did not try to trick the kids into taking a nap at the same time, so I could sit back and Not do a damn thing.
I did not try to hide out from someone who was looking for me at work.

Wow, I am Not Not good at Not Me-ing. I mean back to the regular talk and all: I realize I did not (really) do very much today. In fact I think today resembled yesterday and the day before that. Hmmmmmmmmmm! Let me try again:

I did not play the "Afraid Parade" song by Friday about 7 times and march in circles around the baby with my 2 year old because we were NOT being silly. I did Not do this several times this week (everyday since I posted that song on my blog)

Are you Scared? Join the Afraid Parade! from Kelsey Friday on Vimeo.

I did not wish I was on vacation with the McKmama family....Crazy Biatch for going to the Caribbean and not having free tickets for us blogger buddies! =)

I did not read the first few pages of The Joy Luck Club and recite, "there was a book about the movie?" and then realize the book came first.....Just kidding, but it was NOT the first time I picked that book up. I find I like the book best...so far.



I did not just scan the book to prove I actually have a copy of an book NOT NOT for a 2 year old.

I did not enjoy a creamy white saucy delicious pasta even though I am lactose intolerant.......sorry little ones! =) yikes!

I did not only have one Popsicle left and give it to the older one and leave the poor little one hanging...sorry kiddo, maybe your sis will NOT give you a taste.


OOOOOOOhhhh, How could I remember (see I am catching on)....I did NOT participate in History by Going...NOT Going to the Inauguration of the 44th President. (check out the post about it here)


I did not post secret very private letters from chas on the my blog....check it here. =)

Letters to Me......

I thought I would share a few very important things that I was gifted along my life. It is a few notes and letters from two very important men in my life. My Chas, and My TUTU. They are more valuable to me than anything. By the way it may not be Perfect, but each time I read these I am in my own perfect moment. I suggest you look through your old treasures, and post those things that mean the most to you. I will be posting a "my five favorite things in the world" post and I expect you all to be prepared to share the same....=) just for fun.

Chas:


Chas did this for me on my first Mothers day. It made me cry.



This is the love letter chas wrote me before returning from his travels to Germany. We had split for a short time and upon his return he apologized for leaving. The letter was written on the other side of this beautiful drawing.

I didn't want to post it, but here it is. "The Letter":

We are together 11 years this year!







This is the picture Chas drew for me on the envelope of my birthday card. Inside was a beautiful love letter...Maybe I will share that with you another time.... =)


Sometimes Chas leaves me notes....."awwwww"....it makes me feel special. He truly is pretty sweet. I have to appreciate him more.

TUTU:

This is a letter from my grandfather. We called him "TUTU" in my family. My grandfather and I would talk about very real things even when I was young. In that, I believe he gave me very "real" advice. I kept many of the notes he wrote me that had those pieces of advice.


To this day I try to look "straight ahead". It is this advice that gives me much strength in my decisions. I miss my grandfather a lot. He meant the world to me.

There is so much to say about the inauguration. There is so much I want to make a point to mention. I think I will have to have 3 posts to explain the whole take on it and to say everything I would like to say. I will post some of my favorite photos from the event. Overall, a really great and important experience with a lot of Historical value. I ended up going by myself, which turned out to be pretty great. I think I took a lot more in and lead myself to all the places I wanted to be at the moment I wanted to be there. Along the way I found myself taking pictures of people in their groups, so they could all be in it together. In return a few of them were able to do the same for me.

I took around 600-700 pictures and video of the event and there is no way for me to explain it all here. If you have any questions or want any of the pictures from the event, please send me an email and I will forward you some(antibloggedy@gmail.com). I will also be posting some onto my picasa web album and the slideshow in the sidebar. You are more than welcome to look at them and to keep some for yourself....I am not one of those peeps that will charge you for wanting something special, I do request you do not sell the images yourself or use them to make a profit. Just send me an email if you aren't sure about its use. With that said, Read my journey to the Inauguration:




I Started out my trek early in the morning in 16degree weather which turned into 12degrees along the way! Ouch! Actually I decided to leave at 1 am and drive from Pittsburgh to Shady Grove, Maryland. The drive is about 4 1/2 hours long and is a pretty direct and simple drive. I got to Shady Grove Metro Station and Rode into the Capital. They were selling all day passes for the metro for $10.00. The tickets themselves were special Barack Obama Inauguration passes....Souvenirs I think (I didn't take a picture of the ticket so I will have to make a point to do that later.)

