My Story in Photos: Patriotic Edition {how we spent the day}

first a big shout out to all the military men and women past and present who fought and gave their time and lives so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. thanks to the family members too. what a sacrifice you give to others every day. so we had no money to go away for the fourth. but we weren't planning on it either. daddy-o had to work on the 3rd and i had to work on the 4th. i work from 11p to 7a and we weren't sure if there would be time in the day for me to see the kids enjoy fireworks or not, so when daddy-o got home at 3:30a on sat morning, we woke the girls and lit fireworks. yea for walmart and combo pack for $7. the fireworks were lots of fun. this is us lit by one of the fireworks. we are sitting on the back deck wrapped in blankets to keep the skeeters away. (Jam is in bed. i did not feel like dealing with a cranky 7 month old, so we let him sleep, he would not remember it anyway) and yes we are in our pajamas

of course there must be a kissing pic too. i am glad we have the independence to marry whomever we see fit. and i am glad to be married to daddy-o.

i really like the fountainy effect of this one.

sparklers have always been my favorite. here is Yah. you can just see her face.

she is concentrating hard on not letting any sparks get on her. looks like she is not having fun, but she said she loves "sparkers."

Ehm did not know what to think, but daddy-o convinced her it was ok.

then she went crazy flinging sparks everywhere. (notice the glow of  Yah's face on the left)

of course you have to try to make a perfect circle with your "sparker."

now it is my turn. i have a remote shutter in one hand and the sparkler in the other. i absolutely love sparklers. you can take away all the rest of the fireworks, just leave me some sparklers and i'm good. (looks like i have three legs hahaha)

well after sparklers we went back to bed. daddy-o and Yah went to home depot for the kids workshop. she made a bird house and a picnic caddy. when they came home about noon, i got up and we played. daddy-o has been working on getting the pool ready for Yah's birthday party (three weeks to go)  Yah wants to have a "mermaid party." Ehm wanted in the pool, of course, she is a water baby! so daddy-o held her over the side and let her get all wet. when they came in, she took all of her clothes off and her diaper. she would not let me put a clean one back on. Ehm declared her independence from diapers (for a while) and insisted on playing us all a song on the piano (she sang too).

you can see how pleased she is with herself. yeah for "independence" day!

i did convince her to put on a diaper finally. Yah wore her home depot apron all day. she got a notebook, pen, and tape measure to put in the pockets too, just like daddy-o. he works the night restocking shift there.

here are all three kids together. aren't we blessed? hooray for the independence to have a family of your own!

no independence day is complete with out a barbecue! we went to papa and grandmas to partake of one. the kids were playing and having a great time.

Jam decided he had the freedom to have a pink binki. (or rather his mom did) but he liked it just the same.

 Yah played with this little light. her eyes are so pretty.

Jam has the freedom to be a mechanic on the tricycle, or to chew in the pedal (same thing.) i am thankful for the freedom we have to choose our own careers.

this is the tree in the back yard well and us of course, in our patriotic outfits. yes i planned what each of us would wear. as a mom i have the freedom to veto outfits on any special occasion. you can choose for yourself every other day.

we did get to stay long enough to shoot off more fireworks at papa and grandma's. here are all the girls (left 2 right) corky (2), baba (4),  yah (almost 7), ehm (20 mo). they sat there and yelled out the color of the sparks. too cute.

Jam got to see then too, and he loved it. he just stared and stared and had a funny look on his face. he was really trying to figure out what was going on with all that pretty light.

sun has just set and the show is started.

the kids had a blast. they liked the few that screamed the most. corky tried to whistle too. and Ehm just screamed back at them. then the older girls had to do it too.

i like the glow of the sky in these here. it is difficult to get good pics of fireworks. first it is dark and how do you know where to focus and then i can't figure how to adjust the time setting for the shutter, well and there is only one day each year when we get to light fireworks. no wonder why i got so-so shots. i like them just the same and the memory is here to stay.

it was really fun to watch our shadows "jumping" on the wall behind us. hard to tell in the photo, but it was comical.

after we were done here, i had to go to work and that was the end of the day.

i am glad that our independence lasts for more than just a day. i rejoice in the knowledge that we have the opportunity to be forever free from the bondage of sin and that Christ paid my debt on the cross. so that one day i may live with Him forever.

