Here I sit...

Reilly is at the Cotillion Mardi Gras Ball right now, so I'm sitting in front of a Starbucks stealing their wi-fi. :0) It didn't make sense to drive all the way home & then come back... so here I am!

Da boy... headed to Cotillion.

We had great success today and got Reilly a beautiful suit, courtesy of a birthday gift card from my Dad & Miss Mary. Thanks guys!!! BIG sale, so we got a fab deal. We picked up Rei's friend Paige on the way tonight. In the course of our chat, I found out that her mom is a KD!!! She's very active and is even on the House Corps Board at U of MD. Paige has been groomed for KD since the minute she was born... so cool! 

Handsome. :0)

I got an AWESOME goodie box in the mail yesterday from my Auntie Nut.... it was filled with beautiful beads for me to use to make jewelry... yahooooo! One problem Nut... there seem to be a lot of pink and purple beads. Hmmmm.... what the HELL am I gonna do with those???

 How 'bout these? I'm wearing 'em right now!

And these... LOVE 'em!!!

I've barely had a chance to play around with the whole jewelry thing, but I'm finding it to be really fun. I've always enjoyed crafts that entail very tedious, detailed work. It's REALLY coming in handy now, as I have to focus completely on the piece I'm making. It's a great escape for me. I've made a couple of bracelets too...

 Turquoise bracelet for Rory... he DIGS it!

Special surprise for Leilei. 

That's all for now. I hope you're enjoying the weekend. 

Smooches,

S

Moi & the yard ape. 

Mixed bag...

Mornin peeps. Let's start off with some GOOD news, shall we? AS of 6:45 this morning, Reilly is an official member of the Woodgrove JV Lacrosse team... yahooooooo! This whole week has been a nail biter. They've had tryouts for 3 hours every day after school, through cold, yucky rain, crazy wind... you name it! Then Rei seriously rolled his ankle at Thursday's practice. Ruh roh... if you're injured, they won't let you try out. I'm pleased to tell you that he powered through the pain and did his very best. Just to be complete DICKS, the coaches made them get to school at 6:30 this morning to find out whether or not they'd made the team. That's HARSH!!! They made 15 cuts... including a couple of Reilly's good friends... but luckily, he made it. Thank God. That would NOT have gone over well with him, had he been cut. The other good news? Coach told him that he has a good shot at being the team captain. He said he was very impressed with the way he emerged as a leader during tryouts. Sweet. 


Of course, I'm thrilled that he made the team, but the time commitment is going to creat some MAJOR issues for me. The first problem is that they have weight training BEFORE school, at 7:30 am, two days a week. What the FUCK? How am I supposed to get him there? It's not like we live in a neighborhood and the school is right down the street. This is a country school... some kids live almost 30 minutes away. NO CLUE how I'm going to work that out. Then of course, there is practice after school EVERY day, until 7:30 or 8 pm. WTF??? There are a couple of kids who live in the same general area that we do, so I'm REALLY hoping I can connect with their parents and set up a car pool so we can take turns. Not only do I have support groups to get the boys to, but the timing just SUCKS... it totally interferes with dinner, baths and bed for the little ones. Grrrr....


On another subject, I heard from my account manager for the loan mod yesterday... they need MORE documents!!!! AAAGGGHHHH!!!! I think they're trying to KILL me!!! Now they're asking for a signed, notarized letter explaining why I dont have any tax returns on file. Well, let's see.... I've NEVER EARNED ANY MONEY!!!!! My ONLY income has been the SSI death benefits, and they KNOW that. I swear to God, I think they just pick & pick & pick away at you in the hopes that you'll just give up. Keep in mind, I've been at this with these fuckers for a solid YEAR. Gimme a fuckin' break! Too bad for them... even though they're on my LAST fuckin' nerve, they don't know what a stubborn asshole I can be. I'M NOT GIVING UP!!!!


You might be interested to know that I did, in fact, write a letter to the troll and cactus the other day. I know my mother would NOT be thrilled to hear that, but too bad. True to form, it's been a couple of days and I've heard nothing. They're such morons though, that it usually takes them at least 4 or 5 days to formulate a pathetic response. I have NO expectation that they'll help us out at ALL, but I felt it was important for them to get a clear picture of exactly what we're dealing with. I know... they don't care... but I told 'em anyway. 


So tonight is the big Cotillion Masquerade Mardi Gras Ball. Surprise... Reilly doesn't fit in ANY of his suits, sportcoats, etc. I just got him a new suit in November & the fucker is out of it already. This kid has GOT to stop growing... I can't afford to keep him in the damn clothes!!!! So we'll be spending the day shopping to get him outfitted for the evening. I'm hoping we come across some SERIOUS bargains. 


