Why Robin?

Why?

R.I.P.

Too Cute To Eat

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So I know we've all seen awesome miniature food from some great artists in the community, Corsetkitten I'm talking about you. ;-), but I doubt any of us would pass on a chance to see more awesomeness.  Jessica Hlavac from L.A. has the artful skill of creating tiny meals with unbelieveable detail. If you can't tell from the picture above, that's a "full meal" on a United States quarter.  In the article I read about her work there is a gallery of other foods she's made. One of my other fave pieces are the Twinkies and Ding Dongs she made.  They look sinfully good and are worth the whole look at the gallery...there's only a handful of pictures. :-)  But I just wanted to share this find with you guys.  :-)

 Sorry I haven't been around much.  My computer is still in need of work and trying to blog off my sister's computer is not easy, sticking keyboard, and also I've been focusing on my health and trying to get healthy again.  So I'm still here, just not here.  I'm spending time catching up on blogs for now, so expect to see me stop by to say hi.

{source}

And I just wanted to say rest in peace Whitney Houston. I just loved her because she was an awesome singer and when I was a kid I wanted to be a singer and she inspired me.  I also loved her because here and I shared the same birthday.  I always thought my birthday and birth month was boring until I learned her and I had the same birthday. I'm so sad she passed.

And on that note I will close for now.  I hope you all are having an awesome weekend and will have an awesome week.  Talk to you soon.  Be good until then.  Bye for now.

Thinking its time to get some sleep,
Michelle

12 Years Ago Today

January 5, 1997-October 12, 1999

And I still can’t believe you are gone forever.  You are always in our hearts and thoughts.  We love you.

Love always,
Michelle

When You’re Sad…Smile

So, unless you have cut yourself off from the world today, you no doubt have heard that Amy Winehouse passed away.  Now I wasn’t a big fan of Amy’s, but I liked her music and felt for her and her battles with drug and alcohol abuse.  When my sister told me she had died I felt so sad for her.  Not because we lost a celebrity, but because she has lost the war she was fighting.  Now we don’t know completely why she died yet, but even if it was due to sickness there is no doubt in my mind she could have fought it off if her body wasn’t ravaged by drug and alcohol abuse.  It’s just so sad that someone so young and talented and who seemed to have it all was in so much pain that she turned to such evils.  I truly feel she could have gone far in life and in her career.  I hope wherever she is that she is finally at peace and can finally rest.

Every since hearing the news I’ve been in a very “thoughtful” mood.  There’s of course the whole “we’re all going to die some day and some of us go sooner than others” kind of thoughts.  But it also makes me really see that I truly need to seize the day more often because I don’t know if this is my last chance to do so.  So I am going to stop being scared and chicken to do stuff and just jump in, feet first of course, and just see what happens.  There’s nothing that could happen that doesn’t have a solution so I just need to do it.  I encourage you to seize the day as well, and do whatever your heart has been aching to do.  There’s never been a more right or perfect time than today, so go out there and do it!  You have my permission. 

 

And to bring this post back to a cheerier note, my sister found this video from America’s Got Talent and I just had to share it with you.  It almost made me get weepy seeing how happy these kids were to have reached a big goal in their lives.  Watch and enjoy. 

And that’s about it for today.  I’ve got to get back to my Camp Nanowrimo novel that I need to finish and soon, and then I am working on inventory stuff and I have some other business news I will share with you guys a little later.  I will just say my sister and I are teaming up to create a line of something or another.  I’ll update you more on it later after we’ve sorted out some things.  Stay tuned for that.  And I will talk to you all later.  Be good until then.  Bye for now. 

Loves ya ,
Mouse

Rest In Peace Dame Elizabeth Taylor

So if you haven’t heard already, famed actress Elizabeth Taylor died today at 79 years of age from congestive heart failure.  She was surrounded by her kids when she passed away, which I imagine would have been the way she wanted to go.  I was shocked to hear of her passing.  Ever since I was a kid I’d always hear about Elizabeth Taylor in one way or another.  Either a movie my mom saw that she’d think I like, or in her White Diamonds commercials, or that she was a good friend of Michael Jackson.  She kind of one of those icons you think will never die.  But in the end, I guess we are all human and we all face the same sad end. 

I feel sad that I didn’t look more into Elizabeth’s career when she was alive.  Now seeing the news talk about her past movies, it makes me want to watch them.  Of course I watched Cleopatra, but other movies I haven’t, but I plan to watch them.  I’m hoping Netfilx has some of them to watch.

