So Far Behind

Have you ever? No, really! Have you ever been so far behind? I mean to the point that you just thought - hmmm....I think I'll just put everything in the garbage can and start over. I think at some point in our lives we have all been there. We have all thought that we are so far behind that there is no way that we could ever get caught up. But yet there are times when you can catch me sitting and reading something.

Reading something? Sitting and not doing anything? Ha - you can't be that far behind if you have time for that. Yeah, right! Think again. When you catch me reading or sitting and doing nothing - I am planning. I am catching my breath so that I can go on, so I can catch up.

One of my last post was stress. I told you then to look out (stay tuned) that I'm coming back. And I am! It's just gonna take me a little bit to continue getting things in order. I say things, it's really me. But you'll see, once I'm back full swing.

Oh yeah - I am going to try my very, very best to tell some of the silly stories that Superman tells.

Dealing With It

As I mentioned my stress level has peaked. It peaked to the point that I got shingles. Oh my goodness - shingles are painful. Did I mention that shingles are PAINFUL?! I believe that I have been given a warning. Shingles are brought on by stress. I have never experienced anything like it! I have stepped back and looked at several things. I have found that my outlook has got to change. I'm not even sure what happened to my outlook. Really!

I used to be this happy go lucky free thinking person. But I'm getting back on that track and laughing more and more every day.

Oh yeah - an 8 year old little boy has taught me how to play chess!

Stress

I haven't been here because my life has been consumed with stress. I'm not kiddin! I have been so extremely stressed out that I am just now getting back on my feet. It's time for me to take control of my life and let all of the negative outside influences go. I will talk more about this in my post that I will be putting here soon. Stay tuned! I'm comin back!

Today is the day that I promise myself that I will not let stress consume me anymore!

I Know...

I know just what you are thinking. I should update my blog and stop talking about updating it and keeping it up to date and so on and so on. Blah - Blah - Blah! We've all heard it before.

Ok, I'll do better.

Now, where have I been...

I've been to a couple of funerals. Dealt with those and moved on. I've rented an RV. YES, AN RV! Did we look like Robin Williams in the movie RV? I doubt it but I do have to say that we all rented the movie a few days before we rented the RV and went on vacation.

Our garden has done so well and provided us with so many veggies. I love home grown food. Home school is going well. Yes, we are still in school. There won't be very much of a summer break. Right now we are only looking at the month of August. We'll see what happens between now and then.

I Got Em

I got em! I got pictures to share and stories to tell. I have a whole darn camera full of pictures. It's so funny with this new camera I have...I just keep snapping pictures and never get them developed. Ha ha...I don't have to. I just plug in the cable that hooks my camera to my computer and wa la, I have pictures. But now I'm too darn lazy busy to hook up the cable. I'll get it hooked up and before you know it you'll have more pictures than you can shake a stick at.

Gotta run...

Movie Stars

It could be that we might become movie stars. Yes, you did read that right. Yes, it means just what you think it means.

This morning as Superman and I were starting to fix a wonderful evening lunch for our moms, the phone rang.

It was a television producer calling us to see if we would possibly be interested in doing a 30 minute television show about adoption. WOW - for us to be such a quiet little family and not want to be seen or heard very much of, things sure have changed. LOL

I will post more when I know more...

In the Newspaper

We are in the newspaper! Really, we are! But that's not the half of it. We are also on the governor's website too. Here - I can show you better than I can tell you.

Letter of the Week


Success Stories

To help you find us - look for Superman.

Catching Up With Alta

I sure hope that no one is upset with me. I know that it has been some time since I have been posting anything here. Things have changed so very much for me. I mean really - they have changed in ways that I never thought about.

Friday, March 28th 2007 was the first day that I had not smoked a cigarette in over 26 years. That is my official quit date. It hasn't been easy to get to where I am now. I had to pretty much give up my computer because I used to sit in front of the darn computer and smoke like a chimney. All I needed was a picture of a fire on the computer screen and we could have hung our stockings by it. Not any more - I am done with that. Been there - Done that!
Oh yeah! I still crave that smoke from time to time. I still want to run down to the corner store and buy me a pack and start smoking again. And there are days that I could run down to the corner convience store and buy a whole carton, sit on the curb and just light the carton on fire and smoke it like a musician playing a harmonica. But I just go on and get past that moment or those moments.

Since I don't know when, things have been changing for me. I think it may be because I'm growing older. Maybe it's because I'm growing wiser. Hmm...I might need to ponder on that a little bit.

The first part of this year I was drawn to read the Bible. I couldn't tell you why if you ask me. It was just something that I wanted to do, something I thought I needed to do. Get this - the plot thickens. I'll get to it before I'm done, hang on...

