100 posts! woo hoo!

Wow! I can't believe that this is my 100th post. I guess in the bloggie world that's a pretty big deal.

I was trying to decide what I want to blog about for my all important 1-0-0!

I thought it might be fun to do an update on some of my past posts.

I actually get people asking me things like "whatever happened with Perennial Pete?"or "how are all the boxes coming?"

So I figured I choose some of my most commented on posts and update everyone.

But first, I'd like to thank all the people who are following me. I don't mean to sound like I'm accepting some kind of award or something, I just want you to know that I appreciate you guys.

Last time I counted I had 81 followers! That is counting my blogger.com followers, my facebook followers (minus the people who are on both lists--gosh I love you guys!), people who I know for sure read but aren't signed up as followers (for example - The Hubs, my dad and step mom Ann, and a couple others that tell me they read daily but I don't see their names on the list {hint-hint}).

Yes, when you blog, followers and comments are what it's all about.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

So here we go!

I've linked all the posts that I'm gonna talk about in a different color so if you haven't read the post I'm talking about and would like to -just click on the colored words, read, and you'll be up to date.

Let's start with the puppy post.

Well, the list of my worries continues to grow (I know that doesn't surprise you!)

I have now added:

1. Other things that make me think he did have brain damage at birth~

*he won't eat his puppy food that the breeder gave me to feed him. He does however eat dirt, dandelions, leaves, snails, and grass!

2. I'm convinced he is a pervert nut job. He is constantly trying to hump my leg! He's not even 8 weeks old yet! I'm sure that is not normal and I think he'll probably need therapy when he reaches adolescence.

3. He has begun the process of becoming a vampire puppy (all that Twilight reading-thanks Mac!)

*he doesn't sleep at night at all (only when the sun is out)

*he loves to "bay" while in his crate while I'm trying to sleep (oh wait! maybe he's becoming a werewolf like Jacob)

4. His puppy cuteness is directly proportional to his puppy pooness. When your cleaning up poo at 3 am he is NOT very cute....

And just a side note. I think it's pretty interesting how I just blogged about lack of privacy last week due to having children. I'm now reverting in that area due to puppy. I am having to use to bathroom with the door open again. I am being stalked while I eat anything enjoyable. And lets just say that the puppy crate is in my bedroom and leave it at that.

The next update will be about Perennial Pete

I have not had any contact with Pete since the last post. I have only seen him outside once since then- getting the mail, I tried to wave but he must have not seen me (yeah, that's what I'm choosing to believe....). I debated several times if I should bake him a blueberry pie, just to say 'hi' and keep the good "Pete vibes" goin....but never did.

I did have a run in with Petunia. It happened when I was with the guy who came to load my baby motorcycle.

Notice how one of the guys rear wheels is touching their businesses driveway (which I should mention is closed this day). She drove out of her house driveway just 100 feet down to the right of this picture. And informed us that we were trespassing on her property. Lucky we were just finishing up so she didn't need to call the sheriff on us.

Boxes update:
Yep! there still there. Enough said.

Train and coyote updates:

I felt like I was adjusting pretty well to the train noise (it's not waking me up anymore). But now it's waking the puppy up. So I'd really like to strangle these conductors who blow their whistles for no apparent reason (the trains don't cross any roads around here-the roads were built to either go above or below the tracks).

When my dad stayed here he actually gave the different conductors names based on how they blew their whistle. He'd say "Bob must have been working last night he blows three short blasts and then one long one. Fred blows one long, one short, then two longs". It's crazy. Maybe I just don't know enough about trains and what they have to do. Maybe there's a train whistle law that they have to blow it every so often....Maybe it's just men who are still little boys inside.....

Walking the new puppy a couple days ago, a neighbor told me that the coyotes are getting even more brazen. 3 people in the neighborhood across the street from us had their unleashed dogs snatched by coyotes right in front of them during the day! Sounds a little like the Jessica Simpson story. I don't know it this is true but I'm not taking any chances. I'm keeping him on a leash as close as possible.

Kids update:

All three seem to be doing pretty well (most days). They all still miss their friends back home but are starting to make new ones here.

I was impressed that Mac and Bud went to the homecoming dance even though they were both dateless.

They both just went with a group of friends and had a nice evening.

And of couse Tony is busy with soccer and his new puppy.

Happy Monday everyone!

My sister Alex

Today I want to tell you about my sister Alex.

I debated talking about her because I don't want to be all sad on my blog. I usually try to keep things pretty cheery around here.

For those of you who don't know, Alex was killed in a car accident 20 years ago this year. She died on June 24th, 1989. She was 16 years old.