This is the crowd at the Metro Station at 5:45am.

The crowds at this station were already enormous. I got into the station at 5 am and waited to park for 30 minutes. There were a few cars that "cut in line", but for the most part it was pretty organized in how they lead people into the parking lots and onto the platforms. I think the metro is a pretty good transit system and is very similar to the BART station in San Fransisco, Ca.

This is the first image I had of the national monuments. It was a beautiful day and the people were all walking toward something wonderful. You can see the Washington Monument ahead of us. It was probably about 1 mile away. I find myself with some tears in my eyes from the magic of it all.

The really fantastic moment was when I got off the Metro with all those people. we walked for about 30 minutes to the "Washington Mall". For those of you who have not yet gone to the Nations Capitol it is a really great set up. On one end of the long Rectangle of a Mall is the State Capital. On the other is the Lincoln Memorial. The distance is 2 miles from end to end. You can see very clearly from the Lincoln Memorial all the way to the Capital Bldg. In the Center of the long Mall is the Washington Monument(this is the tall obelisk or tower Monument). from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Memorial is the Reflecting Pool where Martin Luther King Jr. Made his famous speech. The Mall is surrounded on both sides with many more memorials and with The Smithsonian Museum. It was really incredible to take it all in.


This is in the mall looking toward the Capital. The JumboTrons are the Viewing screens that people got to watch the event on, and they had loud speakers throughout so everyone could see and hear it happening. It is also one of my favorite images that include the Capital, the people and Lincolns image on the JumboTron looking back at us.

When I first arrived I thought I would find a good place to watch the Inauguration on one of the large screens. I found a good place at the front of the "no-ticket" section. When I was as far as I could go, I began to make myself comfortable, then realized it was still only around 8:30am and Pres. Elect Barack Obama was not going to be speaking for another 3 hours. It was too long to stay put and I found the crowds were making it pretty claustrophobic and started making it to a perimeter. I was walking so fast trying to move away from the "lock down" of people that I ran right into Samuel L. Jackson! Literally! I ran into him. He and I said excuse me and continued on our way....then I realized he was someone recognizable and went back. I asked if he were Samuel Jackson and his Posse said it was a bad time to talk. He was on the phone and apparently he was denied access to the "ticket section" because he went the wrong way. The MP (Military Police) would not let him cross the road to get to the "ticket section" It would probably be about a 4-5 mile walk around the perimeter of the lock down to get to the right entrance for him, if that was even a possibility. I don't know if he made it, I hope so. I hope it did not ruin the whole of the event for him if he couldn't get in. It was crazy though, because as he was standing there figuring out his situation while they had been airing the recording from the concert on Sunday in which he had made a speech. So there he was on the JumboTrons and also in the crowd. There were many people taking his picture while he was in his little moment of drama. I felt kind of bad (I don't like the idea of taking pictures of people.....................but this was different) So,......I took his picture also to record the memory of it all as part of my Inaugural Memory Book (Sorry Mr. Jackson)there are 2 more, but didn't want to put all of them up:



This is one of the pictures that just barely tells the story of the massive amounts of people all converging in the area. All I kept saying to myself was "Wowwwww" and **Sighhhhh**. At this moment I am nearer the Washington Memorial looking toward the Capital.


They said that there was about 2 million people in Washington for this Event. In the National Mall I estimate there was a little over a million at "the moment" he became our 44th president. The rest were on the streets, lining up on the Parade route. The parade wasn't till much later when I took my picture, but they had already crowded the streets around 9am.



