To Mrs. Lapp,

You don't know me, but I am grieving for you.

I heard about the accident that took your two sons lives. I'm sure your pain cannot be put into words and that no words can, or will ever, erase that empty feeling.
It brings me some comfort, and hopefully brings you some as well, to see the outpouring of love from your Amish nieghbors and community.  In my opinion, many of us so-called "Westerners" could learn a few things from the Amish.

After all, more than 200 members of your community went with you to the crash site to offer their love and support.  This community, these Amish neighbors, have seen more than their fair share of grief and hurt.    It is my understanding that you and your family live only a short distance from the site of the schoolhouse shooting not so long ago.

Perhaps, Mrs. Miller, who lost two daughters in that tragedy or Mrs. Stoltzfus, who had three members of her family shot that day, can offer you some sort of comfort.   The Stoltzfuses buried their 12 year old, but were able to offer immediate forgiveness to the shooter.  

You are right to surround yourself with people like this.

As for me, I have nothing but cliches and empty words.  Your boys, your babies, are gone.  I believe that you will see them again, but I do not know when.  And like many, I have no answer as to why this has happened.

May your deep faith help you through this dark and uncertain time.

~me

Some of you who popped by this morning or over the weekend saw my post with the hail storm photos. Whew...we still haven't fully recovered from how crazy that really was.

I figured out my mileage for DH and the total came to almost $1,000; I guess that will work out to my benefit. Good thing I kept track.

After much debate and a few comments, I decided to keep the scrapbook page just as it is. It is growing on me.

The birth announcements for my friend are 90 percent complete. I still haven't taken a photo. They are very simple, but I think that she will like them. I'll post a pic tomorrow.

All 34 pages I made last weekend are now in a new scrapbook album. I love it. Nothing beats getting all those into page protectors!

The house is very quiet because all of the bambinos are at school and I'm tempted to just blog all afternoon, but alas laundry is beckoning and I must run the vacuum. Dog hair is over taking my home!

What did you accomplish this weekend?

I should preface this post by saying shortly before this mamoth hail storm, I took all the kids and the dog to the park to ride bikes.  If we had not left when we did, we would have been caught in this mess.  The thought is really terrifying to me as I'm sure these hail balls would have really hurt us and I don't know where we would have hid.


This is my yard.  If you look closely you can see each individual hail ball.  We had to actually shovel our driveway.  That's how much hail we got.

1. Take oldest for her 10 year pictures.  I debated if I really wanted to do this.  We have fall school pictures and spring school pictures.  We all know that the older they get the less their looks change, but I think I'm still going to take her to Sears for pictures with the big number 10.  It's been a tradition since my kids were wee little and I think I will regret it if I don't do it.  I figure I won't take her again until she turns 15.
2. Figure out my work milage from 2008 so my hubby can get to work on the taxes.  Maybe if I hand over all of my information it will motivate him get started.  After all, the clock is ticking.
3. Figure out why I don't like this scrapbook layout:

When I saw this week's writer's prompt over at Mama Kat's I thought, "Wow, can I really write about that. Can I just write about one?"

There are so many people I am praying for that I cannot just mention one.

I am praying for my mom; she hasn't been feeling well and an ultrasound found a cyst on her kidney. She had some sort of dye injected into her on Monday and is awaiting her test results. Options range from "Oh it's nothing" to "Sorry you have kidney cancer." I am praying that she can handle whatever may come to be.

I am praying for my nephew; he has juvenile diabetes and lately his blood sugar has been spiking all over the place.

I am praying for my other nephew; he is almost 20 months old and he doesn't stand up. He doesn't creep, cruise or any other "c" word for walk. I am worried about him.

I am praying for my sister-in-law's dear friend, Jess. She is a young mother of four. Her children are all under the age of 8. She has breast cancer. Her baby is only 6 months old. She has been sick since her last trimester and right now isn't doing very well.

I am praying for my grandmother, who is trying to start living again after the death of my grandfather.

I am praying for many things. Too many? I'm not sure. How will things turn out? I don't know. Do I believe prayer makes a difference? Absolutely!

• Did Sayid just wound young Ben? If he's dead, how's that going to work? Will it be Back to the Future is and things will start to disappear?


• What is up with Sawyer? Where does his loyalty lie? Is he really an other now?


• Will the Dharma initiative be wiped out now or won't that happen now that Ben's future is questionable?


• Where is Miles? Where is Faraday?


• When are we going to learn what happened to Bernard and Rose and all of those people? Are they trapped in the 1980s? Will Rose have Diana Ross hair?

I'm sure I have more questions, but it's early here. I'm not thinking straight yet.

I've been trying to read one book a  month.  TRYING.  For all of you read-aholics out there, don't laugh.  It is really hard for me.  I figured, IF I could keep this goal, I would read 12 books in one year, which for me would be quite an accomplishment.

Last month, I read Gods Behaving Badly and LOVED it. Cute, funny, easy read. This month, I made the mistake of trying to tackle WICKED.