In high school I had a teacher who loved her.  He’d told his wife if Elizabeth Taylor came to the door and asked him to leave his wife for her, he would.  I was thinking this morning if Mr. Bryant is still alive I wonder how he is handling the news of her passing.  I say if he is still alive because he was about Elizabeth Taylor’s age at the time I was in school, he was a very large man, and well yeah.  So I just wonder what he is thinking today.

Ok, this post is getting super sad.  I guess I just wanted to post to say I was sad to hear of her passing.  There really are no more iconic people any more besides Betty White left to be amazed by.  And I guess it just shows that I’m getting older because so many people I remember from my youth are slowly passing away, and well yeah.   There is just no avoiding the unavoidable and we all need to live life to it’s fullest.  Whatever the fullest is to you live your life to achieve that so you can look back as you lay on your deathbed and say you have no regrets because you accomplished a lot, you lived happily, and you leave this world a better place because you were here.  I think Elizabeth did that, and I hope one day I will too.    Talk to you guys later.  Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

R.I.P. Furginia. :-(

Furginia

The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... 

Author unknown...

 

Furginia was the first pet I bought from my own money.  I had to beg my mom to let me get her and then she had to beg my dad.  LOL!  They both gave in, I did tons of research on ferrets, and then one day before I work I went and plunked down almost 200 dollars for a baby ferret that kept biting me while I held her.  LOL!  My mom and I stopped by the pet store so I could get her some stuff and when I came back out my mom’s finger was bleeding because Furginia bit her because she was trying to touch her.  My mom said, and I quote “I could never love anything like this.”  Yeah, Furginia became her grandbaby and was smothered with hugs and kisses by the woman.  LOL!  Furginia was loved by everyone and was the sweetest thing.  She grew to trust is and was the princess of the family.  She will be greatly missed and forever loved by us all.  She’d been sick for a while and I did some research and learned she had something that couldn’t be healed.  So I choose to make her comfortable and decided that if she ever showed she was in pain I’d do the right thing and have her put to sleep.  She never showed that.  She was still herself up to the very end.  I found her curled up next to her favorite toy this morning, she thankfully passed in her sleep.  I love this little girl so much and I will forever miss her.  It will really hit me when the cage is out of my room tonight.  If you have animals give them an extra hug and kiss today for me and let them know they are loved.

I’ll talk to you all soon.  Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Where have I been?

Seriously, where have I been?  I just today learned that Joe Tai passed away back in September.    I remember when I first got into fashion dolls Joe Tai’s boots were one of the things I coveted.  And then when I learned about his dolls they too were added to my list of things I desperately wanted.  It’s so sad to learn of a talented person so young passing away.  It makes you realize how short life is and how you can’t waste your precious time here on Earth because you just never know.  Rest in peace Joe Tai, you will never be forgotten.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Jan. 5, 1977-Oct. 12, 1999

Looking at those dates makes me think of my brother’s gravestone.  He actually has two gravestones.  The first one when they made it they messed up on the date and had him listed as passing on the 21st instead of the 12th.  At first my mom didn’t want to bother mentioning it, but I told her this is his last personal belonging it should say the right date.  So she told them and in no time he had the proper gravestone.  Over the years the stone has faded from exposure to the elements but you can still see clearly the saying we came up with to put on it.  “Beloved son and brother.”  And is just what he was and still and forever will be.

My boyfriend and I were talking this morning before he went off to work and I mentioned how it was today that he passed away.  I asked him if he could believe it was 11 years ago.  He was shocked and mentioned how time just flies.  Honestly it still feels like it was yesterday.  I dearly wish that things didn’t feel like yesterday for us.  I mean I still feel like that shy girl from high school.  Sometimes I feel like I am forever 18.  Maybe that’s because that was a fun time in life for me.  I was out of high school and I had a lot more freedom just to be me.  My brother and I constantly had our friends over or we’d go out to hang with them and it was just a good time.  I think back fondly on those days and wish dearly that they were still here.

But when my mom came to check on me, because she hadn’t seen me all morning, I told her how I felt uncomfortable today and sad and she said don’t be sad and that he wouldn’t want me to be sad.  That if he saw me being sad he’d come in and say “Hey Butternose!”  LOL!  He used to call me that and “Granny”.  LOL!  Butternose came from “Fraggle Rock”.  I believe the king giant called his queen Butternose.  Granny I can’t remember where it came from but he always called me that.  Then my mom mentioned some other things that was a very memorable thing that he liked or did and it made me feel a lot better.  We’ve come a long way where we can talk about him and not be sad but be so happy he choose us as family and so happy to have known him for the short time we had him in our lives.

