Monday, February 26, 2007

ALL KINDS OF TIDBITS

 
First I want to  all for your kind words, prayers and support...
Double C has buried his only child...not handling things too well...PLEASE continue prayers for him...
My dear friend CJ is so right when she said that this hits closer to home then I care to realize...I fear for my sons...Eric will be deployed to the marines who travel in the hummers going from one occurrence to another because he is studying the language and interrogation.
I think my son is also worried about it...which makes me worry more...
AJ might be deployed there to fight any fires especially at the oil refineries..
or he might go to Germany which he wants to go to because that is where his dad served overseas.
WELL enough of all that for now....
I love MODERN TECHNOLOGY...the boys each have bought a laptop for themselves to use since they are so far from home.... it is GRAND to hear from them just about every night...they have been sending us pics and all...always wanting to know what has happened every day.
Now I am just waiting for them to get web cams and we will be all set.
Here are some recent pics (this past week) of the boys that they have sent to us.
AJ--IN PRACTICE UNIFORM FOR FIREFIGHTING
 
ERIC HANGING OUT IN THE BARRACKS BAY
 
Now...if you have been reading my journal for a while you would know that my hunnie is a MOTOR FREAK. He is always buying junk cars and such and TRYING to fix the motors...I would not mind so much but I can only take SO MUCH of the tools and grease and motor talk for so long...then I fall asleep...lol
So now he is putting a 2.8 v6 motor into a 1987 gmc jimmy. He even
has our daughter helping him here and there...but she is not as interested in the motor world as the boys. This is Allen's way of self expression...working on motors and I would never deny him that pleasure. He lets me play in my craft hobbies and I let him play in grease and motors...fair exchange..lol.
Just as a side note...we have had a fairly WARM winter here..just a couple of cold spurts here and there but nothing to write home about...which means the hurricane season should be an active one...GEEZ.
However--I think this year we are a lil bit more set because we have TWO generators now...so we should be able to get through whatever comes our way.
I know I already mentioned about my hunnie now being officially retired from the department of corruption (I mean corrections) so this means in May he qualifies to use his retirement fund...I realize it is the money for our retirement and that is what we have to live off of in our "old" age. HOWEVER--this GREAT retirement broker group takes whatever money you need for home improvement and such and puts it in separate fund and pays your bills on time so that they money still collects interest and you do not worry about the billsand improvements are made...
WELL---I have NO KITCHEN...I have a stove and a refrigerator but NO COUNTER and almost all the cabinets are gone....the guy we bought the house from built the cabinets from cheap press board so of course as soon as any wetness got to them they fell apart...well now there are NONE left.
We also have a nice hole in the roof over our garage..that was done by the hurricane last year...fema said we were not a priority and the insurance company said because at the time we were in foreclosure they were not responsible to fix it-that we were on our own...so we need to get it replaced before the next season starts stirring up. So between now and probably the end of march we have to get estimates for ALL home improvements needed. Then the retirement fund broker moves the money into a separate account and pays for the services as they are done...now how grand is that...they are also putting our mortgage payments into a separate account year to year...so that the mortgage company gets paid by them...so we will not have to worry about that..meanwhile...the rest of money sits in several investments still making money...Allen was in a field in Florida they call high risk...(police and firemen are in the same risk) so he collects retirement based on the highest risk offered which is a percentage that they figure out according to his highest 5 years of service. It is all greek to me but suffice it to say his retirement is SWEET. Now I have money in the retirement fund HOWEVER I was at the lowest risk in the state...UGH!!! So hopefully putting the money into this retirement investment company will turn a huge profit for my fund...lol
I will definitely be taking pics of the repairs and all of my kitchen once all that gets started...NOTHING will happen before May 6th which is the 90 days needed to be out of the corrections system in order to work with your retirement money.
OKAY....I think I have caught up on all the news fit to print today.
THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!!
PEACE

Monday, February 19, 2007

SUCH SAD NEWS

I sit here crying my eyes out....it just breaks my heart.
We have a dear friend nicknamed Double C who we know from our job, as a matter of fact I have known him longer because I used to run a day care where his son was one of my preschoolers..that was over 16 years ago. Double C is a single father, with a huge heart and a wacky sense of humor..just a Dear Friend..
He has a son who left for boot camp 6 months or so before our boys...so he has already been sent to Iraq.