Today is Tuesday's Tribute over at Halftime Lessons. The idea is to write a post as a tribute to someone or something. Mr. Linky is up over there...why aren't you playing along?

Today is my 300th post and I feel like I should have something witty and funny to write about, but I really don't.

Today's post is all about my middle daughter.

She is the sledder in the back with her mouth hanging open.

She is almost 8; she is loud and sometimes opinionated. She missed me the most when I was away this weekend. She loves to read, she likes to wear all one color. She can be easily frustrated, but will be the first to come to your defense. She fits into just about every cliche you have ever heard about a middle child.

Last Tuesday I took her to the pediatricians to be tested for diabetes. It runs in our family. My 8 year old nephew has it. My dad has had issues with blood sugar in the past. My sister is hypoglycemic and I probably am somewhat too.


Middle daughter is not diabetic. She is reactively hypoglycemic. I'm not really sure what all that means. This is what I do know.

• She needs to eat frequently or she turns into emotional goo;


• Protein rich snacks are the best choice;


• This is something she may grow out of;


• Getting "permission" for your kid to have a snack in the middle of the day at school isn't as easy as it should be;


• After just one week of following more of a routine, I'm noticing a big difference.

I made it to and from my weekend away safe and sound.
The trip didn't start out that well.  I made it to the highway before I realized that I forgot all of the cricut cartridges (GASP).  That added 20 minutes to my 2 1/2 hour trip.  Traveling through Harrisburg on Friday never works out the way you want it too and then there was an accident on 81N that caused me to sit still much longer than I wanted too.

It took me almost four hours to get there, but I made it.

So we took a chance with a tiny little Mexican place not far from the hotel and WOW...it was wonderful.  I had a Pina Colada, Meg had a Margarita.  There was even a mariachi (don't think I spelled that right) band!

Grand prize winner gets their blog advertised on Jay's bald head! 

In only a few short hours I will be heading north for my scrapbook weekend.  Yeah!  I'm so looking forward to this.  It's been almost a year since I've seen my friend, Megan, and I really need a weekend just for me.

Here are five things I hope to do:

• Go to Chili's for dinner tonight.  I really like their mushroom Jack fatijas....not to mention their giant margaritas.
• Scrapbook six months of photos.  That is not really possible, but it's good to have goals.  LOL
• Get in the hotel jacuzzi!  Self-explanatory.
• Call my sister every 15 minutes on Saturday to find out how things are going at the Walk to Defeat Juvenile Diabetes in Greenville, N.C.
• Sleep as long as I want!

What do you have planned this weekend?  To read more Friday High Five post, click here.

P.S. Everytime I've clicked on my blog lately there has been a new follower! This makes me uber happy. If you aren't following, what's stoppin ya???

Dear Fan Club:

We have three new members! Yeah! I tried to click on the new postage stamp photos (which are off to the right of my blog) but nothing happened.

I like to visit all the members as often as I can, but for some reason I can't seem to find everyone.

If you are a member and you haven't seen a comment from me lately, leave me a comment and I will pop over and see you.

How many of you fellow Losties, nearly dropped your wine glass when the screen flashed from dear Sun and Lapidus to our other island dwellers and said 30 years earlier! I thought I saw that wrong but then...this is LOST after all.

The other big revelation of the evening....the baby's is ETHAN OMG! I did not see that coming.

Clever how Sawyer/Jim/LeFluer got Hurley, Jack and Kate on the list; ironic how they new recruits arrived the same day as those three.

What will happen with Sayid? Has he figured out things aren't what they appear...has he figured out that it is 1977? Has he figured out that sweet, big glasses wearin' boy is THE Ben.

Even though I'm not a big fan of Sawyer and Juliet, I felt bad for her when she had to save Kate's ass during recruitment check in. How easy it would have been to leave her name off of the list and let her fend for herself. Part of me was hoping she would.

Full circle: Back to Sun and Lapidus on the beach. I couldn't get enough of her crackin' that oar over Ben's head. That was by far the best scene of the night. Again we are graced with a Christian Shepard cameo; he tells Sun that Jin is in 1977 and that she "has quite a journey on her hands."

Does this journey involve a donkey wheel....because I don't think I can handle another one of those.

I'm going away this weekend with my friend, Megan. She lives in upstate New York and we meet half way and scrapbook all weekend in a hotel. It is so much fun. The best part: We use our husband's travel points and stay for FREE!

This is a post from my new phone. I'm just curious to see if this really works and what it looks like. The weather here is clear and cool. My oldest went skiing with daddy for the first time. If he takes any pics I will post those later.

Also for you fellow crafters out there Shannon is giving away some amazing candy over at her blog. Be sure to check it out.

I'm joining this week's assignment over at Mama Kat's. This post is part of her weekly writer's prompt. I decided to write about a time that I hurt someones feelings and it still bothers me to this day.