So in honor of my brother Larry I’d like to make a top 15…it was 10 but I thought about 5 too many… list of things he loved.  :-)  Here we go in no certain order.

1.

Wrestling

He loved wrestling.  He wanted to become a wrestler so bad.  I remember how him and another friend would go out into the front yard and wrestle each other.  They both wanted to be wrestlers and they thought they were so good.  Granted they didn’t know what they were doing, but it was always entertaining to watch them try.  LOL!

2.

Spaghetti

He LOVED spaghetti.  He’d pack his plate full with a big mound and go off and eat then when he was done he’d come back for a second plate.  LOVED spaghetti.  LOL!  We were always shocked by the amount he could put away.  I wasn’t a fan of it, I wasn’t much of a fan of anything back when I was a kid, but he loved it so much.

3.

Video Games

He had a dream of creating a video game museum.  He had every system out there.  He would constantly be playing games and beating them.  I remember one thing that always makes me giggle.  We had a game based on “The Little Mermaid” and I beat the game and I believe my sister beat the game too, but my brother hadn’t and he couldn’t let us beat the game and him not.  So he played the game until he beat it.  He eventually did but it was so funny how he couldn’t stop playing it until he beat it and got a little irritated when he’d mess up.  I guess he figured he couldn’t let his little sisters beat him.  LOL!   We still have all his gaming systems and games.  Not sure what we will do with them.  I guess keep them and use them.  We’ve got some old school systems here too so it will be fun to look back to when games were “good”.  ;-)

4.

Heavy Metal Music

Now my brother loved all kinds of music, but the music I could recall him listening to the most was heavy metal.  I think this went along with his love of wrestling.  The intro songs tended to be heavy metal.  I often remember that you could hear him coming down the street before he got home.  You’d hear this loud heavy metal music and then all of it sudden it would cut off suddenly then a minute later he’d walk through the front door.  It’s funny now to think about it.  I didn’t really like his choice in music, I was a pop girl myself, but now I’m glad he did like that because I can remember it so vividly now.  I don’t know if I would have remembered it so well if he’d played all the stuff I liked.

5.

Pretty Blondes

My brother loved the ladies.  But he loved the blonde ladies a little more.  LOL!  One of the earliest blondes I can remember hearing of that he liked was Jessica in his 1st grade class.  His teacher told our mom that he had a crush on her and when my mom asked him about he said in a dreamy voice “She’s pretty.”  LOL!  Now one of his celeb crushes that was more recent was Melissa Joan Heart and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

But with Sarah Michelle Gellar I am kind of cheating because he liked her back during her “Swans Crossing” time before other soaps and before Buffy when she was a dark auburn.  So hummm, can I really include her now?  Meh, my list my rules.  ;-)

6.

His Car

I don’t even remember the color of his car.  I want to say it was a dark grey color but it could have been red for all I know.  I do know he had a Steve Austin tag on the front of it, it had these rain protectors on the window that made me feel claustrophobic, and the car was a damn lemon.  But when he passed I wanted to keep it so much because it was his car, but it was very problematic so it was traded in for another vehicle that we could use without problems down the line.  He was proud of his car.  His first big responsibility.  :-)  Now this car pictured isn’t what his car looked like I just picked out a car I thought he would like to own now.  I could see him behind the wheel of this.  :-)

7.

His Blue Sheet

Now this one is kind of an inside family joke.  My brother and I both had these blue sheets when we were kids.  He became attached to his and would take it everywhere.  Mine just kind of hung out in my closet…where it actually still is right now.  LOL!  His got tattered and torn but he still kept it.  We still have it and my mom has asked that we place it in her coffin when she passes away many many many many many years from now.

8.

Dino’s Pizza

My brother loved Dino’s Pizza for many reasons.  For one reason, he worked there.  He loved his job and the people he worked with and for.  But he also love Dino’s for the perks.  He got to have meals that were cancelled and I believe he either got free food or seriously discounted food.  Two of the things he’d bring home from Dino’s were their overly greasy pizzas and breadsticks.  Yes they were so far from healthy, but damn they were good.  LOL!

9.

Jalapeno Peppers

This was a new development with him.  He would love to get a jalapeno pepper or two and would just chow down into one and eat it straight up!  OMG!!!  I would sit there in disgust, shock, and awe as I watched him eat it like the sucker was chocolate.  Umm…wow.  It was surely a sight to see.

10.

Animals

My brother loved animals.  He loved to play with the many animals that have come through our zoo.  I remember how he’d pretend that he was going to eat my guinea pig Baby.  She was this fat plump hairy thing, and he would grab her little plump leg and act like he was chowing down.  LOL!  He loved playing with her and all our pets.  I know he’d love the animals we have now. He never got to meet a single one of them.  He would have loved playing with them all.  :-)

11.