i am also glad that God gives us free will to choose or not, but He loves us just the same.

i look forward to seeing other's patriotic edition posts. just click on the link below to see more great photo stories. and you should post yours too and tell us what are your traditions and memories of independence day. mr. linky will be open all week. you know you want to...

thanks for reading...

someone is following me

hello , i actually stood up to type this, weird... uum yea wanted to say thanks for being my first follower. i did the super excited happy dance and turn around in the chair and oh yea oh yea wiggle wiggle. good thing there were no witness, i am at work after all... thanks for thinking i am cool enough to follow, i hope i don't disappoint. as always i will be honest and try to post at least once a week. :o) thanks for reading...

encouragement verse for today

daddy-o has been a bit discouraged as of late. bills keep piling and money is scarce, as is the food for that matter, but the love is eye deep around here and that is what we are clinging to at this time. this post is to remind us (and you if you need it) that God is with us. He cares for us and loves us. i have been looking for some encouraging texts to share with daddy-o. i think i will print some and tape them to the bathroom mirror so we will see them often. here is one that i will use today:

But you, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts my head high. I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain. I lay down and slept. I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. Psalm 3:3-5

what are some of your favorite verses that you turn to for strength? i would love to know. i also like this one:

The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted! Psalm 18:46

i heart faces #25 Wedding Bells

once again a busy week. i told myself that i would do at least one post before the next i heart faces entry, well yea right... i just don't have time, or maybe it is too difficult to make time. i worked six days straight this week, and that takes lots of my energy. if you can avoid the graveyard shift while trying to raise kids, do so. on my day off, it was uncle ernie's wedding. (my husband's uncle). it is his 2nd marriage and her 3rd. why didn't they just go to the JP? oh yea... grandma booty, the groom's mother, (yes that is what we call her, to her face as well) would not let them. so we went to the wedding, Yah got to be one of the flower girls and Baba (niece) got to be the other. they had fun getting dressed up and i let Yah wear a little pink eye shadow, she is so grown up. well as the only person in the family who owns a nicer camera, i got to take the photos. not that i am any good at all, weddings scare me. (i had dreams for a week before the wedding of losing my camera, running out of memory on a card, lenses falling off the camera and breaking...not good) i did take photos of the wedding, it was not very traditional, also not planned very well. so most of the shots i had planned on getting (and i had a list in my pocket) did not happen. the bride wore a blue formal dress and the groom wore slacks and a button up shirt. this is really dressy for them. the ceremony was held in their side yard, it was simple and short 15 min from start to finish! then over to the front yard for the reception. of course there was cake stuffing going on. (i read somewhere that people who stuff cake at their wedding are more likely to get a divorce. what is your opinion on this? i hate it and we did not stuff at ours) the bride and groom did not seem to want many posed shots they let me take only a few and weren't very cooperative. they seemed as if they had no time for photos or the desire to have any taken...oh well. he seemed much more exuberant than she. and there is glare on her glasses. any suggestions on how to avoid that?
as for my entry we have my Yah being the willing participant and letting me get such a sweet photo of her.
i love her hair and the simple expression on her face. this was taken before the ceremony and you can see the excitement on her face. i am glad she had the experience of being a flower girl. i was as a girl too, and i thought back on it often growing up.
i checked out the judge this week at her web site and her photos rock. jasmine star is AMAZING. i am no where near her level, but i did enjoy looking at all of her site and i read most of her blog last night. thanks to j* for sharing her love of God through her site and also for keepin it real and giving us an incredible insight to her life and career.

thanks for stopping by, and do go check out the other entries this week at i heart faces i know they are going to rock my world. also check out j* at her web site it is jasmine-star.com she is one great photographer!