We have officially reached our goal for the 10k... we went over $2000.00 last night. :0) You know what THAT means.... I'm gonna RAISE the goal to $2500.00!!! I e-mailed another 165 people last night, so I'm hopeful we can rustle up more donations. HUMONGOID thanks to our latest donors... 


Chris Streight, Nancy Erba, The Johnson Family, Korri Nelson, Brenda Yurow & The Northern Family. MY PEEPS ARE DA BEST!!!!!


Time to hit the stores... wish me luck. And if you haven't donated yet, I'd LOVE to take a few buck off your hands!!! Happy Saturday. :0)


xoxo
S

***Support your family... stand together.***

***Lift people up.***

***Be sustained by inner strength.***

-Instant Karma

Sooooo Tired...

Wow. Yesterday turned out to be a real motherfucker. I fell back down the rabbit hole a bit & ended up in a seriously shitty place. I think I had WAY too much time alone in the car to think. It also doesn't help that I've been ignoring the death biz. Sometimes I HAVE to, just to retain the wee bit of sanity I have left... but the biz keeps piling up. I spent the ENTIRE day today dealing with banks, the loan mod, the boys sports and my hideous stack of scary mail. Let's just say, I'm fuckin' exhausted. 


Yep... went to the Parent Liaison at Rei's school to see if they could waive his sports fee. She said they've done it before, but would have to talk to the athletic director and get back to me. I haven't heard yet. Then I went to LYSA (Rory's soccer org) and had to beg them for a scholarship. Awesome. I had to write a hardship letter and fill out all kinds of extra shit. There's some board that meets over the next few days to decide who gets scholarships. I sure as fuck hope they choose us. I made sure to mention in my letter that David was a volunteer coach for LYSA for a few years while Reilly played, and he was even the Western Loudoun Coordinator for 2 seasons... fingers crossed. Yep. Completely humiliating. But not quite as bad as telling Reilly that our tv service is being shut off this week. He was actually very cool about it, but it made me feel like shit. I'll be getting another shut-off notice from the electric company this week. Sweet. I'll be giving them just enough to keep it on... meanwhile, the balance due grows. 


Finn & I were going to try to escape this weekend... not far... just somewhere else. We obviously can't afford it though, and the kids' mom has no interest in seeing them... so we're stuck here. Fab. 


My mom has been working her fingers to a nub at Waterford, volunteering in both Rory's & Leilei's classes. They love it... makes 'em feel extra special. :0) 


It's only 9 pm and I'm pretty much done for. The house looks like SHIT and I always clean before I go to bed. Don't know if I have it in me tonight though. 


Our Comfort Zone fundraising efforts have ground to a halt. :( If you were planning to donate, please do... you can click on our team link on the right side of this page. Even 5 bucks makes a difference. Thanks all. 


Love ya...
S

Forgive me To!!!

Hi shmoos.... I'm sure you'll all be shocked to hear that I am a complete tool. Yesterday was my ToJo's birthday, and I neglected to mention it. I'm sorry To!!! In my defense, we didn't have school, so I had NO idea of the date. I just this second saw that it's the 23rd, and thought.... OH SHIIIIIT! I hope you had a happy day. :0) Any plans for a big Maruccifest to celebrate, or did you do that over the weekend? In any case, a belated Happy Happy Birthday!!! Love you!!! xoxoxo


I'm fairly certain that Reilly is trying to kill me. I don't know what his fuckin problem is... overall, he's been doing much better with attitude, behavior, etc., since his weekend at Comfort Zone. But the second my mom gets off the plane, he flips the dick switch and has to act like Mr. Tough Shit. He's completely rude to her, to me, to everyone.... and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Buttplug. Lacrosse tryouts start today, and that's not helping AT ALL. He already thinks pretty highly of himself, and now that he's about to play on a high school team his head barely fits through the door. That kid is in SERIOUS need of an attitude adjustment. 


Need you to cross your once again... we may have a buyer for the red jeep. This guy seems VERY interested and said he'll pay cash if we bring him the jeep in Pennsylvania today. It's only about an hour and 15 minutes away, so it's not too bad. Of course, he low-balled Finn on the price, but he REALLY wants to sell the damn thing. 


I'm getting VERY discouraged about the job situation. There's just nothing out there right now. And trust me... I've left no stone unturned. I HAVE to bring in some money... HAVE TO. The bills are slowly killing me and I just can't take it. Last month I got the Direct TV down to the absolute lowest price possible, but I still can't do it. Got a cut-off notice today and I'm gonna have to give it up. Oh well. I should be getting another cut-off notice from the electric company any day now... I'll give them as little as I can to keep the shit on, but I owe them a lot. I also just got notification from ANOTHER of David's creditors that they are making a claim against the estate for almost $4000.00. Good luck with that fuckers... there's a mere 74 bucks left in the estate account. 