Movies

My brother loved watching movies at home or in theater.  I went with him several times to the movies and we had a good time.  Two movies I remember were one of the Batman movies and one of the Rush Hour movies.  We had fun watching them together.  One movie I remember not so fondly was Romeo and Juliet.  We went with my friend and boyfriend at the time and somehow someone got in a fight so he left, then my boyfriend left, and by that time my friend and I had missed so much of the movie that we left too.  Thank goodness it was free due to my friend working at the movies and I believe we went back just her and me to see it at another time.  I don’t remember why the two boys got mad, but it was actually funny later because it was over something silly.  Teens, what I can say, we were dramatic back then.

12.

The Holidays

My brother loved all the holidays, but he loved Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas the most.  Oh and his birthday, but I suppose that’s a personal holiday and didn’t it rock for him to have it right after Christmas.  He had Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November, Christmas in December, and his birthday in January.  But you want to hear something cool?  He wasn’t the only one who lucked out that way.  My mom was lucky like that too.  They share the exact same birthday.  It’s actually kind of weird the amount of people I met that had a birthday on January 5th. My mom, brother, a little girl that lived next door to us years ago, and one of my best friends.  Weird huh?  Well one of the holidays that my brother really liked was Halloween, I think it ran a close second to Christmas, and so we like to do something to celebrate it each year.  Not sure what we will do this year.  I have an idea, but I doubt it will happen.  Meh, something will come to me.  :-)

13.

Jingle Bell Rock

My brother had this love for the song “Jingle Bell Rock” when he was a kid and he kept that love for the song throughout his life.  To this day I still smile and sing along when I hear it.  And um, do you like the image I found for this?  It’s jingle bells…on a rock….with a mouse.  Omg, what’s not to love about this?  LOL!  I would so love to own this.  So cute and perfect for me.  Oddly enough it’s a part of the “Charming Tails” collection that fell in love with a long time ago.  I wanted to buy every single piece they came out with.  I wonder if it’s still possible to buy this one piece?  It’s truly so prefect for me.

14.

Traveling

Every summer since he was a kid my brother became and honorary truck driver.  He’d go out on the road with my dad during the summer.  Oh I hated that.  Not only did I want to go and couldn’t due to me being a girl and it being mostly a man’s world out there on the road and no place for young girl, but I would also be alone during the summer.  It was just me and my mom until my sister was born then it was me, my mom, and my sister.  But still she was a baby so I still didn’t have anyone to play with.  :-(  So when the end of the summer came I was glad because my play partner was back but it would be time to go back to school so that defeated the purpose.  But I’m glad he got to go out on the road.  He got to see so many things and experience life some.

15.

His Family

Though we drove him crazy sometimes I know he loved us dearly.  He worried about us and he’d go out of his way to help us in any way he could.  Him and I were very close and I felt less alone growing up because no matter what he was there to lean on.  When he passed I felt a big chunk was missing in me, still do at times, and I suddenly became the “oldest” and well that status has never sat well with me and never will.  I still want to be the middle child.  It’s funny I hated being the middle child when I was younger but now I want nothing more to be the middle child again.  I suppose I still am but to the world I’m not.  But the important people know the real story and that’s all that matter.  Yes my lovely readers you are among the important ones.  :-)

So there you have it.  My brother’s top 15.  There is so much more I could have said about him, but this post would go on much longer than it already has so I will close on this next note.  I know it sounds cliché, but honestly everyone, hug your family and friends.  Let them know you love them.  Let them know they are so important to you because you never know when you have to say good bye way before you are ready.  Sure I know we are never ready to truly say good bye, but when a person is sick or old it’s a tiny bit easier to handle their passing knowing they lived a nice long life or they were sick and now they no longer hurt.  Of course it will still hurt that they are gone but it’s a little easier to accept than suddenly finding out someone you cared about is suddenly gone and they were kids or in their 20s, 30s, 40s, etc.  So just make sure that they know you love them and would be lost without them.  I hope my brother knows that I love him and miss him dearly and since his passing I make sure to tell my family I love them every night before bed no matter what.  Even if we are angry at each other, I want them to know that I love them now and when the anger passes as well.  So do it people. Do it now.  Send a text, give them a call, go give them a hug, give them a kiss, and say you love them today and every day from now on.  Ok?  Ok.

Thanks to whoever made it this far.  For you I have a special picture to bring a big smile to your face.  Proceed for your gift.