Today is my sister's birthday. Some people might say "today would have been my sister's birthday". But today will always be the day of her birth. Just like when people ask if I have any sisters, I don't say "I used to have a sister but I don't anymore". I say "yes, but she died in a car accident". To me, I will always have a sister.

I'd like to tell you about my relationship with my sister because I feel it was pretty unusual. The story may sound pretty crazy but it's true.

I was only 3 years older than Alex so I don't have any memories of her birth. The oldest memory that I have is of me crawling under Alex's crib to be close to her because I had a nightmare. Over the years I had a lot of these nightmares. They were always different but the end was always the same, watching Alex die and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I continued to have these dreams throughout Alex's life time.

Because of these dreams, I had an intense love for Alex. It's hard to describe, but I almost felt as though I appreciated her more. Growing up, people would comment on how close we were. We didn't fight like most sisters.

Our parents divorced when we were pretty young. This only made us closer. Alex and I talked about everything. She knew all my secrets and I knew all hers and we loved each other unconditionally. I knew I could ask her a question and she would always give me an honest answer. No matter what either of us did we were always there for each other.

Alex was very different from me. She was full of personality. She was out going and extremely funny. I always marveled at her quick and funny come backs when she joked with people. She made friends easily and had a lot of them. She was comfortable talking to anyone and everyone.

The summer before her freshman year of high school, the decision was made that she should go live with my dad and step mom, Ann. My brother and I remained with our mother about an hour away. It was a good move for Alex. While living with our mother, we were unsupervised and completely out of control, but my brother and I refused to move. This was really tough on Alex and I and we missed each other terribly. But we saw each other on weekends.

Right around that time, my dad and Ann started attending a church where they heard about Jesus and about having a personal relationship with Him. Alex also started babysitting for a family from that church. Rhonda, the mother, was a wonderful, godly woman for Alex to have in her life. Alex talked to her about things going on at school, situations with friends. And Alex loved their daughter Joslyn.

The end of Alex's sophomore year, one of her friends was killed in a car accident. This had a big impact on Alex and she spent some time talking about this with Rhonda. Alex was thinking about what happen to people after they died. Rhonda explained to Alex about heaven and the gift of eternal life through a relationship with Jesus. Later, Alex would tell me all about this conversation and how she, later that day, prayed to accept Christ as her personal savior.

This was a big moment in our relationship. It was during this time, my freshman year in college, that I got pregnant. I ended up dropping out of school and moving in with my dad and Ann on one condition, I had to go to church with them every week. After long talks with Alex about church and what we believed, I too became a Christian. Alex and I grew even closer during this time. She supported me through the end of the relationship between me and my babies biological father. She shopped with me for baby things. She picked out my daughters name. She was in the delivery room with me.

After my daughter was born, I moved into an apartment across the street from Alex's high school. Alex spent a lot of time with me at that apartment and loved she her niece like crazy.

The night before Alex's accident I had another dream about her dying. This one was very vivid and really shook me up. The day of her accident, Alex had been at a teen seminar for our church. She had come home that afternoon and then headed out to a graduation open house for one of her ex-boyfriends. I was out of town that night about an hour away meeting the family of a guy I was dating.

Alex didn't stay long at the open house because she was tired. Her car went off a dirt road into a ditch less than a mile from the party. She was ejected from the car and the car flipped on landed on top of her. We were told she was killed instantly. A girl headed to the party pasted Alex's car in the ditch and went on to the party to tell them to call 911. All the people at the party ran down to the accident. It was dark and when they got there no one recognized her car. The kids looked in the vehicle and didn't see anyone so they started searching the area. Alex's ex-boyfriend came around the side of the car and saw Alex's leg sticking out and he recognized her shoe. A bunch of the kids lifted the car off Alex. One of the parents was a paramedic and he and another boy from Alex's class performed CPR on her until the helicopter came.

My dad and Ann got the call about Alex's accident from the same kids that called 911. They were able to get to the hospital before the helicopter landed. They watched as Alex was taken out of the helicopter and wheeled into the hospital with a nurse on top of her doing CPR. We were told later that the doctor and nurses were all crying when they decided to stop.

That evening I was at a church function with my boyfriend and at one point I started crying for no reason. I can't explain it but I sobbed. Later, I would find out that this sobbing was at the exact time that Alex was pronounced dead. I got the call from my dad during the middle of the night.

I'm not sure how people can live through the death of someone they love without believing that they will see them again. I truly believe that Alex is in heaven. I also believe that I was given those dreams for a reason. Because our time together was so short, there was no time wasted fighting but instead just an intense love and appreciation for each other. I have no regrets.

