The Snow Blower Incident

What was supposed to be a weekend of fun activities with friends from High School turned into a nightmare of a drama scene with a family member. Big families surely have their issues, but why does it seem mine has more than average.  My Mom is the second youngest of seven, there are six girls and one boy.. there are 6 of them still alive. I lost an Aunt back in the early 70's (before I was even born) to a car accident. I was always told growing up I looked like no one in my Mom's family, but after seeing pictures of my deceased Aunt I never met I looked just like her! If you are on my Facebook personal page I'm sure you've seen the posts and then the answer posts from the cousin causing drama.  Drama over a snow blower that he does not own nor did he pay a penny towards owning.  This snow blower in question is my Mom's. It was always kept in my cousin's garage across from my old house because we did not have a garage.  The deal was he would pay her half for it and well that deal never happened, he never gave her a penny of that half.  The second part of the deal was stored in his garage and both drive ways would get done.  That part of the deal is the only one that seemed to work, that is if it was my MOM who would go out and do the driveways because everyone knows my cousin was too lazy to do them!

20th High School Reunion Weekend

It has been talked about for years and years and finally the weekend is upon us for my 20th High School Reunion. Just saying 20th makes me feel old, but truth be told I was one of the youngest ones in our class. I probably should have been held back to start school for the following year, but my Mom managed to get me into school early. This weekend is packed of activities to do and I'm sure I'll make a fun time out of it!

Going on right now is a Golf Tournament, then tonight there is a beer blast fundraiser at a local bar, tomorrow brings the formal dinner at a county club in the area. What makes it all that more exciting for tonight is the Canal Festival is going on (huge local festival here) and of course the bar is located right by the fest and there is a Bike Cruise Night/Show too. To go off topic for a minute, I just LOVE bike cruises. I love them much more than the Car shows, you see some pretty amazing and beautiful bikes from all around the area at this annual bike cruise!  What better way to enjoy some old friends with a cocktail and walking around looking at all those bikes!

So to an extent, yes I will be kind of disappearing this weekend to spend time with friends I have not seen in years upon years and to spend time with those friends I am fortunate enough to have kept in contact with all these years.  I have to admit if it wasn't for Facebook I probably would not have come back into contact with a few friends! Thank You Facebook for allowing me to find those people who were in my life previously and bring them back into the present!

Surviving the School Year

We are already starting to see the Back To School ads coming out, WOW July and we are already thinking about back to school already.  Amazing how the summer just flies by.  Sticking to the theme of back to school I have composed a few Back To School survival tips for families.

1. Create a budget for supplies and stick to it! Or even better create a budget for your child and let your child do their Back To School shopping.  This helps them appreciate how a budget works and lets them pick out what they would like.  Some schools mandate certain supplies be bought, if this is your case then shop for deals.  There  are a ton of deals out there through many websites that can help you save money on your Back-To-School budget.

2. Be Patient! Going back to school can sometimes be stressful for children, especially those that are moving into a new school. Little ones will have questions and will want to show how proud they are of the work they have done.

3. Don't hesitate to ask for help! There are many websites out there now a days that can assist parents and students with home work questions. I know some of the math now a days is not something I remember looking at, it makes you want to pull out your hair trying to help them.. again back to have patience and ask for help when needed.

4. Get to know your children's teachers! This is very very important. If the teacher has an email system to keep parents up to date on school activities make sure your email is up to date and current.

5. There is nothing wrong with taking a family vacation during the middle of the school year! This allows for both parents and children to get a much needed release from the stressful-ness that some school years bring!

6. Have fun and enjoy yourself! Support your children in all their activities and encourage them to do their best. Even if their best is a C, it is still none the less their best!

Disclosure: This post was created as an entry into a Contest for a Master Lock Back-To-School Prize pack as part of being a member of the Mom Bloggers Club.

More information on Master Lock can been seen at www.facebook.com/masterlock

Transformers Galore Giveaway by Time To Play Link Up

Today I thought I'd let you know about Time To Play.  They are a blog that offers reviews of all kinds of toys and have even classified them into categories so you can find them easily. Not only do they review toys, but they do giveaways!! Who doesn't love giveaways.  Wednesdays are their big twitter giveaways and Fridays are their TV show with giveaways, but last and not least is their weekly giveaways... This week it is Geek Week Transformers Galore Giveaway which can be seen at

http://timetoplaymag.com/playforum/2011/07/geek-weeks-giveaway-transformers-galore/

You simply enter your information and follow the steps in the rules and mark off what you did! My type of giveaway if you ask me.  Everyone who has a child that loves Transformers should go enter this giveaways and if you do GOOD LUCK!

Thursdays Thoughts

Today I am rather blah! Still, I've been having a bad week... actually it's been a bad month. July has never been the best month for me and that is still ringing true for 2011. Today I learned that a friend of mine has a sick dog. Her dog has thyroid Cancer and the vet hasn't given him much time to live. Hearing this brings back memories, memories of my Pudge whom I lost last year in March. I had raised Pudge, I watched him be born. He was so fat when he was born he looked like a sausage with 4 legs, so I called him Pudge. At 3 days old he knew his name already, so the name stuck. When Pudge was 3 I had lost his Mother. She had been diagnosed with Lymphocycoma Cancer. I learned a hard lesson, not to open up a dog that is sick. We had opted for a biopsy of her one lymph node and by opening her up it made her go faster. The night she died she still had the staples in her leg from doing the biopsy. She literally was catatonic and I had decided that it was time. She couldn't walk or move, this was a 70lb dog that now had to be carried out to the car. As I came back into the house to get her she got up, she actually got up and she walked out of the back door onto the porch and just looked around. Then she walked down the two stairs and gently got into the backseat of the car. This was a dog that couldn't walk or move all day long, the cancer had gotten into her spinal cord she was now almost paralyzed. But she got up and walked out the door and into the car.  Just as I had turned around to go back into the house and get my purse I heard a big deep breath... and then she was gone. Just like that in a split second she was gone.