i heart faces #24 BOYS

last week went so fast. all of my days off were spent in the hospital with Ehm. it started with vomiting every 10 min, then she could not hold up her head and was very limp. i was scared. the doctors thought it was urinary tract infection, gave antibiotics and we went home. the next day same thing...back to hospital, now they think it might be appendicitis. well when they told me they were calling in a surgeon, i really freaked out (on the inside of course). ended up being severe stomach flu, over night in hospital and IV fluids. then home and daddy-o caught it, then i caught it, then Yah caught it. so far jam is the only one who has not let this auful bug catch him. even mema and grandma v and papa got sick. so i was too busy "enjoying" life to get to post a sepia photo. i feel like i have missed out on so much. including our 8 year anniversary! yes i was in the hospital and daddy-o was at home with the other kids. he did bring a beautiful potted cala lilly and a card. he is so sweet. well there goes date night...maybe next year? hahaha but, i do have some boy pictures: the first is daddy-o's grandpa, he is holding our son Jam for the first time. this is a special photo for me, jam is adopted (my cousin's child) and i was relieved to see that all of the family had accepted him as ours. Grampa is saying "shhh, don't wake him, i want to hold him some more." this is my entry for the kids section. this is oey, he is Jam's biological brother, but we will count him as a cousin sort of (what do you call the relationship between cousins children?). this was last august, at oey's 2nd birthday. you can't get much more boy than this...cowboy hat, messy face, half naked, and outside. yep, that is our oey. running so fast you can hardly get a picture, but when he opened this hat from us, it was love at once. i pray he will grow up to be a great guy.

will you please pray for my cousin and her two children (the ones she has with her)? she is going through a bout of depression, i don't know if it is over the adoption, or something else. (adoption is open and she has seen jam a few times, he is 6months old now) she has a lot to deal with emotionally, and God is the only one that can help her, as she is unwilling to tell anyone what she is needing help with. thank you for your prayers and i will ask God to bless each of you in return. He has blessed us even more than we could think or imagine.

have a great week and go to i heart faces and check out all the other cool boy photos this week.

email to blog

hey, did you know that you can email directly to your blog? i was looking at the options and found this button and now i am going to see if it works.
 
it has been an interesting night...a guest called 911 from their room. the lady is about 70 years old and misdialed. well no emergency personell were dispatched, so i guess everything is alright.

I Heart Faces birthday/pets

here is my darling daughter on her birthday. she is getting warmed after her bath. it was a happy birthday.

this is our new baby kitty, i just took these. then when i saw the theme, i was excited. you can read more about the baby kitty by scrolling down (i don't know how to give you a link to it yet)

go over to i heart faces and check out all the stunning entries. thanks for your comments, have a great week!

i heart faces #20 silhouette

when i saw the category a few weeks ago, i instantly knew what picture i would enter. this is my niece, baba. we went to beverly beach, or a few years ago and baba had never been on the sand. she did not know what to think. when i took this photo, she was getting sand out from between her toes. this captures baba to a "t" she is silly, energetic, and non stop. notice she did not bother to sit to remove irritating sand...she is still this quirky girl today. just turned 4 in feb. and a bundle of fun. I heart faces is a great place to see other people's photos and to gain insight and inspiration. DO go there by clicking the button and check out all the great photos this week. you may wish to enter, but beware, it is addicting. =) after a few minutes of browsing, i have lots of great ideas for my kiddos.

interesting side bar here: baba calls me "aunt crazy" at first an innocent mispronunciation, but i asked her mom to let her call me this. I LOVE BEING THE CRAZY AUNT!

thanks for your comments and criticisms.

*EDIT*

as for sand in the toes, did you know that when you are done on the beach if you sprinkle baby powder on your sand covered parts, that it will fall right off? just rub on some baby powder next time, no chaffing or blistering from shoes. :) my kids love the beach, but the oldest reminds me to bring the "sand blaster powder"

“My Story In Photos: The Vacation Edition” Memorial Day Weekend-ish

this is my "vacation" edition for i heart faces. it is the most recent vacation we have been on. we will go camping here again in july, so come back and check for new pics then. i am excited for this week at i heart faces. it is going to be fun getting to know each other a bit better. just click the button to see everyone elses vacation pics.
yes we had memorial day weekend at our house. but it started on thursday and ended on monday. i had to go back to work, but the camping trip was lots of fun. daddy-o had several deliveries to make and all of us went too. then we camped in beautiful McCall at our favorite ponderosa state park. the first night it was just my family. Ehm read us a book. really she looked at the pictures and "talked." Jam and Yah liked listening to the story. we walked McCall. they have caution flags on the corners, there is lots of pedestrians and lots of crazy drivers. Yah got the flag from the holder and gave one to Ehm too. they both thought this was fun. walked out on one of the public docks, and set the camera on the stroller and here we are at Payette Lake. totally wrong time to take a picture, full sun and in our eyes, but we were there and the lake is beautiful. on the way to drop of one of the orders, there was on old meeting house. i convinced daddy-o to stop there on the way back and let me take some pics. Yah is growing up so fast. she will tell you that she is 6 and 5/6 and her birthday is in july.