Tonight we received a phone call that his one and only child, his son, Branden, has been killed in Iraq.
I am just beside myself...I watched that child grow into a beautiful man..with a heart just as big as his dads...here is the info we received:

U.S. Army Private 1st Class Branden C. Cummings
Age: 20
From: Titusville, Florida
Assigned To: 1st BN, 12th Cavalry Reg, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division
Based In:Fort Hood, TX
Fatality Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Fatality Cause: Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
Fatality Location: Ba'qubah, Iraq
 
I am numb...hug those you LOVE...life is just too damn short!
PLEASE say a prayer for Double C...I know he needs all the prayers he can get!!!
REST IN PEACE BRANDEN!
 

SIBLING RIVALRY

Did I ever tell you the story of the kind of relationship that my siblings and I have? Quite different from the norm...strange even....and totally baffles my mind.
My sister who is older then me by 16 years never lived with me....by the time
I was just turning two she got married.
So we never had that bond sort of speak....but I always thought she was one of the coolest people.....tho there are things to this day that I do not understand about her...but more on that later.
Then I had a brother 18 years older then me....who was killed in a drug deal right before I turned 13. He had gotten married before my sister so my memory of him was even less.
 
Then I have a younger brother...who is 2 1/2 years younger then me....
I always thought every thing was ok between us...mostly because we only had each other....I used to have to watch out for him with some idiots in school that tried to pick on him for whatever reason but that was just being a big sister in my book.
We always walked to school together and we always walked home together...of course we would stop by the candy store around the corner from the school and pick out some goodies to eat....back then....candy no matter what was a penny.
I never thought that there were any barriers between my brother and I...never crossed my mind....until after I was almost out of college and my brother was still in high school....I brought home "a boyfriend" who shared the same interest as my brother which was collecting comic books.My brother had a HUGE collection..it fascinated me....I thought that when my brother found out that this "boyfriend" liked the same things that they would get along great...there was some kind of bond that they could share...
WELL BOY I WAS WAY OFF BASE....
Because this boyfriend touched my brother's collection my brother was infuriated...That is when the MAJOR breakdown between my brother and I occured.
We have NEVER EVER been the same....no matter what I did from that day forward it was garbage..I was dead as far as he was concerned..he did not speak to me for YEARS AND YEARS...when he came home from his last year in college my father told him that if he did not make peace with me...that he could just leave and not bother coming back....my father told him he would not allow my brother to break up the family dynamics...well that went over like a lead ball.
My brother made his fake apologies and then told me to tell dad that all is well...I told him I would not because he did not mean anything he just said.
Then my brother proceeded to go off about how I got more allowance then he did and I got to stay out later then he did (a half hour more) and that I would not let him hang out with my friends during sleep over parties (when I was 14, 15, and 16)
I had no control over allowances....that was on my parents...I never stayed out late because my friends and I were not like that...so I was always home early.
And trust me....all those girlfriends of mine also had lil siblings and NO ONE wanted younger siblings around while we were sleeping or during girl talk. He just did not get it...... he had major pent up feelings that everything was my fault no matter what...and if anything happened to him that of course was also my fault.
To this day....we do not have any kind of relationship.
*I will say that when my son died...(crystalyn's twin) my brother was the rock of Gibraltar for me...really wonderful and he was the one that made sure he drove my husband at the time and me to the service and the cemetery and that no one bothered me....
*He did call me as soon as his son was born to see if I liked the name he gave him and if I thought his son would like growing up with the name...it was
Christian Alexander....very strong and beautiful!!!!
*He came to my wedding and took charge of my daughter...who was only 9 months old at the time...that was his niece and he would take care of her for me.
*When he was in a terrible construction accident in which two of his fingers were cut off...he came to stay with me in New York for two weeks and hang around my job (I was a supervisor at a children's facility)...he was great with my kids there...and they treated him like he was God...The boy stood 6'4" so he was also a giant to them.
*When I first became sick 6 years ago, he came to visit to talk and see what was up and if the state was doing the right thing by me....
*He also PROMISED me that when I collected my money from the state
that he would build a deck on the back of our house and redo my kitchen...
 