About 2 weeks after her accident I had a dream we were in an ice cream store together. In my dream Alex had a heart attack and fell into my arms. I sat on the floor holding her in my arms, crying. A crowd gathered around us and just looked at us. I started screaming at them "why isn't anyone helping me?" and they all just continued to stare at us. Then in the back of the crowd I saw Alex standing there. She was peeking over a tall mans shoulder. She looked me in the eyes and smiled and said "it's okay". Then she waved at me and disappeared. That was the last dream I had of Alex dying. Now when I dream of her, it's dreams of her alive and happy.

And that's the way I want to remember her.

I am so honored...

This has been a great week. Not only have I got a bunch of new followers but a couple fellow bloggers have honored me with blog awards.

The first award is from Jessica over at Adjusting to the World.


I love Jessica's blog. Her writing is inspirational and encouraging to me. She is a gifted writer and is in the process of working on a devotional book which I will be running out to purchase as soon as it's published! Jessica, I feel very honored that you chose me for this award. Thank you!


Jessica gave me this award:

There are a couple rules to follow with this award

1) Post it on my blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link, as well as a link to This Post from the original Superior Scribbler!

2) Pass the award to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

3) Add your link to the list of Superior Scribbler Awardees. This will promote your blog AND officially add you as a luminous Superior Scribbler!



Picking 5 bloggy friends is a hard thing to do.
But after much debate, loss of sleep, and nightmares of loosing followers....I choose these 5.

1. rxBambi over at A Day in the Life of a Would -Be Bambi
What can I say about rxBambi? I love her blog. She was one of my first followers and has given me more comments and encouragement than anyone else. I wish I could give her more than just this little old award....

2. McGillicutty over at Inner Ramblings of a Mid Life Mama
McGillicutty has also been with me for a long while and I really enjoy her posts. Like me, she isn't afraid to acknowledge the voices in her head. It's nice to have blog friends like that.

3. Amanda over at Martinis or Diaper Genies
Amanda is a hip 20 something from New York City. We have been following each other for a while which is weird because we have nothing in common. Maybe I read her because I want her life maybe she reads me for birth control. I'm not sure....but we click. She is always one of the first posts I read.

4. Lucky Girl over at Generally Speaking
Lucky Girl is a dear friend and one of the funniest people I know. Giving her this award is my ploy to get her to blog more, because when she does her post are wonderful!

5. Mary over at My New 30
I cheat a little on this one because she has two blogs that I love to read. The other is Deep South Dish. When I go to her blogs I feel a comfort settle over me. Maybe it's all the amazing pictures of food or the way she writes. I just like it over there. I think you will too.



My next award comes from Kelly over at Speaking From The Crib
Her blog rocks and then some. She is a very funny lady and is quickly gaining a huge following. She is also very generous with her blogging advice on making your blog the best it can be. She herself has been nominated for some major blog awards. Please visit her site and vote for her. Thanks Kelly! I feel very honored.



No rules came with this one. But I feel I need to pass it on.
So I'm passing this one on to Mrs. Sarcasm at This is My Reality. Another bloggy friend that I enjoy following and commenting back and forth. We have a lot in common (I think) and I enjoy her honesty and openness.

Well, that's all for now! Thanks for stopping by!

What was I thinking?

Yeah, I bet you all saw it coming didn't you?

I can hear you snicking.

But I'm not asking the "what was I thinking" question for the reasons I bet you think I'm asking.

Yes normal people would be questioning the decision making process of adopting a puppy because of the following reasons:

1. The puppy has poo'd and pee'd all over the carpets.

2. No sleep because of a whining/ barking/ crying puppy.

3. Because of having to stand outside in the freezing rain for hours on end to get puppy to do "his business".

I can take myself for a walk!

4. The house is a mess because you can't take your eyes off him for one minute cuz when you do that's when he decides to do his business.

yum tables are tasty!

5. Puppy is chewing on anything and everything.

No. The reason I'm asking myself "what was I thinking" is because I'm a worrier. Yes, I worry about everything.

I already have 4 kids that I worry about constantly.

Now I have this puppy that I'm head over heels in love with to worry about too.

So here's some of the things I've been worrying about for the past 24 hours since we picked him up.

1. Are we taking him away from his mama too soon (he's not quite 8 weeks yet). He might turn into some psycho dog if we do right?

look he's already developed a taste for Twilight--psycho!

2. I think he might have a brain tumor. He falls over a lot on the hill beside our house. I'm sure the tumor is in the part of his brain that controls his balance.

3. Or maybe he has brain damage. He probably wasn't breathing when he first was born and the breeder had to do mouth to mouth and she didn't want to tell us this because it would be hard to sell a retarded dog. I can tell this because he seems to think shadows are worth chasing and he looks at me most times like he has no idea what I'm saying.

I have no idea what you're talking about. What have you been smoking?

4. I think he has intestinal problems. He had the hiccups this morning. I'm sure normal puppies don't get the hiccups. Do they? And are puppy bellies supposed to be this round?

5. What if chooses the wrong friends? A perfectly nice looking yellow lab went by our house this morning and he hid behind me. Then this shiatsu came by and she looked like a hussy to me (she was all dressed in pink and had a pink leash and even pink poo bags). Of course, he thought she was the bomb. Oh yeah, her name was Tallulah. Need I say more?

And this is only the beginning..

You're in there and I'm out here! Neener! Neener! Neener!

ode to a dear old friend take two

I put this picture up first on purpose.

All my regular readers know what this post is gonna be about.
(and can run, run away if you choose but please come back tomorrow-I'll try to be normal then)
All you newbies can read this if you want to see into how my befuddled, sentimental mind works.

So grab your box of kleenex....this is gonna be a tear jerker!



This motorcycle was given to me by my dad a couple years ago.
(I know isn't she pretty!)

This is the same motorcycle my dad had when I was a little girl.

I have many memories of riding this motorcycle with my dad.

I can remember him putting all three of us kids on it at once when we were real little.

I would sit behind my dad and my older brother, Jason would sit behind me.

My little sister, Alex, would sit on the gas tank and wrap her arms around my dad's forearms to hang on.

Don't worry we didn't do that very often (it may have only happened once-that's how my memory works sometimes) and we when we did, we just rode up and down the street in our neighborhood.

I remember how I much I loved being on the back of that motorcycle with my dad.

The thrill I would feel when he would accelerate quickly from a dead stop.

How he would nod his head at other guys on their motorcycles, like a secret code for "yeah we're cool we're riding a motorcycle!".

I would get so jealous when my mom and dad took off with all their friends on their motorcycles for an afternoon ride.

I used to feel so safe and free on the back of that motorcycle with my dad.

Things have changed.

I'm not having those same feelings riding it now a days.

I'm usually pretty terrified and not because Hubby is a crazy driver or anything.

I think about my kids constantly and what would happen to them if something happened to both Hubby and I on that bike.

So we weren't riding it much.

And we were so sad. Yes, me and the motorcycle (I could tell--we have a bond)

So after much long debate and many tears (from me, I didn't tell her) we decided to sell it.

We listed her on Craigslist a while back.

You immediately turn cynical when you list something for sale on Craigslist. We've all heard so many crazy stories of people getting ripped off by someone on Craigslist.

So when Hubby got a call from a guy in Denmark who wanted buy my baby, I mean bike, I was a little sceptical. He claimed he was a collector and he had "a guy" who would pick it up for him and ship it to Denmark.

So we waited and waited. And the guy from Denmark always had an excuse. And we'd wait some more.

And nothing.

So finally Hubby called the guy and said "if you want me to hang on to this bike then I need you to pay for it now".

And he did.

So we've been waiting for "the guy" to come pick it up.

He came yesterday.

Hubby and I had no idea that when he said he was a collector that he collected like this.

This guy has been driving all over the place picking up these motorcycles (from Minnesota to Delaware). Then they will be crated and shipped over seas. He said he does this 2 or 3 times a year for his client.

Sniff. Sniff.
So here we go....

seen enough pictures of her yet? I have like 100 of them

Ode to my beloved motorcycle

Your 1970's orange-ness is awesome

you always looked great paired with my dad's American Flag helmet.

You've been such a sweet motorcycle
and you've help create many wonderful memories

except the time I burnt my hand on your muffler when I was 3

but I know it wasn't your fault.

We grew up together. We both survived our awkward teens in the 80's

(orange wasn't so trendy at that time)

But now some people think your pretty cool

just like people think I'm pretty cool....

And you're headed on a long journey

and I know how scary it can be when you are the last one to join the group

and they are a rough looking group

I'm sure someone will be nice enough to scoot over a little...

and there are some scary things that you might see

look away! just look away!

there are some with you who have had a hard life

there are others who used to be pretty fancy

but have seen better days

Oh lookie here!

he looks like he could be a new friend.

or maybe she is looking for a friend.

Woah! Hold your horsepower!

oh my! and what is this?
purrrrr....

(or should I say vrooooommm!)

Oh honey I hate to say this but....
I think he may be a little out of your league

but wait! I can't believe my eyes!

Look over here!

I think we may have found your long lost little sister!

I know you will be loved and cared for

think of this as a trip to the spa.

You will be pampered and buffed

maybe some new paint

kinda like a motorcycle face lift.

good bye dear friend

enjoy your new adventure!

I will miss you!