With all of these financial landmines continuing to explode in my face, I've found myself thinking about the troll & cactus a lot lately. My mom keeps saying, "don't even let them cross your mind", but it's not that easy. I still just don't get it. How could they completely turn their backs on us, KNOWING that this financial disaster was of David's making? I don't understand it and I'm sure I never will. I know that they are sub-human, but it still hurts. I also realize that they are convinced I'm some sort of hideous gold-digger, but come on! I'm trying to find $115.00 to register Rory for soccer... I'm checking with Rei's school to see if there's any possibility of waiving the $200 athletic fee... I'm not sitting around with my thumb up my ass while noshing on bon bons. It's infuriating. Especially since the ONLY reason I'm still surviving, is because of the significant financial help my mom has been providing. And I fucking HATE that. She's getting ready to retire... she doesn't need to have THIS fucking noose around her neck. 


I don't know what to do. The quicksand is swallowing me a little bit more everyday. Fuck. 


S

Snow day!

Howdy doody. Got a surprise snow day off of school. :0) Good timing, with Gee being here. The only bad news is that I slept like shit, because they didn't make the call until 6 this morning. Ugh!!! I HATE when they do that!!!! We had a good 1/4 inch of ice before I got in bed last night. WTF were they waiting for??? Grrrr.... 


So I just escaped for a while. I have a couple of quick errands to do, but mostly I wanted to get out to do my writing thing. I think you all need to take a peek at Miss Katy's new baby, Bentley. I'm tellin you... this pup is ADORBS!!! What a squishy little nugget. 

 He's SO cute!!!

 Look at those eyelashes!!!

What a lil love nugget!

Miss Bon Bon...  I'm so, so sorry about Lori. You and your family have been on my mind constantly, knowing the long and difficult days you were experiencing. I know that NO ONE wanted to see her go, but you're absolutely right... just going to sleep and never waking up is an incredible blessing. After all of the people that I have watched battle cancer... the constant pain and immense suffering, both physically and emotionally... that is a horrific existence that no one should ever have to endure. So I'm very thankful that she went peacefully, but I'm so sorry, and am sending love and prayers to all of you who knew and loved her. 

Good news on our Team DAStreightBoyz fundraising efforts... as of this morning, we have reached $1673.71. Yahoooodle!!! HUGE thank yous to everyone who has contributed so far. :0)

Mom, Dad & Miss Mary, Miss Teri, Nicole M, Dave H, Mark C, Miss Beth, The Benedettis, Miss Sheri, Auntie Nut & Monster John, Aunt Elaine, The Smith Family, The Brence Family, Jen B, The Siek Family, Jill B, Jim S, Shannon N, Andi, Michelle B, Miss Helen, Miss Bonnie, Miss Robin, Kathryn, Tojo, Laurie, Miss Theresa, & our anonymous donor. You have already helped us raise enough to send 3 kids to camp. :0) 

If you're still debating whether or not you'd like to donate, consider this: Comfort Zone Camp has served 6500 grieving children since their inception. But right now, at this very moment, there are 2.5 million kids in the US who are in desperate need of the loving care and guidance that Comfort Zone provides. Wow. Every single dollar helps. :0)

Time to scoot. Have a happy day.

xoxo

S

***Let the sun shine in.***

***Believe that perseverance is the essential ingredient for personal achievement.***

***Learn from all... judge no one... be kind to all... say thank you.***

-Instant Karma

3 Day weekends ROCK!

Hi noodlie doodlies. What a treat to have a Monday off... aaaahhhh. I have NO clue how it happened, but I slept in until 10 this morning! Not only that, I was out by 11:30 last night, and slept ALL NIGHT LONG. Yeah.... it ROCKED. :0) 


Yesterday was spent running around with mom and the boys. Lacrosse tryouts are supposed to begin tomorrow, and Reilly needs all kinds of shit. I ended up crying like a big wuss in the middle of Dick's. I just HATE that I have LESS than ZERO funds, and every single thing has to be such a big stressor. It's not like I was mulling over some extravagant purchase... we're talking about supplies for my kid to play sports. That stuff was NEVER an issue... it was a foregone conclusion that the kids would be athletes, and we'd buy whatever they needed. No problem. Now? It's a BIG fucking problem. Just one more layer on my yummy shit sandwich. Ugh. 


