Day 25: If You had 1,000,000 To Spend, How Would You Spend It?

Day 25: If You had 1,000,000 To Spend, How Would You Spend It?

I would quit my part time job first thing!  I would probably keep my full time job, or find a part time job I loved, like at the library.. A million bucks doesnt last as long as it used to.

I would pay off our house and all our bills.  I would set aside all the money it would take to put my children through college at any school of their choice.

I would give to my family and close friends what they need to be comfortable and not have to worry.

I would like to donate some of it.  Probably to the JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes Relief Fund and to Make-A-Wish first. 

I'd hire a personal trainer/chef to whip my family into shape!

Take my family on a fabulous vacation.  Like that Atlantis resort in the Bahamas.

The rest I would invest.  Save it for a comfortable retirement, to spend on my grandchildren, to travel with Jon to so many places.

Just simple plans..  Nothing too extravagant just things to make me and those around me happy.

Day 25: Someone Who Fascinates You and Why

Day 25: Someone Who Fascinates You and Why:

So my kids are probably who probably fascinate me most but today I'm just going to write about one.
(Sorry Kelz)

Cody. CodeMan. or as I often just call him..The Boy.

From day one I have always been amazed by him. As a baby he was a terror and never slept but as he started to grow older there was so much going on with him that made me wonder what was going on inside his little head, you see Cody has always been a little obsessive, to put it mildy, and we have seemed to always encourage that obsession when we can.

When he was 3 he was fascinated with all things trains and we would follow trains all over the valley for him and he could name every train in Thomas's yard.  When he was 4 you could tell him a car number and he could tell you the NASCAR driver who drove it. He always had a great imagination and would play with his toys for hours (this was before Playstation came into his life)  He had a Batman and a Scooby Doo beanie baby that he would throw in the air to land on his fan in his room so when he turned it on, they could fly! He would wear his Star Wars pajamas with his Batman cape, two different colored mittens and his snow boots and run all over my house!  He had an imaginary friend that I can't for the life of me remember his name..maybe it was Steve?  He went everywhere with us..one day we left Steve in the basket at Smith's and Cody was so devestated that we had to go back for him.
UPDATE: The imaginary friends name was Mike..  It was the fish named Steve..what was I thinking?

At age 5 he started Soccer and played several years of that, both indoor and outdoor. Then Basketball at age 6, and Football at age 8, and Lacrosse at age 12. While it took a while for his athletic ability to catch up with what he knew in his head he has always excelled with a ball in his hand.  He has natural athletic ability that I only wish I could take credit for.  Give him a ball and tell him to run and you'll never catch him.  How does that happen?  Are we really related?  He is driven in ways I've never seen in a kid his age.  He currently works out about 4 hours a day with Football stuff during school and Lacrosse stuff after.  I could never maintain that schedule. And he never ever complains.

As a little kid you always knew if Cody was happy or sad or mad.  His every mood was always written on his face.  As a teenager he is so much harder to read.  He hides out in his room a lot.  He discloses very little personal information unless questioned.  Sometimes I feel like a stranger is living in our house with us.  With Kellie it's so much easier. She's an open book.. but The Boy...?  The boy is a little more mysterious..a little more complex, so much more intense..all of which is what fascinates me the most.

Day 24: Your Favorite Movie and What It's About

Day 24: Your Favorite Movie and What It's About

I don't know that I have a favorite movie but if you asked Jon he would probably tell you that it is Hope Floats. I love Sandra Bullock and I think Harry Connick Jr is quite yummy. 

When a high school beauty queen is cheated on by her husband and best friend who exposes it on a reality TV show,  Birdie and her daughter Bernice come back home to to Texas to live with her crazy mother and nephew and meets up with a man from her past, Justin Matisse.  You'll laugh..you'll cry.  Yes it's a sappy romantic movie but something about it makes me want to watch it over and over again.

Something I just noticed.. Bernice, the daughter from Hope Floats is now an actress on
one of my favorite TV shows, Parenthood.

Bernice

Amber

Hmmmm...small world.

Day 23: Post 5 Pictures of Famous People You Find Attractive

Day 23: Post 5 Pictures of Famous People You Find Attractive:



Bradley Cooper..  Amazing eyes..and hair!



Christian Slater..in his bad boy 'Heathers' day.