Awesome right?  Smiling right?  Sweet.  :-)  You’re welcome.  ;-)  Ok I’m going to close now so I can get to work on the big post for today.  Yes, I have not worked on it yet because I am still trying to figure out how to word it so it’s informative but not boring.  Expect that post soon.  Be good until then.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

A little bit of blah.

Hey guys, how have you all been?  I know it’s been a couple of days.  Just been busy with stuff and haven’t had much to blog about.  Right now I am running off of 3 hours of sleep and I can’t fall back asleep for some reason.  So I am up for the day.  Which is good.  I woke up around 6 something, I was going to go with my mom to drop my dad off at the hospital.  He’s having a procedure done today.  Did I mention about this here already?  Well in case I haven’t, last week my dad went in for a stress test.  Afterwards he called us looking for me and my mom.  We were at Walmart getting something for my sister to eat at work.  I remember answering the phone and asking how his test went and he said the treadmill really gave him a hard time but he was glad it was over.  I didn’t think much about this because he is older and he’s a smoker.  A couple of days later the phone rings and my mom picks up and it’s my dad’s doctor saying his test came back negative and they would possibly have to catheterize his heart.  Yeah, not a nice thought to us either.

Now granted the day before his stress test he was out in the yard working very hard.  A little to hard if you ask me.  No matter how much we told him to take it easy he just had to “do a little more” and he’d be “done”.   Then that night he complained about his heart racing, which at first scared me, but then again my dad is known for the dramatics sometimes and once again he’s a smoker.  Oh and his diet isn’t that good either even though we are working on changing it.  But yeah, so I was suppose to ride with her to drop him off because she was scared of getting lost around the hospital.  But she saw I was a little out of it and said to get some sleep instead.  Even when I woke up more she said get some sleep.  I had a hard time trying to get back to sleep.  I think I might have slept 10-20 minutes before I heard my dog barking because he heard his mommy outside returning home.  So I decided to get up and go join her and try to keep her mind off things.  We talked and joked for about an hour and a half and now she’s washing their sheets so my dad will have a nice clean bed to come home to.  I decided to log and work on my website for a while and my novel before exercising.

Exercising, now that’s another issue.  While my exercising is going grand, the lifestyle diet change is not.  I still find myself eating when I am bored, or stressed, or depressed.  I am finding out once again that my tummy does not like milk whatsoever.  The last time I had some I was in so much pain I was whimpering at the kitchen table until it passed.  So going to look into some other kind of milk for myself.  I don’t even like the idea of drinking cow milk.  I guess I will look into nut milk, maybe soy milk.  Just something my stomach can handle better.  Even though I’d like to think I could live without milk, I know I couldn’t.  I like my cereal for breakfast so I need milk.

But yeah, that’s about all that’s been going on with me these past few days.  Been working more on the gnome hats and I know I need to take pictures of them.  Just been trying to make some in different colors and that can take some time because I have to stop some times due to my shoulder stinging something awful with too much repetitive motions.  That and my wrist hurting too.  I am sure I have the start of some kind of arthritis in my wrists.  Man, getting old sucks.  LOL!  Ok, so I’m not “that” old.  But my birthday is coming up and I will be getting another year old which is bittersweet in itself, but even then I won’t be “that” old.  Ok, now I’m babbling.  Ok should I be worried that I just heard a gunshot from off in the distance?  It’s not odd to hear it really, it happens every blue moon, but it’s daylight and a weekday when people should be at work…well besides moi.  No, I don’t live in “da hood”, but I do live on the outskirts of town where it is more country and sparse so it’s really not odd to hear the occasional gunshot.  Ok NOW I’m seriously babbling.  Oh before I go I wanted to say how sad I was to learn that Rue McClanahan passed away.  When I was a kid I never really watched the Golden Girls.  I thought it was for adults and I just wasn’t interested.  And now that I’m older I love watching episodes of the Golden Girls and even watched every episode of The Golden Palace, the spin off for Golden Girls.  It’s on YouTube if anyone is interested in watching it.  Blanche had to be my favorite gal with Rose a very close second, then Sophie and Dorothy.  But my friend told me she has passed yesterday and honestly I expected it with her age and her recently ailments.  So sad to see her go and may she rest in peace.  Alright back on a happier topic, doll and writing news coming up soon people.  Been doing some “window shopping” online and looking at things for a story idea I would like to do with dolls in the future.  I have been wanting to scale back with my doll stuff and I think this future story could be my way to do that and to keep doing stories when do finally cut back.  Ok I’m going back to working on my site and then I will update you all on what I have been doing.  Bye for now and have an awesome Friday.  TGIF!!!