I talked with Superman about it and I told him that I had no idea why I wanted to start going to church or why I wanted to read the Bible, it's just that I had a craving for it all. My cravings got stronger and stronger. I am pulled by something. I'm being led toward or to this little church. Brother Andy is the pastor, he preaches words that I understand, words that I am thirsty to hear. I'll get more into this also, so hang on again...

May 2008 has brought me to a point in my life that I thought would never happen. This is my official and legal Mothers Day. What a feeling it truly is. I have my wonderful husband, my 3 boys and God to thank.

I'm gonna change the subject a little bit (sorry bout that). Our cat Dusty is now diabetic and has to take insulin shots. Yes he has cataracts like Jack. Dusty hasn't become completely blind yet but I do think that it will eventually happen. We are going to make Dusty as happy and comfortable as we can until he goes over the rainbow bridge. And just to let you know, if I talk about it anymore I'll be crying and snottin all over the place.

In the past 3 weeks we've had 2 deaths in the family. Both on my dad's side of the family - one of his sisters and one of his brothers.

Now that we are catching up with Alta (yep, that's me), I'll tell you about some power surges. I mean some real doozies too. Hot flashes! I personally call them Power Surges. There is no way in this world that what I am feeling is hot flashes. I'm way too young for that. Guess again! I have to schedule myself a doctor appointment. Somethings gotta be done!

I'll try to let you all know where we stand on home school in one of my next post. In the meantime hang in there...

Deer Dear

It seems that some days my boys walk around with their heads in the clouds. I keep thinking that one day they will finally pay attention. But as my dear loving husband keeps telling me "They are kids and kids will be kids." I guess that one day I will realize what he is telling me.

Tonight we are all sitting at the supper table, talking about our day and just being silly (as usual). I sit in a place where I can look out at the horses. Tonight I see CoCo just perk his head up and blow all up like the herd leader - he sure is beautiful when he does that. I mention to everyone that CoCo sure is interested in something. They all look out the window at him. By this time Shadow and Redman have spotted whatever CoCo sees. I am curious myself so I step out the back door.

I'm amazed! Not 1, not 2 - but 3 deer. Years back when I first moved to this area, I would see deer signs. More people moved in and the wildlife moved out. It was such a pretty sight to see the deer just easing along and grazing. I am so glad that they could possibly be coming back into the area.

We all ended up outside to watch the deer and the horses. The boys ask a few questions about the deer and why the horses were acting so silly. I just love answering those types of questions.

4 Weeks Yesterday

I made it to my 4 week mark! 4 weeks yesterday I quit smoking. After smoking for more than 26 years I finally kicked the habit.

Anyone that smokes and wants to quit - It isn't easy to quit.
Anyone that thinks it's cool to smoke - It isn't.
Anyone who is thinking about starting to smoke - Stop thinking about starting something that is almost impossible to stop.

I sure wish I knew then what I know now!

I Lost Count

I lost count of the days now. Not just the days, but the days! The days that I have been nicotine free.

Let me think out loud just a minute and then I'll let you know. Ok - my last one was on the - hmm...let me get to the calendar...April 4th was 7 days...so...March something...got it...March 27th was the last time that I smoked. So my first day of no nicotine was March 28th, 2008.

I tell ya, it has been a struggle. I have avoided all the things that I used to do. Sit at the computer - light one up. After every meal - light one up. I had more reasons to light one up than stars in the sky. PIT i FULL

Today has been kinda rough but I've made it this far.

We have a few things going on that is taking up lots of our thoughts.

1. We have got to buy another vehicle. This is pretty funny because we are vehicle poor. I mean it. If we put all of our vehicles in our yard, it would look like a used car lot. Gotta think again, so that I can tell you exactly how many we have. Our green hunting truck, there's the Dodge, then there's the truck that my mom has at her house (it was my dad's), then there is our SUV that is falling apart little by little. Ok, there's only 4 of them but isn't that enough. LOL Oh yeah, there is also the patrol car when Superman isn't working. Yep - like I said, a used car lot.

2. A graduation is in the very near future. My sister's baby is graduating from high school. We want to go to the graduation and spend a little bit of time with my sister and then we want to use the rest of the week as our vacation. So we have to plan for someone to feed the horses while we are gone, someone to feed the cats and clean the litter boxes. We have to board the dogs. Oh yeah, and now that we have a special needs cat, we have to find someone that can give Dusty his insulin shots twice a day.

3. I have a huge list of things that need to be caught up on. I think it may be easier to just throw the list away and start over.

I think that's all for now. I am gradually getting back to the computer so please be patient with me. Thank you very much for your support!