isn't she just great?

we did a lot of bike riding. Yah on the hitch hiker behind daddy-o. i had the babies in the red trailer. Ehm loves to ride in her "bike." each time we went out, little Jam fell asleep. i asked Ehm if brother was alright and she nodded her head. i told her to keep an eye on him and she put a finger on his head and kept it there for the rest of the ride. she is little but still a good sister. when we got back to camp, they were both sleeping so of course i took a picture.

 yah convinced daddy-o to take the training wheels off of her bike. i was very worried. the only and i mean only time she rides is maybe once every two months. we have gravel driveway, making it hard to ride. well off came the training wheels and daddy-o chased her all over the campground. she did fairly well, much to my surprise. but when she fell, she was finished for the day. good thing we brought the tag along too.

there are biking/walking trails all around the park. along our walk, Mema found this fallen tree and went right up the hill to get a pic by it. sometimes my mom is kinda weird, not bad weird, just different weird.

all the biking and walking made my two boys tired. they took a nap at our site for quite a while.

the last night there, it thunderstormed and rained and poured. i am so glad we have a trailer. even at that, the trailer leaked right over our bed and daddy-o got up on the roof to put something over the vent so we weren't soaked. Yah was scared by the lightening and thunder, which is unusual for her. the babies were asleep when the storm started and were not affected by it at all. i felt bad for the tenters, they were dripping wet in the morning.

I Heart Faces #19 Blurb Book

well, i have looked and looked. part of the problem of choosing a photo was trying to detach from the memories and simply look at the photo for the quality. i think this photo gets my attention the most. my cousin, she graduated this last year and she paid me to take her seinor photos. i feel that i am still an amature, but according to the rules, i did get paid a little to take some pictures once upon a time. i am very legalistic, and am so scared of not getting considered for entering into the wrong section. so here is my entry in the professionals category. (my heart is racing and i feel sweaty) this is the first time i have used photoshop to enhance an image. i think it turned out nice. i burned the edges and took off a fuzz from her shirt.

i feel so inadequate, as there are so many others with far greater tallents. still, my cousin is beautiful and i think she is great.

i love i heart faces, they have some great challenges coming up, you should join! thanks for all your suggestions, i hope to learn a lot, i feel that i have. go over to i heart faces and see all of the breathtaking entries. just push the button below to get there, this is the required wording:

"I am submitting this photo into the http://www.iheartfaces.com/ Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites."

New Kitten

our just one year old kitty melanie, had a baby. yes, a baby, just one, which i thought was weird, but maybe because she is so young? she had baby under the storage shed. i came home and was getting kids out of the van when i heard a pathetic little meow. after getting kids inside, i looked under shed. the only thing i could see was a box. so she must have had the baby in the box. a few days go by and i check on baby, really i listened to see if it would meow. no nosies. i wait a few hours, still nothing. well, maybe melanie is not going to take care of her baby. i got down and pulled out the box, at first i didn't see anything in it, i moved the flap and there was one fuzzy, furry ball. baby was clean and had a full tummy. eyes and ears closed. must only be a few days old. put baby back and told kids it looks like baby is a girl. now there are no noises again and i have not seen melanie go under shed for a while. oh man, i should not have touched baby! well, i checked again, this time the baby is not in the box. melanie moved baby between house and picnic table. dog found the baby and stood there drooling, so gross. i know all she wanted to do was lick the baby, but yuck, what cat wants to smell like a dog? melanie moved the baby again. now in a little depression in the ground between the house and a piece of cement board. the space is just right for a cat to get in and the board is easy to pull back and check on baby. baby has lived behind board for about a four days now. the kids have seen baby and think she is cute. we have not touched baby again as we don't want to make melanie mad with us. Yee Yah makes sure to put food right beside the board so "if the baby wants some, she can get it too" well baby still has her eyes closed, but the dog loves getting the left over food when she goes out. horray for life and spring time. God has given mothers such wonderful instincts. i am glad He knows what we need, and is faithful to supply all our needs.