Loves ya,
Mouse

I did it!!!

Hey guys!  So I know I have not blogged in a couple of days.  I ultimately blame it on my tummy.  I so need to get my rear in gear and start losing this weight and stop acting like it will magically jump off my body.  I have faith that if I get the weight off my tummy that will help a lot of my problem, and I’m really also starting to wonder if I am allergic to gluten.  Hummm…

Anyway, so early I posted about how I was working on knitting gnome hats for Blythes.  But my first 3 attempts didn’t go so well.  I mean they are still cute but I was obviously doing something wrong.  Well I tried again today working on my 4th attempt while my sister and I watched “Easter Parade”, watch it it’s truly a kickass movie, and well this attempt started out awesome.  I worked on it some more just a little while ago and just finished it.  It’s PERFECT!!!  because of how they look and the rainbow color I kind of want to call them my Seussian Gnome Hats…as in Dr. Seuss.  They make me think of the cover of one of his books that has rainbow tunnels and little furry animals.  If I find it I will let you know.  But that’s what I think of when I look at my hats.  I will take pictures of all four hats later on today and post pictures of them.  Then I will take the other three apart and attempt to reknit them.  Woot!

Other than that I haven’t done much.  Watching some vlogs and reading some blogs by authors.  And basically trying to get my lazy butt back to my novel.  I should actually go to sleep since I am yawning but I feel so sick to my stomach.  I did a product review for a big name company and the item is in its “testing” stage.  Which means if the product is to spicey or too hot I got to tell them.  Guess what I got to tell them?  Yeah the stuff was hella hot for me and my mom but for my sister and dad it was perfect.  It’s funny, the two hot-heads of the family, me and my mom, can’t handle the spice but the two cool-heads of the family, my dad and sister, can handle it.  In fact, if it doesn’t make my sister’s not run and make her look completely miserable then it’s not hot enough.  *rolls eyes*  Must be nice to have such a young stomach.  Ok, so mine isn’t that old, but it sure feels like it.

But that’s about it.  Been having some storms and much needed rain because we will be in a full on draught again soon, and been reading more, and yeah.  If I can just add exercise and watching my diet I’d be in business.  Oh I also came up with a banner idea for my shop, which I embarrassingly admit, was the main reason I hadn’t don’t anything with it..  I wanted a banner that would make my shop name make sense.  Also I took some pictures for my return to photostories, but that will need some editing due to what it will be so yeah, I have that to work on.  A lot to do and my tummy doesn’t want to play nice.  :-(  So not fair.  I hate not being able to do all that I want to do because I feel sick and panicked over it.  Oh well, gotta push through and forward.

And before I close I just want to say rest in peace Garry Coleman.  I just feel so sorry about his passing and the way he passed.  May the healing begin for his wife, family, friends, and fans.  I loved “Different Strokes” as a kid and it’s sad that he is no longer with us.

Well I think I will go write for a while now and then see if my tummy is ready to hit the hey.  Damn product testing.  I will not test anything like that again.  I’ll ask the family to but I refuse to do it.  Tummy is burning.  Hate that so much.  Ok, a picture post to be posted soon. Bye for now.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

So this morning...

I woke up early and was happy to not have to go anywhere right away, like the rest of the week usually goes. I sat down at my desk, opened the window, and turned on my computer. The house phone rang and it was my dad. No biggie, he usually calls my mom to tell her he got back to work ok. She commented that he got there safely and they must need him. He said yep and that he quit. *Insert sound of record scratch here.* Uh...daddy who's no longer working say what?

We were all in a state of shock. Even my boyfriend was shocked when I told him. My dad has been working ever since he was 15. Well actually younger, but it was more of free child labor. But being paid employment has been since 15 since my grandmother lied to get him into the Army a year before he was legal. Anyway, so after he retired from the Army he went into trucking and there he stayed until oh about a couple of hours ago. He just got home from driving back from where his company is located about 10-15 minutes ago. When he walked up to the porch I asked him how he felt to be unemployed after a million years of working. He smiled and said he didn't know but he was about to find out. So he came in with a limp due to aches and pains in his joints and went down to his room to start his retired life.