Many moons ago, pre-kids, I used to be a secretary in a small law office. The two attorneys I worked for actually became my friends. We spent a lot of time together. They both had wonderful senses of humor and made work a entertaining place to be. I know...hard to imagine since I told you they were lawyers.

One of the attorneys, let's call her Mrs. H., had a rough year. Her babies grew up and moved out. Her surgeon husband was always at work. At she started to drink.

She started to come in late.

She started to come in wearing the same clothes as she had on yesterday.

I started covering for her.

Aside from actually going to court, I handled pretty much everything. If you've typed one custody agreement, you've typed them all. If you've typed one standard divorce decree you've pretty much typed them all.

I started to find alcohol in her desk.

I started to resent her.

Her husband called. "Did I notice...." blah blah blah.

My other boss said, "Do you think she is a drunk?"

Collectively, we decided that we needed to do something.

It is very hard to look someone in the eyes and tell them they are losing it. That they are an alcoholic. That their practice is suffering. That they need to walk away and get better.

It may save them, but it cuts them deeply.

Do I regret helping her. Absolutely not. Does it hurt any less knowing I said what I said to save her? No. It really doesn't.

I decided for Tuesday Tribute I would write ten things I love about my friend, Becky. 

1.  She will still be my friend even after she sees this silly picture and will not harrass me to take it down because she knows the importance of being silly and not taking yourself to seriously.

2.  She will change her plans, no matter what they are, to help me out if I am sick or without a car.  (Even if it means she can't go to the gym.)

3.  She takes my kid to school when I have the flu and then goes out of her way to bring me some 7 up.

4.  She shares my love for Quizno Subs.  BTW...I have new coupons!

5.  She agrees with me that vacumming and cleaning the bathroom should be very low on anyone's to do list.

6.  She puts family first and they return the love.  She goes to her niece and nephew's soccer games and her sisters and parents come to her kids games.

1. Make at least 10 more scrapbook pages.  I just got a big package of pictures in the mail and they are calling my name.  It goes something like this "Don't do the laundry...it can wait.  Come.  Come and scrapbook.  You know it will be more fun."
2. Upgrade my phone.  This has been on my list for sometime now.  My plan was up in January and I still haven't managed to upgrade the little bugger.  It is freezing up on me and causing me grief.  I don't think it is reliable.  Plus, between you and me, I really want a little keyboard as I'm addicted to texting.
3. Take the kids to the park.  We are supposed to have wonderful weather this weekend and my oldest got a new bike for her birthday.  I think she is a little intimidated by the size of it and really needs a nice day to find out how easy it is to ride.
4. Watch one of my NETFLIX movies and post a review.  I'm tired of keeping these things for more than a few days.  I feel like I'm not getting my money's worth. 
5. Pay the handful of bills I have on the counter.  After my Paypal Hacker disaster, I've yet to get all of my bank/credit cards in order and I really need to pay a few bills.  While this is tedious and hardly can be described as fun, I still need to get this done.

What do you hope to accomplish?

Like usual, LOST was hurting my brain last night.

I didn't count, but I'm pretty sure we jumped forward three years, back three years and forward three year all within the first 10 minutes.  Was that really necessary?

Juliet and Sawyer?  This is harder for me to get my head around than the time travel.  Personally, it would be easier for me to believe she was banging Daniel.

And who is that baby?  I know someone out there knows and has this entire thing figured out, but I'm getting a nose bleed trying just thinking about it.

The last time I remember seeing Horace, he was in the jungle telling John how to find Jacob;  I think he was cutting down a tree repeatedly and he told John he had been dead for 12 years. 

Also, Horace and his wife were the unlucky couple flagged down by the Linuses after giving birth in the woods.  Basically, other than immediate family, Horace was the first person to see baby Ben alive and drove his dying mother to the hospital.

Who knew he be back with even more speaking parts.

Did you notice not one of my questions from yesterday's post were answered?  If anything I have even more questions.  Anyone wondering where Rose and Bernard and the rest of the original plane crash memebers are now?  Are they part of Richard's group?  I hope not!

Will Daniel warn Charolette like she remembers him doing or will he try to change history?  Isn't he the one always preaching that if it happened it will happen.

Is everyone on the island now in the 1970s?  What about Locke and the new crew?

Where is Sun!  How do a bunch of Dharma ninnies capture Sayid (as indicated by the previews)?

Most importantly. Why. Do. I. Have. To. Wait. Two. Weeks. for. The. Next. Episode?  I'm boycotting whatever ABC puts in that time slot.

• Is that tease in the previews when *sigh* Sawyer looks up and sees Kate the end of the show or the beginning?
• What does Jin say to Hurley, Jack and Kate when he finds them floating in that lagoon? 
• When are they?
• What happened to Sun and Sayid?  Will she find Jin?
• Are the new arrivals going to win over my affection or just continue to annoy me?
• Will my husband make as much noise as possible while this show is on?  ie: unload/load and turn on the dishwasher; get the dog all worked up so I can't hear over all the barking?

Thanks for looking.  I really appreciate your comments.