Well when the money came in...he said he did not have time for me....he was not going to help and not to ask him again...geez!!!!
The reason that really threw me off is that he just finished helping my sister totally redo her kitchen and florida room.
That just broke my heart...and again since then...nothing!!!
We do not talk....we share NOTHING....
in the process he has also turned his back from my daughter which really ticks me off beyond anything else.
I have called him on and off checking on my parents and such...and he treats me like I am an alien...and that I am wasting his time on the phone.
VERY NASTY INDIVIDUAL...he cannot wait to hang on...I have even heard him in the background make comments about me....really breaks my heart...
NOW...my sister makes excuses for him...as do my parents..
my sister says he is a loner and that is why he is the way he is....I DON'T THINK SO!!!
And in my parents' eyes he can do NO WRONG because he is letting them live in a townhouse he owns rent free.
Now explaining all this to you is not for anything but to let you know what runs through my mind and has me quite confused and sometimes truly upsets me...
I also know for a fact...that once my parents are no longer around (God forbid) then my brother will TOTALLY cut off all ties...he will probably move and change his phone number just so I can no longer be in touch...
all this over a comic book collection!!!
Go Figure!
 
Enjoy Your President's Day...Kids here have the day off.
PEACE!!!

Friday, February 16, 2007

GENERATIONS OF VALOR

This picture was sent to me...and it really touched my heart...I just wanted to share with all of you.
THANK A SOLDIER!!!

Thursday, February 8, 2007

SHARING A FUNNY

I do not get to watch the Ellen DeGeneres Show because it does not appear on my satellite...but I like her and parts of her show I have seen elsewhere...
Well a friend sent this clip to me and I thought I would share it here...just tooooo funny...and now I think Ellen as a regular in Gladys. You will see for yourself!  ENJOY!!!

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

JUST UPDATING

 
YES---it has be awhile since I wrote anything meaningful or newsworthy..
YES---I am still alive...
YES---I miss writing in this journal...
No I still have nothing really to write about...then again.....
HERE WE GO--
I have been calling my parents every week because things DO NOT sound too good....they are both FORGETTING everything...including my phone number or things I just told them not five minutes earlier...this is NOT good.
They said they feel very isolated...my brother does invite them to my nephew's sports games (whatever he is involved in that particular week) and my sister has them over every couple of weeks I think....but they are isolated from others just like them...older couples or any kind of spanish speaking community or activities...it breaks my heart.
I so wish they would move back here...that would be perfect but my dad is NOT willing to give up living rent/house payment free.
I am going to be sending Crystalyn down to visit the folks for spring break...she needs to go see them and they need her.
It scares me that something is going to happen and no one is around to be there for them.
 
Well as for an UPDATE on the boys...Eric is now at Fort Wachuka-Oklahoma...he has finished basic and is now in training for interrogations. He said that he would be embedded (after his training) with special forces-rangers and the marines...his training is for 33 or so weeks...geez. He sounds good tho and is considering making the military his career-we will wait and see.
My other son AJ is at Goodfellow Air Force Base-Texas...where the army sends you to be trained as a firefighter...yes his career in the army has changed...in order for him to go active he had to change his MOS...his career choice, because there were no openings for his administrative stuff...so he is now a fire fighter...I think that is grand...
They call us often and now each of them has purchased a laptop and wireless internet so we are all in touch...it is nice.
 
Allen is officially retired from the department of corruption (I mean corrections) and his beard and hair are getting long..I love it...he looks like a hell's angel motorcycle rider...he loves it. Except for the grey hair...lol...
 
It is official....I got all my hair cut off....it was just too knotted,matted and too difficult for me, at this point, to take care of ...so I told Allen to cut it...he did a GREAT job...I really love it! The boys tell me that I look like NANA, which is my mom,....they said it is a compliment because she is cute and funny...so I guess I have a NANA haircut...lol.
 
Crystalyn is doing well in school...her art abilities are really blooming...I am really in awe of her work...my father mentioned that if she decides to go to the specialized school called "Full Sail" (for creative arts in media, stage, etc) that he would pay for it....LORD...he did not pay for my schooling...I had to wash dishes at night at one of the college's dinning rooms for years to get through school....I wonder who my dad favors...lol
 
Well that is the updated news that is fit to print...I hope you all are staying warm....
BTW--we were NOT affected by the tornadoes that hit central florida...they hit about 40 minutes north of us...too close for comfort...my heart goes out to all those families that have lost their homes and family members and friends...it really is devastating to see all the damage on the news...but I will say that florida is QUICK in responding to those who need help after natural disasters.
 
Keep warm and cozy...PEACE!!

Monday, February 5, 2007

JUST SHARING PICS

Just wanted to share some pics from the holidays...