Blogger Clogger

I have a ton of photos to post, BUT... when I tried to do it, blogger wouldn't let me move them around. You know... click and drag them where I wanted them. Technicians are working on this issue. My post will be here very soon!

It's coming!

See, Dennis is the only one that can load the photos onto the pc because I am apparently a box o' rocks. Maybe Santa will bring us a card reader! :) As soon as the photos are on here, I will post my project!

Mel gets to call her Mandy

Time to lighten things up a bit! After reading Miranda's blog and her recipe of the week, I wrote to her. I wanted to copy the recipe, however clicking and highlighting brought in too much other information. So I emailed her. Her email was so inspiring. Not only did she send me the email, but some other tips that I have already started to put to use!

Stay tuned to see what Miranda's email inspired me to do!

Somber

On Sunday I attended the brunch for our Tastefully Simple Team. It is always such a wonderful event, and I was really looking forward to it. However this event would definitely not be the same for me this year...

Saturday night, Den and I were watching the news. While watching it, a story came on about a man stabbing his wife to death in Chesterfield Township. I then started thinking, That looks like my brother's neighborhood. A few seconds later they showed the street sign and it was my brothers street. Then they showed it. The house next to my brothers.

As we watched, I mentioned to Dennis that a man committed suicide in the basement of that house. Then a family had moved in, and the mother was a drunk. She was constantly being admitted to rehab. I had wondered if the man had killed her. We went to bed, and I didn't think a whole lot about it.

The next morning, I started thinking about it again and it was on the news... again. I then received a call from my mom. While talking to her, I realized that the drunk woman and her family had left the house and there was a new family there. Two boys and their parents. One of the boys became best friends with my nephew. I had the pleasure of meeting this young man this past October when my brother brought Chase & the boy to the campground to see all of us. The kids had a great time together and went trick or treating through the park. This kid was a very nice boy. After hearing that he and his brother witnessed their father plunging a knife into their mothers back, I haven't quite been the same.

How does this happen? How could this man do this? The family was from Albania, however the youngest (my nephew's friend) was born in America. They have NO family here. Now... the boys are in a foster home somewhere, their mother is in a morgue, and their father is in the Macomb County Jail. How does this happen? I just can not seem to wrap my head around this. These two boys are now going to spend Christmas with complete strangers. This would be their first Christmas with a real tree (as the boy told my nephew). The mother was so excited about being able to buy the boys gifts. How does this happen?

I went to my holiday brunch with all of this on my head. As we all sat around a very large table, and talked about what we are grateful for, or our hopes for the future, all I wanted to do was cry. I can't even look at the future, when I think about those two boys. I realize that I will go on, and life will go on, but those boys... their futures have been altered f...o...r...e...v...e...r. How could he kill their mother? Ironically enough, I was paid a compliment that day about how people love to read my postings on our "my family" website. They think I am so funny, and apparently, they think I'm funny all the time. Yet even hearing those words that day, made me want to cry. I know I have my witty moments, but right now I couldn't feel further away from them than I do right now. My heart is broken for those two boys. What will happen to them? Will they be forced to go back to Albania or will they stay here in the foster system?

I'm sorry to not be funny nor witty. I'm just so sad that this has happened, and I wasn't even the boys best friend. My heart is broken for my nephew. I hope he is able to keep in touch with this wonderful kid, forever.

Another Conversation with Greg

Today Greg was running a fever due to an ear infection that we though had gone away. I think it's the child's first ear infection... at least that I can remember. Anyhow, we were reading his book on the White House while in the exam room.

G: "Mom when I grow up, I want to be a Doctor or a Nurse"

M: "Greg if you want to be either of those, you can't be afraid of the things they do to people"

G: "Ok, then maybe I'll be a policeman or maybe a sniper sharp shooter"

M: "Then I will worry about you. You could always do something cool like be in the secret service and protect the President!"

Greg turns around with eyes like baseballs and says, "THEN I'LL HAVE TO MOVE TO WASHINGTON D.C.!"

M: "That's ok. We'll come visit you... often!"

G: "Instead I think I'll go there in the morning, then be back in time for dinner.

M: "You're going to commute back and forth EVERY DAY??? Don't you want to leave us?"

G: "No WAY!"

... and he give me a kiss.