Gee treated us to a yummy dinner at Panera. We took something home to Finn, as he'd spent the ENTIRE day working on the jeep. I luvvves that hard-workin' redneck man! :0) The boys went down to watch a movie and have a sleepover with Gee, so Finn and I went to see The Fighter. LOVED it... fantastic movie. 


Things are moving along beautifully with our Comfort Zone fundraiser. As of a few minutes ago, we're in the #1 fundraising spot with $1647.00. YAHOOOOOO!!!! I'm beyond excited. And more good news... Finn is going to do the 10k with us, as are Katy & Justin Wilson. It'll be SO fun to do it with a group. KK & Justin will have their own fundraising pages, but they're doing it for Comfort Zone too. Me luvvvves me some Wilsons!!! :0) And speaking of the Wilsons, their precious baby golden Bentley came home on Saturday. He was born on Christmas Day. We stopped in for a visit yesterday.... holy shiz nit... what a PRECIOUS pooch!!! OMG!!!! A snuggly, lovey, fuzzy little pumpkin. Yep.... we're all in love with Baby Bent Bent!!! 


I forgot to mention something really wonderful that happened on Friday night.... Finn, Rory, Leilei & I went to Woodgrove to watch the basketball finals. It was AMAZING!!! The school spirit in that place is beyond description. Papa G... the principal Ric Guariloff... has created such an amazing culture of pride there & I'm SO happy that Reilly is having his high school experience at Woodgrove. Just being in that gym makes me want to go back to high school! Anyhoo, we walked up to the entry table to pay our admission, and the gal working there said our tickets had been paid for. What??? Yep. She said someone came up and paid for "the pink lady and her family", so we walked right in for free. I have no idea who did that, but what a lovely gesture. If you're reading, THANK YOU!!! That was SO incredibly thoughtful. :0) 


Gotta scoot. The never ending pile of laundry is calling... eew. I hope you had a nice weekend. 


xoxo
S


***FYI... my e-mail is all fucked up again... can't send or receive, so if you're waiting to hear from me about something, I'm sorry!


***Miss To.... no, I will NOT be running 10 miles!!!! It's a 10k, which is actually 6.2 miles. STILL won't be running!!! Jogging and walking sound like a plan. :0)

It's ON!!!

Okay peeps... if you were planning to donate, but haven't yet, now's the time!!! We have a friendly little side competition going, and it's getting HEATED!!! We met this wonderful family at camp.... Reese was in Rory's Healing Circle and Madison was in Reilly's. They lost their dad in October. He was a cop with a dive/rescue team, and died during an accident while running through a routine training exercise. Anyhoo, since camp, the kids' mom Tanya and I have become fast friends. :0) Well, that was until they surpassed us in donations about 30 minutes ago!!!

We need you!!! What's the WORST that could happen??? We end up raising WAY more than we originally hoped for, and even MORE kids will get to experience Comfort Zone Camp!!! And no, it wouldn't hurt to have bragging rights as the #1 fundraising team. ;-)

xoxo
S

Feelin' good...

Hey noodleheads. I'm feeling SO energized and really excited about this whole 10k thing. It's such a treat to be able to focus on something that's totally positive... it's a win-win, any way you look at it.  Wait... not so fast... what the FUCK was I thinking???? I've never done a 10k before! I'm not a runner! In fact, I HATE running!!! Eew!!! I was on the track team, once upon a time, but I was a sprinter. Me no likey the long distance thing!!! The good news is that a great many people that participate in this thing aren't die hard runners. I may run a bit, but I'm fairly certain that there will be more walking and jogging than anything else. :0) And since it's a 40,000 person event, the start goes in waves and they let you choose your wave. Pretty sure I'll be hangin' toward the back!


I'm completely overwhelmed by the amount of donations we've received already. As of this morning, we're up to $1285.00! And that's with only 15 donors so far!!! I sent over 150 e-mails, so I'm very hopeful that the donations will keep coming in. I even got brave and raised our goal to $2000.00. It can't hurt to try, right? 


My mamacita arrived safely last night, though with a very upset tummy. We've had CRAZY wind the past few days, and the final 40 minutes of her flight were pretty turbulent. Yuck. She and the boys had a sleepover in the basement last night, and right now she and Rory are snuggling on the couch. :0) We're planning to go shopping later... lacrosse tryouts start on Tuesday and there's all kinds of shit that Reilly needs. 


Hoping that Finn and I can steal away to a movie tonight... I still have the passes that KK & Gabster gave me for my birthday. 


Nothing else of note to share at the moment... just be sure to pass along our fundraising page info to your family and friends. Thanks for your help!!!


Love ya!
xoxo
S