Home School Funnies

Home Schoolers you are sure to enjoy these Home School Funnies!
I found this What About Socialization that I thought was down right amusing.

How about this one Top 20 Advantages to Homeschooling.

How does a homeschooler change a light bulb?

14 Days of Homeschooling


I hope you enjoy them!


This is one of my favorites because someone always get caught in the act.
"If you get caught talking to yourself, you can claim you're having a PTA meeting."

Day Number 5

Wooo Hoooo

I have finally made it to day number 5 and right now I want to eat my keyboard. No kidding! And if this darn cat keeps putting her foot and then her nose in my pretzel bag, I might just have to eat her. Yeah - go ahead and laugh. You think it's funny now. It won't be so darn funny when I send you the picture of her fuzzy tail hanging out of my mouth. The same fuzzy tail that just sent my pumpkin seeds flying across the room.

Day number 3 wasn't too bad, I only broke down once. I had just finished eating and was still sitting at the table with Superman and the boys. It just hit me - that urge to smoke. I mean just like that too. I put my head in my hands and said - I want a cigarette. MJ jumped up from the table and grabbed me a peppermint. What a trooper! I actually broke down and cried. I popped the peppermint in my mouth and within about 3 minutes the urge was gone. I survived it!

Day number 4 was better than day number 3. April Fools day is a big day at our house. No, not because we stay up late thinking of tricks to pull on each other. It's a big day because it's Superman's birthday. He is a jokester enough that we don't need to think of any more ways to trick each other. His personality really fits his birthday. Amazing isn't it!

And you know about day number 5 cause I already told you. Ok, that little panic attack is gone and I have survived a total of 4 days right now and tomorrow I can say that I survived 5 days. Because today isn't over.

Day Number 2

Hello everyone!

Karisma, Thank You!

Today is Day Number 2 without smoking!

And the Score Is

3 to 1 to 0

I have not smoked today!!!

Yesterday I smoked only 1 cigarette.

It's the Computers Fault

I have stayed away from the computer because that is where I used to sit and smoke. Breaking the smoking habit means much more than stopping smoking. It really means to change where and when you smoke so the urge to smoke will subside.

Not only have I had to just say no to the urge, I have had to stay away from my computer. In the morning when I wake up, I have to busy myself instead of smoke. After meals I take a walk instead of smoke. When I'm driving I have to chew gum. And the list goes on and on. Right now I am chewing on pumpkin seeds. That is the only thing that I can do when I am at the computer. I guess because I use the hand mouth motion to put one seed in my mouth and remove the hull once I get the goodie out of it. I guess once I break that hand to mouth habit, I will be able to move on to gum or something else.

Ok - so it really isn't the computers fault but darn it, I needed someone or something to blame it on. Just kiddin...

Into My 3rd Week

As of today - I am into my 3rd week. I am doing really well but I do think that I could do much better. If you haven't been following along, I'm talking about me stopping smoking. I was smoking almost 2 packs a day. Today has been my best day - 3 cigarettes. Yippee for me!!! I don't have the craving very much but the habit is something else. Once I change the habit, then I will be home free.

Dreams - I have had some of the weirdest dreams in the past couple of weeks. I mean really off the chain stuff. Last night it was about one of our trucks being stolen and seen in Indiana being driven by someone. The night before I dreamed about taking the boys to the dentist. Not only did they get their teeth done but they all got a hair cut. Yeah - from the dentist. LOL The best part was that it only cost me $10. Imagine that!
And the list of off the chain dreams just goes on and on.

Sleep - I have noticed about 2 hours after I take my am pill that I get extremely sleepy and cold. I wonder what's up with that? If I move around there isn't a problem but if I sit still for just a few minutes, my eyes are closing and I am freezing.

Sick stomach - My first 10 or 11 days I was sick to my stomach. Almost to the point of up chucking. It's much better now and I don't really notice it.

The boys have been just awesome about the whole thing. I know that I have been in some odd moods and I really feel for them. I have to give them credit though, they are wonderful, as usual.

A quick little note...

Superman is quitting too. Sunday on our way to church he backed the car out of the driveway and made a comment about our habit. He said something like this - one day we aren't going to just wake up and not smoke anymore. We have to resist the urge. I agreed and all was fine. About 10 minutes later, right before we got to the church, he ask me where my smokes were. I said I didn't bring them with me. Oh my gosh - you would have thought that the earth just opened up and swallowed the whole car with us in it. No joke! It was so funny. He said that he has known me for 8 years and in that 8 years he has never seen me without my cigarettes and that day of all days and that moment of all moments, I didn't have them with me. It was just one of those priceless moments.