This was the steps of Lincoln Memorial looking toward the Nations Capital. They did not have a JumboTron to view from here, but you could see the people and here the address being spoken through some of the nearby speakers.



I can sum it up to three parts: The People, The Memorials, and the Historic Value.





My Favorite Memorial was the Lincoln Memorial. The feeling to be in such a place that is so important while being there for a very important moment in History is unexplainable. This moment will be a part of the history books and those that were there will be recorded as being a part of it.


In my generation there has not really been that event that called to so many people to attend and be a part of. It is our I have a dream, our Woodstock and our Inauguration speech of JFK. There will not be anything to compare it to during my lifetime. It is truly the transition of America. There will be a place in my heart that keeps this moment close. I will tell this story for the rest of my life and I will share the pictures and the stories with friends and family, but the enormity of it all can not be explained although I am sure I will try to recreate it much in my life.

Out of the office reply.....

I will be out of the office from 01/20/2009 through 01/20/2009. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. I will reply to any questions or comments on Wednesday 01/21/2009. I am going to the inauguration! Yippey. thats all there is to say. I will be with my friend Kelly. I will take pics to show you when I get back tomorrow!

Antibloggedy

Can you believe it?

We are about to be witness to History. It may not seem as big as it will be, but come 100 years from now it will have been a pretty big one. I am speaking of the Inauguration of Barack Obama. His swearing in will be the turning point for America. I don't know what is ahead for us, I don't even know if he will be a great president. I do know that deep down in my heart, I feel he is "the one" that will change things around. I heard someone say "he will lead us to transform America from what it is today" and I can't help but agree with them. I suppose we are participating in a type of Metamorphoses. I am pretty practical and pretty realistic, and understand that he can not change things quickly, but he can lead us in a positive direction and reorganize those parts about America that I am not proud of. He has already shown great character and promise and has not let me down in how he has stood tall, spoken confidently, and has known his place. He has been respectful to the current president and although many have already begun to recognize him as their current leader, he has not seemed to let that give him too big of an ego. I think He probably has a healthy Ego, for a politician...you have to have that sort of over-confidence to get you to the top. I am not a supporter of the Bush administration, although the stimulus check he sent out helped to pay for my Maternity Leave.....(one of the only upsides to the last 4 years since the state of Pennsylvania doesn't offer any type of benefit-that is paid into out of our paychecks like Hawaii, California, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico...."TDI please come to Pennsylvania!!!!"...guess it doesn't matter now that I have the kids already, but I'll take it for the other mama's out there.)

I have been contemplating driving to D.C. to be witness to the moment Barack Obama becomes President Barack Obama of The United States of America. I know I will not be in a front row, or even close enough to witness the swearing in.....but to be present amongst the crowd of people who felt the same need I had.....I don't even know if I can take the day off, and my mother thinks it's "too dangerous" (too cold, bad driving conditions) and even said "don't you care about your children". .....I know she loves and worries for me, and I would do the same for my kids.....but: (edit note, i am not taking the kids if i go)
1.)I can show my children that this moment was important enough and that history is important.
2.)That they can participate, and not just be by-standers and on-lookers in life.
3.)There will be fantastic pictures to hang on my walls of the moment, that I will be proud of.
4.)I will be proud of myself for doing something for me.....
5.)It is a 4 1/2 hour drive and I have researched the directions, the plan of action on where I will park, catch the metro and attend then leave the event. I may even ask a friend of mine to come with me.

What to do?.......
I say go, but then again, I still need to get off from work.....pretty rough day to do that (day before Inventory, payroll submission and week end stuff I am responsible for)

Damned if I do.
Damned if I don't.
Damn.

Send me a picture of your donated "stuff" for the picture collage! I will enter you in the raffle for the gift card.......check it out here.

Word of the Year.....2009

My word of the year in the spirit of Tip Junkie and all of her fabulous guest posters!