Dane Cook..  Goofy with a great sense of humor..and Hot!!



Brady Quinn.. Quarterback and..  his picture says it all!



Alexander Skarsgard..Better knows as Eric Northman..  He can bite me anytime!! 



Day 22: How Have You Changed in the Past 2 years.

Day 22: How Have You Changed in the Past 2 years.

I would say my biggest change happened about 2 1/2 years ago when I applied for my current position at work and got it!  It was something I wanted really bad but I didn't realize how much it would change my life.  I dispatched for over 9 years and 8 1/2 of those were on graveyard shift.  I worked every weekend, every holiday and I loved it!  It was definitely who I was.  When I accepted my new position, with my fancy title of E-911 Office Facilitator, my schedule was thrown into total upheaval and I packed my bags and went to day shift.. something I thought I would hate more than anything.  And to be honest, I am not a day shift person.  I could go back to graves with no problem at all. But I love my job and I love the people I get to work with now, people I have grown to know and love so well. and I could never go back at this point.

At the same time I was promoted I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and that sort of sent me into a tailspin.  I was and am scared of this diagnosis but I try not to let it define me, and not think of it as a death sentence..  What has changed with that is I try to be more conscious of what I eat and try to work out and really try to take my medications, even though they tend to make me really sick.

In the past two years we moved from the house we lived in for 5 years and took a leap and bought our own home.  Granted we are second time home owners but this felt really different this time.  And really scary for me.  It was a good decision all around and I love my new home, now that it feels like home and I can see us here for a very long time.

I have had to learn to let go of my kids some so they can grow and become the people they were meant to be. 

I have changed my idea of where I want to be career wise and have decided to let nothing and no one get in my way.  I have a great boss that recognizes my abilities and is willing to teach me and help me get where I want to go.

But mostly I haven't changed where it matters..I know more than ever that family is everything. And while I love my whole extended family, I mean more of our little family of four.  They are my world and everything I do, I do with them in mind.

Day 21: One of Your Favorite TV Shows

Day 21: One of Your Favorite TV Shows:

Sorry, Colleen..we have the same... Bazinga!!

My favorite show is The Big Bang Theory!

I love how hilarious this show is and I love Sheldon, but I honestly think Leonard is my favorite character though.  We watched several seasons on Netflix and now look forward to it every week.  We all watch it as a family and there is nothing funnier than my kids and Jon trying to imitate Sheldon's laugh. Sheldon was in the new Muppets movie and we were all so excited when he came on.

I also especially love the Vanity Cards that flash at the end of every episode. The writer Chuck Lorre writes these random thoughts that come up at the end of all his shows. Waiting for these are almost as good as the show itself.

  CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, Vanity Card #184

Don't fall for a woman who has had sex with one of your rock n'roll heroes.
No matter how emotionally evolved you think you are,
you will never enjoy listening to Eric Clapton again.
Don't lurk around web sites where people comment about
your work unless you're drunk.

Don't use emoticons. You're too old to communicate
like a twelve-year old girl.

Don't forget that you are the product of a culture that went
stark raving mad about ten thousand years ago.
Adjust your thinking accordingly.

Don't answer TV critics questions about the state of TV comedy.
It's a trap.

Don't eat anything bigger than your head.
True in the sixties, true today.

Don't believe that crap that you're as young as you feel.
Your feelings lie.

Don't hug men while shaking their hand. Enough already with that.
The shake/hug (shug?) is probably something Roman guys
did when their empire was in decline.

Day 20: How Important You Think Education Is.

Day 20: How Important You Think Education Is.

Dumb question if you ask me.  Education is so important to me.  I did pretty well in school, and to be honest I never really had to try very hard.  I love learning, and reading and thinking.  I love a challenge and learning things I don't already know.  In school I was lazy though so I would really like to go back to school one day and do all the things I never got a chance to do.

I want my kids to go to college!  I know it's expensive but I will do whatever it takes to get them there.  I hope they both go straight from high school right into college with no question.  Once you stop school it seems really hard to get back into it.  I will support whatever they want to be in life but I just don't think you can get there anymore without an education.  There are so many limits on people without a degree.  And while sometimes I do agree that it is just a piece of paper..that piece of paper can open so many doors that are closed to those who don't have one.