It honestly made me want to smile and say "Job well done Dad. Job well done." That man has been through so much in his life and if anyone deserves a break to just sit back and enjoy life it's my dad. Ever since I was a child the one thing I wanted most was a dad who would come home after work and be home. Sure he did that when I was very young but he was young then too and still wanted to go out and do his own thing so he wasn't home much then either and he went into trucking when I was 7 or 8 and so he hasn't been much in my life except for occasional stops home. But now, years later, my wish has been answered and well now I feel it's ok for me to work on moving along in my life. My mom won't be alone when I do leave and she will have help if she needs it, but of course I'll still be in town or a short drive away so she can still call if she needs me. But today is just weird. I knew my dad wanted to retire next month but I never thought of what it would mean for me or my life and how freeing that would be. Long story to really explain and don't really want to get into on this blog, but yeah, just mostly wanted to say my dad is officially "retired" and it makes me happy he can finally relax and enjoy life.

I'm hoping now both my parents will work on getting in better health so they will be with us longer. My dad went to the doctors yesterday and got a good bill of health. His PSA levels were down, this is related to his prostate cancer from 2003, it was below zero. So happy to hear that. His cancer was so bad if not caught when it was he wouldn't be here today. It was a scary time for my family. We still hadn't dealt with the passing of my brother a couple of years before and here we were faced with the possibility of losing my dad. Thank goodness my mom wanted to check him for diabetes because he was so rung out and they found out he had cancer through that. But back to his visit, his cholesterol is down again, his diabetes is down to borderline, and his blood pressure is good. Now they took some xrays of his chest to see if he might have lung cancer due to him being a smoker, so please send any thoughts, prayers, or healing vibes his way if you could. Since he's home now we are going to work hard on getting everyone in good health now. Better late than never right.

But yeah that's about all I wanted to say really. Just congrats to my dad for taking a right step for him and calling it quits on employment. I hope he enjoys being home with three females. LOL! All close friends, who happen to be male, all send their support and well wishes to him. They know how me and my mom are...my sister is pretty tame but can be a yapper too. So they feel he's a strong man to willingly come home to the chaos that is my family. LOL! Gotta love boys and their bonding together. *rolls eyes* My dad's a good sport so I think he'll handle it. My friend Kenny comes over to help him with the yard work and I think that will help balance out the male bonding in the house...as long as his mom doesn't find out he's been helping with the yard work here. :-D

But other than that the morning has been kind of mellow. I found out a friend of my sister, his brother died. So sad the story behind it, and I send thoughts and prayers his way. :-(

Humm, is there anything else I can put in this post? Yep. So I am working on the first episode of my new photostories. I did Camp Celeb several years ago and never did anything after that even though I had a full story written out. But now I am returning to the story with major changes. So we will see how it goes. If I find Camp Celeb anywhere I will be sure to post it on my website for you all to see. It's very raw and my first work. I hope my stories will have gotten better since then. :-)

Ok kids, I am off now. I need to get dressed to go out and spend some money I know I shouldn't be spending. Bye for now kids. Be good. :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

R.I.P. Corey Haim

Sadly another person from my childhood memories has passed away. I had the BIGGEST crush on Corey Haim when I was a young girl. Would love seeing him in my teen magazines from back in the day. I prefered BOP magazine. :-) Anyway, while I was fixing something to eat this afternoon I saw him on my mom's tv downstairs. Squinting to read the fine print I went into shock to learn he had passed away.



One half of the Coreys are now gone. So sad. I hope that if it was drug overdose that it was prescription and he was just trying to deal with the flu. I would hate to think he had his drug habit back and lost out to it. It's kind of weird to think back to my childhood and think that I used to feel the kids around my age that were famous had it all and their lives were perfect. It's not until now when you see them slowly slipping away that you realize that while they may have more money than I do they really aren't all that much better off. :-( I hope wherever Corey is that his is resting peacefully and he finds happiness there where he couldn't here on earth.

That's all I wanted to say tonight. I have many more posts to post about but I will hopefully get them posted tomorrow. I have some "thanks yous" to say and have some stuff I found that I wanted to talk about. But that will all have to wait. I'm not sure if I should do it all on one day or just schedule them to show up one a day. I'll decide that all later. Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

R.I.P. Brittany Murphy

Now words could properly tell you how shocked I am to learn of the passing of Brittany Murphy. I just loved her acting and its so sad and hard to think she's no longer with us.



I guess another reason I am in shock is because she's not much older than I am. I remember watching Clueless for my 16th birthday and she was my favorite character.



I followed her career some and loved all the work she did in her movies. I had no idea her career had stalled. I am thinking this was either a heart problem she didn't talk about or didn't know about or sadly it was drugs. Its weird her husband doesn't want an autopsy done. Either because he knows it was drugs or can't deal with the fact that she'd be cut into and whatnot.



Another star does dim tonight. So sad. Ok, back to more cheerier stuff next time. I promise. Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Released today at midnight.