Why this word means so much to me:

I started blogging last year when "inspired" by my sis "The Rambler"
I saw a perfect moment posted on Martha's blog, which helped me to recognize my own moment.
I read a featured blogger from SITS : Thorn among Roses which "inspired" me to host a charity event
The Charity Event "inspired" me to give
Giving Inspired me to "inspire" others to do the same!

All of the people I read everyday Inspire me and impress me, but recognizing those great moments and allowing yourself to become a better person is the true reward.

Antibloggedy

Thank God it's Friday!..........

Fun Kid friendly music....I love love Kelsey Friday and The Rest of the Week
check them out here
Just press play to watch the video....super great music video for the kids!


Are you Scared? Join the Afraid Parade! from Kelsey Friday on href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo.

Enjoy.....

Check out my Blanket Drive

Dear Mrs. Spit,

Dear Mrs. Spit,

I am truly honored for your kind and thoughtful award. I sent an email to Martha to tell her her nomination has brought tears to my eyes (5 tears to be exact, with a smile). I believe tears only come when there is great appreciation. I let them sit on my cheek to savor the moment. To have someone validate the small differences you try to make is touching. Your gesture is larger than you know, and if I am able to make a difference in one person's life I know the impact will be much greater than that. Thank you for saying such kind things.


Thank you again!


This is the letter I sent off to Mrs. Spit, who is truly a remarkable person and who also has a wonderful Blog....Check her out by clicking on the button(Pat on the Back award) to the right and you will see the nice words she has said in her Toby Award. I also believe this is recognized as a perfect moment, for both Martha and Mrs. Spit show a kindness that should not be left un-noticed.

-------------------------------------------

A large thank you to Martha as well, as she has touched my heart more than words can say.

Much Aloha,
Antibloggedy

I totally know what you mean.....

 

I feel it sister! It has been a long couple of months and I am ready for some down time......if only my mom could pick a date already for her wedding, I would have something to look forward to...........soon please, but not too soon, I need to make some money to pay for it.....but soon.



Check out the blanket Drive!
Antibloggedy

Does anyone else find this funny?! I am not trying advertise for these peeps, but I almost peed myself watching this commercial...... hahahahaha while we are talking about commercials......check out my blanket driving......





I know I just posted something a few minutes ago, but I was reading my sister "the ramblers" ramble about .....actually I don't remember, I must not have been paying attention, but whatever it was it reminded me of this commercial and I had to find it.

Don't you just love my new html's in the top right corner....one is a new logo for my page and the other is a counter, I cheated and started at 5000 since It asked me....gives me a jump on my sisters site!!!!! hahaha-sucker! just kidding, love you sis....by the way its only "really" cheating if you don't say anything, and I totally just confessed.....does this make me an enabler of myself?

Antibloggedy

some young video director.........

Found this video while searching the tube...turns out this is a young guys sample video he did with a camera and some frirnds....high quality! Enjoy! OOOOOOHhh before I forget, Thanks to Martha, Paul, and Will for getting me those blanket entries! I am really excited about getting those contest results..........Blanket and/something else drive: Here

Dawn of New Days....

I am pondering my thoughts.....(of my fathers death anniversary)

My thoughts on death and life
I understand life, well mostly, I know I am alive at least...
I ignore death, but it is loud and cacophonous
...like a nail on the chalkboard....
Every year on this day I am reminded of death
It is the one friend I did not want
the friend that calls me every year
very prompt, and extremely polite
to say hello and goodbye
..."till next year"...

It is the day that reminds me about how fragile life is
It is the day that reminds me about death
It is the day that reminds me that we all have two things in common
...we live, then we die...

I did not set that reminder on my clock
I did not want the alarm to go off on this day
I dread the day it comes again

"Till next year"
What I dread more is the day it does not say
"till next year"

Antibloggedy



Wow, How depressing! I will post this, and then I will put a cheery picture of the kids to distract you from the doom of it all.....

Beautiful girl........

You are all very beautiful.....

Enjoy!




Beautiful Girl By I'kona

Don't forget to check out the Blanket Drive!