Mother's Day

happy mother's day y'all! I had a great day. Daddy-o took the kids to church while i slept, i got off work at 7a. everybody (read mom, mil, fil, bil, sil, 3 cousins, and of course my house mates) came over to my house for bbq lunch and then it was time for the games. it was a nice clear day with a high of 76. very nice, maybe a little too nice, i got a sun burn. you know how it goes, lotion up the kids and nieces and nephew, then i forget to lotion myself! this is not the first time i have left me out of the sun scream slathering, and i am paying for it. my face, chest, and arms are a beautiful glowing pink. i do have some after sun lotion and that soothes the heat from the skin fairly quickly. well, what did i do to get such a burn? we played baseball of course! very informal, but tons of fun. all the kids got into it, even little Jezz Man had a "turn" at bat (daddy-o held him). after that daddy-o set up the net and we played volley ball. i like that one, but it is more difficult for the little ones. finally, my favorite bad mitten. yes, we played for two hours. that is when the sun was most intense too. well it was fun, and i will try to put lotion on myself next time. daddy-o and the kiddlets got me a new charm for my family neclace, i will try to get a photo up soon. now my charm family is complete. a little man on the end.

hot tub man

so, here i sit eating chili cheese fritos...how i love them, but i only eat them once in a great while when there is no husband or kids in sight or within smelling distance...which means i eat them at work. i eat my fritos in a nice way, i just hold it in my mouth until all the chili goodness is sucked off. this, i think, prolongs the enjoyment. and also means i will stop with just one small snack sized bag. if i just horked them down, which i have done, i will eat a family sized bag in one sitting! this is not good for my waist line or my cholesterol, but who really keeps track of that until it is life or death? i run the night audit shift at a wonderful hotel...so there is some down time which needs to be filled and tonight the vending machines were calling to me. well i was on the fourth floor any way. a guest came in and said "i want your penthouse suite." i said very upbeat, "sure thing coming right up"...it was then that i realized he was serious...and that he was slightly (or maybe more) intoxicated. i quoted the rate and he didn't blink an eye, just flipped me his card and waited for keys. well i checked him in and wished him a good night. a while later, phone rings "front desk this is christina, may i help you?" hot tub man was on the other line. he says "there is something wrong with this tub in here" i asked what was the problem. "the jet covers keep blowing off" well i have never been in a hot tub that is in a room since my wedding night and i don't remember any thing about the tub, so i offer to move him to a different room. i ask if he wants to get the key or have me bring it to him. he says "well, i'm naked so could you just bring it to me?" ahh...sure. i take him the key and stop by the vending room while waiting for the elevator to come back up, why do they put that room right next to the elevator? oh yeah, convenience, right. so i wilt under the pressure, i am doing a good job at my job so i can have a little treat, a mug root beer and fritos. ahh bliss. phone rings again, hot tub man..."this tub is doing the same thing! i want you to come up here and look at it so you can see what is going on. give us about ten minutes so we can get dressed and then come look." first of all i am freakin out! i have never gone into an occupied guest room. are they planning to murder me, or hurt me? ahhh! deep breath, things are going to be all right. people only do psycho things like kill the desk clerk in the movies...right? right. off i go, still shaking. now to the third floor and in to the room. hot tub wife is on chair, visibly intoxicated. "hi there!" now i know something is wrong...do i stay or do i go? around the corner to the hot tub, full of water. now i get it they are going to drown me and the housekeepers will find me in the morning. "see that right there? that thing keeps coming out" sure enough it is a jet cover. i reach in and screw it back into the tub. "well lets try it again." hot tub man starts the tub and the thingy flies off again. :well sir i an very sorry. i will go and check the tub in a different room and you can move there if you like?" "i came here for a romantic night with my wife and now it is ruined. i don't want to move again. this is just wrong, i want you to comp my room." "well i will have to call my manager, i don't know if i can so that without a manager's code. i can move you, and i will make sure the tub is working before i move you." "no you call your manager and get my room for free. this is not your fault i am not taking this out on you. but i want this to be fixed. this is wrong." "yes sir, i agree, i'm sorry for the inconvenience to you and your wife. i will call my manager and see what i can do to make this right. i will call you back in ten to fifteen minutes." "yeah, you talk to him and get this fixed. and you need to call me and tell me what he said." first of all my manager is a gal. i call mrs h and tell her situation. she says "offer to discount the room. give discounted rate and let them move again if they want. if they choose to stay then charge them for a regular king room since tub is not working." "okeydokie, by the way, sorry for ringing you at 1:00 am, sleep well. see you tomorrow" call hot tub man and tell him what manager said he is very and i mean very upset. "i want this to be a free room, i am trying to have a romantic night with my wife and now it is ruined!" "well, i can move you again, or you can stay where you are and i will give you x rate." "i want to stay where i am. do you think that $40 is going to make a difference? i will not move again. do not change the rate of my room, i will come down in the morning and talk to your manager face to face and i will work this out myself." "ok i will leave your rate the way it is and you can talk to my manager in the morning. have a good night sir." wow now i am really glad that i got these fritos. i did need some comfort food, i know that you aren't supposed to turn to food for the answers, but it is 1:30 in the morning and everybody that i would normally talk to are all sleeping, it seems selfish to wake them. oh no, the phone is ringing again! hot tub man again! "hey, how do i get this tv to show me my dvd?" *sigh of relief* "well sir, simply push the source button and blah blah blah." "sure 'nuff there it is, great." i am now out of fritos...maybe i will get some more, it has been a stressful night. ok i will write out my experience as a way to distract myself...right, good idea. this is the responsible option right? interesting side bar: my relief in the morning is a guy, j. hot tub man will think the manager is a guy...hahaha.

just for the record, this is an older post, but it is true and i thought it was funny. join in the tst fun click on the button to see other stories and to add yours as well.

I Heart Faces #17 Hats

this week's challenge at i heart faces is hats. this is my father in law, we were on the oregon coast. what a great vacation. dad is a great guy too. nice to have such nice family. we went to the zoo last year and our cute baby got a new hat the she left on for quite a while. she was very interested in all the animals.

jump over to i heart faces and check out all the other hat entries, i know they are great. always an inspiration to me.

I Heart Faces #16

i have just come across the i heart faces blog and i have decided to enter a photo. i spent a lot of time this weekend while waiting for my shift to end just admiring some great photos. i think i will try to do the challenges just to keep me taking and making time for pictures. as life often does, it has been getting away from me for the last few months. new baby, home schooling, allergies, and now new job.... well here it is, my reflections photo for the kids category. this is our youngest daughter, i took this last summer. she looks like a little lady. enjoy, and check out all the great pics at i heart faces. click on the button below to get to their blog.

this is my entry for reflection adult. when we got home from this trip i fell in love with this pic and have scrapped it several times and it has been gifted to grandparents as well. i was standing out in the surf to get the shot, my feet were freezing, but it was well worth it. be sure to check out the other reflection pictures at i heart faces. just click on the button to get to the to the site.

Photo book

this is the book i made of Yah's "graduation" photos. she is so beautiful and growing up so fast.

just another day

just another day yep, just another day. did get to the grocers for much needed food, now that there is a paycheck it makes shopping easier. i worked the usual 11p-7a. while working tonight, i got Yee Yah's home school lessons ready for the week. i will be sleeping so daddy-o will be instructing today. there are instructions as what to do and what to say.i am irritated that i have to go back to work. i thought things were going so well. i liked being at home, i was just starting to get into a routine with the new baby and bang. back to work.i am not sure what the lesson to be learned is yet, so i ponder and pray for guidance and understanding and acceptance.it is hard for me not to bitter with daddy-o, it is not his fault that i got a job before he did. he feels guilty. all of the children are having a hard time adjusting, three weeks into a job and things are still in upheaval. well, what did i expect? life would remain the same forever? that is not the way things work. as for now i wait for my relief to come and record my thoughts so that i can process all this junk.

so, here i am at work, waiting for my releif to come so i can get back to my family. i feel that in such a short time, i have already lost track of my kids and feel out of touch with my husband as well. hopefully husband will find a job, so i can go back to the life i love. being at home with our children, and being teacher mom.i plan on reading up on several blogs that i found tonight. also becoming a blogging community member. well i am new to all of this. with three kids needing me all day, i don't have time for computing at home. or even time to think about how i feel. maybe this job will be healthy for me after all. i will try to be positive.dear husband feels bad that he lost his job. my one application got an answer before 30 of his. he feels guilty "making" me work. i try to be upbeat for his sake and the children. this economy has to turn around soon.