Michael Jackson's song "This Is It" can now be heard on his website. It was released at midnight today. Have a listen, its classic Michael. The album will be released later on this month. And it will also be put on vinyl which I thought was so cool.

This Is It

Enjoy.

Loves ya,
Mouse

I'll keep it simple and sweet today.

Ten years ago today I lost one of my best friends. My brother. He passed away due to a heart attack caused by a seizure he had in his sleep. I can't really talk much about that day, but I couldn't let it go by without saying something. I know the day has just started and I still have 23 hours and 30 minutes to deal with it. I doubt I will sleep tonight. And thoughts like "He was still alive right now." and "I wonder around what time he passed away?" and "I can't believe he's been gone ten years." keep running through my mind. Sorry if this is morbid for some of you. Its just what's going on in my head right now. Honestly I just want to cuddle in bed with my boyfriend and watch funny movies today to get my mind off of it, but he's over 700 miles away. :-( So I may just lay in bed and catch up on some soap operas, minus the hour for exercise. I'm sticking to it so far. I made it two weeks every day exercising. I want to make it a habit. So far, so good.

But yeah, I just wanted to pop on and blog a tiny bit since I haven't in a few days. Just all of a sudden I changed and got depressed and just didn't want to blog. I'll be back to daily blogging soon and respond to comments. After today it will get easier. Ok, I'm off. Gonna putz around the pc for a couple of hours and then try to get some sleep in the morning. So tired now, but I don't think I could sleep now. I wish A was here. :-( I really need him now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

So weird.

So my mom called me downstairs to look at something and she found where someone had put a picture of my brother's gravestone up on Find A Grave. This for some reason was very bothersome to me. It almost felt like a violation of our privacy and his. Not to mention it made me face what I have been trying to avoid for years now, the realization that he's really gone and not just on an extended vaca somewhere. No, I am not that delusional, but I try not to think about it so I can mentally try to keep going. I haven't been to his grave in years and so I forgot what it looked like and I don't have to think of his body six feet under it. But seeing it on the internet made me cry. I miss him so much and on the 12th he will have been gone 10 years. :-( All these sites are having 10 year anniversaries like LJ and MSN and me and my boyfriend had one too and then I have to end the year with this. Like I mentioned before, the end of the year is kind of hard on us and well the 12th will be really hard on me. I wish I could get into more detail about his death and why it affects me in such a bad way,moreso than the fact that my brother had passed, but I don't think now is the right time. Another time perhaps. I guess I just wanted to vent a bit since it made me feel so sad. I'm better now. I found out there is a famous war hero in his cemetery, Eugene Ashley, Jr. He saved his fallen comrades and didn't think anything of himself. He eventually passed out from his wounds and was carried to safety where they were all attacked and he sadly died. When I'm in a better mental state I think I will check out that site more and see what other famous people I can find in NC. Gonna go work on my shop some more now. I have one item up already. Working on 5-6 more now. Talk to you all later.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Let's just stay consitsent, shall we?

So remember how I said the end of the year is bittersweet for me? It just got a little more bitter for me.

So me and my boyfriend were talking about my brother's death and then he reminded me that his grandfather's death date is two days before my brother's. That was a sad day. His grandfather was a lot like his father figure. especially after his dad passed away. So I have that additional thing to add to the list and then today I got one more.

I went down to feed my pets. My ferret and my African Dwarf Frog. I fed my ferret and then went to feed my frog and looked into his box to see how he was doing because he is very very old, and I saw him laying at the bottom of the box upside down. He was fine last night so I guess he passed sometime today, well yesterday now. :-( His name was Froggie and I've had him for about 10 years and he was only averaged to live 2 years, so he lived a nice long life. But I will miss feeding him and looking in on him. It just makes me realize I need to pay more attention to my ferret because she's at half life and I've been ignoring her for a good while due to depression and pain. But I am going to change that so she can enjoy what's left of her life.

Me and my mom were talking about all the loss we have at the end of the year and well, its just a bittersweet time for us, but it'll be ok. I hope there's a frog heaven and that my little Froggie is hoping around all happy with his brothers and sisters. :-) R.I.P. Froggie.

Loves ya.
Mouse

R.I.P. Patrick Swayze.

Another childhood icon gone. :-( So very very sad. I hope he truly went peacefully. It just seems like every couple of weeks someone I grew up knowing of in some way or form is passing. I'm still in shock over MJ, and now Patrick. So sad. :-( I kind of see the final scene from Ghost running in my head now. I do hope it was something like that. :-) If anyone deserves a heavenly glow and angel wings I'm sure he'd be one of them. :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse