Tragedy

My son had the unfortunate experience of losing a friend this summer to suicide.  It was painful and a heart wrenching experience for him.  He was supposed to be his future room mate in college this year.  As a tribute to his friend he is doing a walk this weekend in honor of him and the money he raised will go to a program called Out of the Darkness - a program to help reduce teen suicides.

In today's news there was another suicide at his college.  Unfortunately this child committed suicide because he was being taped while having a sexual encounter with another male (he was gay).  The video was then posted for all to see.

This is so upsetting to me.  In today's society I cannot believe that there is such a mindset toward gays.  It blows my mind.  Plus, by time you get to college....don't you realize that you are now joining such a mix of people that your opening up your world and your horizons....your mind?

The people who videotaped this have really ruined 3 families lives.  Two kids did it and they face 5 years of possible imprisonment.  Now there is also talk of possible manslaughter charges.  The family of the boy who committed suicide will never be the same again.  This is such a tragedy.

People want to blame the internet.  I do not see the internet as a source of the problem.  In my opinion, it is the same as alcohol.  Yes alcohol is bad when you abuse it but if you use it to occasionally have a drink then that is not abuse.  Part of me thinks the real problem is the kids thinking that they can do things like this and there are no consequences and it is funny?  Or is the problem that their parents never taught them to be open minded and accepting of all kinds?

No matter how you slice or dice it -- it is a tragedy -- and my heart aches for the families dealing with this.  

Sorry.....

Let me start with a story a co-worker told....(leaving names out).  Her son went to get a hair cut....when the hair dresser got done cutting his hair she realized what a poor job she did and handed him a card.  The card from this unnamed shop was a Sorry Card.  Sorry for such a bad hair cut ....here's a coupon for another.  I still laugh and find it hilarious when I think of it.  Who in their right mind would go back to the same shop after a chop job was done on your hair?  LOL.  Anyway this leaves me to my story.  My husband usually always clips our dog but he has been very busy with work and I really would like for him to have as much relaxing time when off as possible.  The other day I got the bright idea to clip our dog myself (never having done this before...EVER).  I thought how hard could it be.  I will just give him a trim with a pair of scissors.  Well, I started and kept trimming, then I needed to even this and even that and before you know it....the dog was pretty much all clipped up.  When I looked at him I realized I goofed up.  My mini-poodle has his own look now and not such a good one.  Poor pooch I felt so bad for him I was wishing I had a Sorry Card to hand him!!!

Word Verification...

Can someone help me and please tell me how to turn it off? I am still new to this blogging thing and really do not want it on.  Thank you!!

Posted too soon...I figured it out!  But now, I cannot figure out how to delete this post!! LOL.  Live and learn!!

Company's Coming....

Why is it the words "company's coming" can get your house cleaned faster than lickety split!  All summer long I kept walking past the front entrance to my house and I would think I really need to pull those weeds.....but I would keep on walking. Well yesterday when I heard those words....whalah....they got pulled.  My whole house got tidied up within 1 hour and it was amazing how quickly me and the hubs could work to achieve the goal.  We decided that someone should call us once a month and say they are coming over......this would enable us to stay tidied up!!!  LOL!

TGIF!

Friday brings such joy and such happiness.  Friday is like a sigh of relief.  Friday is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  Fridays usually puts a little giddy-up in everyone's step.

Very rarely do you ever hear oh, yuk it's Friday.  Most people are glad to usually wrap up a normal work week and look forward to the 2 day break.  A little more sleep, a little fun....the opportunity to get caught up on chores, tasks, etc.

There are few people who are grumpy on Friday.  Enjoy the weekend.

TGIF!

Pay It Forward

I was in Kohl's shopping and had a ton of stuff for my two boys.  While in line the woman in front of me offered to me her discount coupon.  You are able to use them more than once.  I used it then got back $30 in Kohl's cash and offered it to her but she said no.  I paid it forward and gave it to someone else.  A week ago again I was in Kohl's shopping buying a gift.  The woman in front of me turned and handed me her coupon for my use.  When I finished I looked around for someone...I found a woman with kids and a shopping cart waiting to be filled and handed it to her.

This made me stop and think.  If we all took a moment each day to pay it forward in some small way....imagine how much better we would all feel about ourselves and about people in general.  It felt good for me to receive that from someone but it felt better when I was able to do it for someone else. I guess the old saying is true "it is better to give than receive" and I must say "yes it does".

Remembering 9/11

I remember exactly where I was.  I just got my kids off to school and was home.  My house was a mess and I swore I was not turning the TV on and I was not answering any phone calls.  However........my phone rings and my girlfriend, Joanne, is on my answering machine saying 'PICK UP THE PHONE...A PLANE JUST HIT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER'.  I soon forgot about the mess my house was in.  I turned on the TV and watched in awe.  I then became worried about my husband in Philadelphia.  I tried calling him but no phone lines were going through.  I hopped on AOL Instant Messenger and got a hold of him.  We were both scared.  We were hearing rumors that they were closing the bridges from Philly to Jersey which would mean he would not be able to get home.  Plus we were scared because he was in a City...and we did not know how far this thing was going at the time.  My girlfriend Marge was at work in New Brunswick and train lines were shutting down in the northeast so she got a hold of me on instant messenger and asked me to get a hold of her husband to let him know where to pick her up.  I drove over to his house and told him since there was no communication via phone.  I then became scared.  Should I leave the kids in school...bring them home.  What do I do?  Ranges of emotions and feelings and all the while watching the events unfold on TV.  I left the kids in school and as soon as they came home I hugged them and told them about what was happening.

Yes, that day forever changed our lives.  I will never forget.  What stands out for me is not just the devastation but the vast amount of people who helped others during a time of crisis.   What good people can do during a time of crisis.  I still get choked up thinking about it.  May God Bless America!  

Dinner...dismantled.

I needed to go see my Mom the other night so I asked hubby to please take care of dinner.  Figuring he would usually do his usual of picking up the phone and ordering I told him to grab me something and I would eat when I got home.  As I arrived home and got out of my car....the smell of fried foods was overwhelming.  When I walked through the front door the kitchen was in a discombobulated mess.  He found in my freezer shrimp (which had an expired date on them...7/1/10....and he made them).  He says taste them I think they are good.  I say...no way.....I am NOT getting sick from shrimp...no.  I then looked and during his cooking he broke my favorite I Love Lucy mug.  He then decided eating them was not a good idea either.  The house was filled with fried foods smell.  Yuk.

I picked up the phone and called our dinner order in.  LOL!  Lesson learned....call the dinner order in ahead and tell hubby to pick it up or just have dinner already in the crock pot especially during the work week!!!  LOL!

Labor Day Weekend

Well, it's here...the last holiday of the summer season.  I am not a big fan of September.  September means  back to school, reminding kids about homework, keeping dates straight, no late nights, waking everyone on time, more traffic on the road, and it means summer carefree days are gone! Poof!

Summer is my favorite and Fall is my least favorite.  I do like the Indian Summer days but I do not like the fact that summer is gone.  I usually always feel a little depressed in the beginning of September and I always wish summer could last forever!

Maybe one day when my kids are completely grown and I am retired....I will have a new appreciation for September but until then.....gimme my summer back!