Just a clip of my article:

MY FIRST EDITOR’S PICK: What exactly is an Indigo Child and is there really such a thing? Where did the whole Indigo Child concept come from? After reading this guide, you will understand more about the Indigo Child, how other’s think they came to be, and what their purpose here on earth is.  Read more »

Yeesh. Several years ago, I basically swore off cats. Somehow I should have known it wouldn’t last.

Not because I don’t like them, quite the contrary. But the problem was, I liked them too much, and at one point, we had a box full of kittens and four adult cats. It was nuts. So after that, I swore we weren’t going to do that again.

When I moved in with Mike, he had one cat. Drinda. Unfortunately, she took ill (she was 13!) and had to be put to sleep. So of course, we decide to get another one. Enter - Maple. She is a Manx cat, and was instantly a part of our family.

The kids loved her, we loved her and she was sweet as could be. So, we should have just gone with that, and been happy, right?

Wrong.

A month later, we went back and got another one. Enter - Sassy. Sassy has to be the stupidest cat I have ever owned. Seriously. She is not a bright feline. She’s sweet as can be, however.

We said that was it. Maple and Sassy. Two cats. Five kids. Two adults. We’re happy, right?

Oh no! Then, a couple of weeks ago, we rescue two guinea pigs from these people who had really not been taking very good care of them. HUGE mistake. We nursed them back to health, and regretted the rescue, shortly after and have ever since. But again, you would have thought we were done, right?

Nope. Fast forward to today. I’m sitting in the kitchen, just typing away at the computer, when out of the corner of my eye, out in the snow and ice, I sweet a furry animal. It’s a cat. Well, rather, it’s a kitten, but she’s got to be about six months old. I open the door and she comes right to me. She is so skinny, I can actually feel her bones through her skin. It’s horrible. She’s freezing and I’ll be very honest, looks like death has almost become her!

I swear I wasn’t going to keep her. I was only going to feed her. Get her warm, and take her to the shelter. After all, five kids, two cats, two guinea pigs. We’re done right? Well, Mike made the assumption that we were keeping her and was perfectly okay with it. So guess what? We have three cats now.

Meet Mocha!

Could you turn out that face? Maybe. But we couldn’t.

This is how skinny she is - she is so malnourished, we HAVE to make a vet visit! Period.

Underneath all that fur, is simply skin and bones. She was so dehydrated she must have stood at the water bowl for 10 minutes, and then she scarfed her food down so fast, you could tell, she had no idea when her next meal is. Please pray we can save her, and that it isn’t too late. I didn’t want three cats, but she’s so sweet I can’t just turn her back out.

Just a clip of my article:

The holidays are rapidly approaching, the guests have all been invited, and you’ve already decided what you are serving for dinner. But have you considered what to have as appetizers for your guests to snack on? Try these five easy recipes this holiday season.Read more »

This is from an IQ test I took - I didn’t “pay” to get the number but it did tell me this:

Your overall intelligence quotient is the result of a scientifically-tested formula based on how many questions you answered correctly. But it’s only part of what we learned about you from your answers on the test. We also determined the way you process information.The way you think about things makes you a Linguistic Architect. This means you are brilliant when it comes to language and words. You are also very good at understanding things on an abstract level. You are at your best when you put those two skills together to communicate new ideas and see how they fit into different contexts. You understand math and science on a gut level, even if the equations and science don’t come as easily. You can use these skills to be a great communicator or to create a masterpiece.

How did we determine that your thinking style is that of a Linguistic Architect? When we examined your test results further, we analyzed how you scored on 8 dimensions of intelligence: spatial, organizational, abstract reasoning, logical, mechanical, verbal, visual and numerical. The 3 dimensions you scored highest on combine to make you a Linguistic Architect. Only 6 out of 1,000 people have this rare combination of abilities.
So how cool is that? LOL!

Isn’t it pretty?

I love my blog because I can do what I want with it. And if I want to show off a great photo of my kiddo’s I can - and if I want to show the beauty of this time of year I can.

Take a look at this:

 

The tree in my background as it looks right at this very moment!
Simply breathtaking!

My son, Ryan.
I look at this and see a little boy, not a twelve year old!

My daughter, Brielle. She’s so full of life. I love the winter chill on her face and those rosy lips!

Mike’s daughter, Melissa. What a cutie and she looks amazing with that winter chill too!

Mike’s youngest daughter, Jessica! Cute, funny and almost too much energy to stop and let me take a photo!

These are the kiddo’s that are actually playing outside together!

What a beautiful view to wake up to. Snow has covered our hills and driveways and glistens as the sun is coming up. I absolutely love this type of weather. The only thing that really sucks, is that beneath the several inches of snow is a solid layer of about 3-4 inches of ice. Yes, the ice never let up yesterday. All day long I heard the plinking of the ice hitting our windows, and deep into the night it was still going.

They had the intelligence to close schools today before the snow even came. So yay for some intelligent administrator’s - finally. So I have five kiddo’s home from school and they are extremely excited to go out and play in the snow. Guess I better make a big batch of hot chocolate for when they come in!

I’m also making some gingerbread today - my favorite holiday treat!

I’m not happy however, because as many of my readers know, I am part of a blended family now. Mike’s ex-wife, the girls’ mother has decided she would like him to bring them over there today since she is off work. Never mind that there was a big mess last night that I thought we had gotten through and moved on from. She called and asked me to wake him up this morning because he said he would bring them over today (supposedly). He said he might have said that to keep her from coming out in the ice and sleet last night, so you know - he knows it’s his fault that this is happening.

What I don’t get - is the selfishness factor here. Isn’t it safer for the girls’ to be in a house, warm and safe, than out on a road driving over to her apartment? And then what in the world is there for them to do in a small little apartment all day? It’s not like she can drive them out and about as several tv stations and radio stations have asked that people stay off the roads as much as possible. The layer of ice underneath all this snow is horrible. And even if they wanted to go sledding, they can’t there - at least not without apparently walking pretty far to find a good hill to go down, yet we have one in our own backyard. I think the thing that bothers me the most is the selfish factor. I care so much for these girls and would be worried sick if they were in a car out on the road right now. And the fact that she showed up last night anyway to drop off something and told the girls she would see them Tuesday, would confuse the whole thing a bit since they were all ok with that. So why today now? Our ten year old has already verbally said she’s not going. She doesn’t want to go. She wants to stay home and play. I don’t blame her.

The youngest, I’m not sure about yet. The oldest, we know would go with her mother anytime. We understand. But she’s also extremely understanding when we explain to her the safety factor involved. She’s a bright girl, who although wants to spend time with her mom, understands that right now isn’t the best time. Why can’t mom seem to get it through her head that the children’s safety should always come first? And that it isn’t about her, rather than about them! For crying out loud - we’ve never kept them from her.

Ah, aren’t blended families fun? Actually in fairness to the girls’ mother, she’s actually ok most of the time. We get along really well and have known each other for five years before I wound up getting together with Mike. We’ve now been together almost a year and everything for the most part has been fine. I just keep praying that she will have an epiphany and realize that we are not keeping the kids away from her, rather we encourage their relationship with her (despite some of the things that she did - which are horrible anyway). We just want them kept safe and warm and don’t want to jeapordize their well-being by taking them out in this weather and putting them in a car on our roads that are covered in several inches of ice, topped with several inches of snow!

If you feel like it, share some of your more frustrating moments as a blended family. I’d love to commiserate with you. I swear, she’s usually a great woman - I don’t know what’s got into her!

Update: 9:15am
He talked to her and she is angry as all get out. All three girls have decided they would rather stay home. Two because they want to play and get bored over there. The other, the oldest, is afraid to be on the roads right now (see I told you she was smart!) and to think how hard that decision was for her. She’s looked upset ever since, but she still remains firm that she does not want to be on the road. Mom hung up on Mike so she’s apparently rather angry. I’m going to attempt to smooth things over and compromise.

Update: 9:40am
I have now spoken with mom, who seemed to be more frustrated with the fact that she was trapped at home because her car is stuck, and that her boyfriend is one of the guys plowing so she is worried. Understandably so. I talked to her about us bringing the girls over around 1:00pm and picking them back up after dinner around 6:00pm (just before the roads begin freezing again). She seems amendable to this compromise, so YAY! All fixed!