Intervention time!

It's taken me quite a long time to come to this realization, but I'm finally ready to admit that I have a problem.

"Hi, my name is Anita & I'm a bookaholic."



That's right-I'm addicted to books-I just can't fight it anymore. I LOVE them! If I see one that interests me, I'll buy it, borrow it or swap for it-I'll do whatever it takes to get my eyes on that book! Yes, this results in many hours of reading for myself or to my loved ones (aka Luke & Scott-if I think he'd be interested in whatever it is I'm reading at the time). I know, I know, it can only lead to me becoming more imaginative/creative/maybe smarter/worldly/etc., but once I start a book I just can't put it down until it is all finished. It has even lead me to carrying (hiding) them in my purse when I leave the house-I just can't be without one! I've also got them stashed in places (piles) all around the house just waiting for me to get to them, in fact I think I may have a pile in every important room of the house minus the bathrooms & the kitchen (oooo think of all the cabinets that I could fill with books in those rooms!) ;) If I ever somehow find myself in a circumstance where I don't have a book (heaven forbid!), I'll read anything I can get my eyes on-magazines, newspapers, signs, cereal boxes, license plates, anything!
I probably should have done something about this problem a long time ago, but what can I say-I just don't want to fix it so please don't plan an intervention anytime soon or try to refer me to your local ABA (Addicted to Books Anonymous!) If I ever do need to find a solution, maybe I can find my answer in a book somewhere... :)

Happy Veterans' Day!

I'm choosing to keep it simple today, so here it goes:

To all of those veterans who have served our country in the past,
To all of those people who are currently serving our country, &
To all of those people who will choose to serve our country in the future

THANK YOU!!!

Thank You Whoever You Were

About a week and a half ago, Luke, Scott & I spent the day in St. Louis. It was a fun day, although we were not there for a particularly 'fun' reason. We spent a little time at the zoo, visited some friends who were in the hospital, & took care of some other things as well. It had been a long day & we decided to stop at Steak-n-Shake in Collinsville on the way home. We sat & enjoyed each other & our food & when we were finished-Scott headed to the register to pay for our food & I headed to the bathroom with Luke to change his diaper. When I was finished, Luke & I headed back to Scott & out the door. I asked him how much it ended up being & he said "Nothing-the waitress said our bill had been taken care of..." My reaction was "What? Someone paid for our food." I couldn't believe it-you always hear about this kind of thing, but it has never actually happened to anyone I know in real life before. It was a very NICE ending to a very LONG day, so....

whether it was
the nice family sitting next to us (the dad took a SUPER long time to get up from the table & left with 2 tickets while his family waited by the door-I thought it was strange at the time) or
the nice older lady who sat behind us & came up to Scott after I had left the table & told him "your son is very cute" or
the lady with two teenage daughters who kept making faces & smiling at Luke while we were eating or
someone else who remains a mystery to us...

Whoever you were-THANK YOU!!!
We will definitely be "paying this forward" to someone else who needs it at some point in the future to repay you for the kindness that you showed us! :)

Play that Funky Music Mommy!

Location: The Kitchen
Who: Luke & his Mom
What: Hanging out after getting home from work/babysitter listening to a CD

Scenario: Luke is playing with his toys, walking (I know, it's still hard for me to believe) around the house from room to room, & basically just being his own sweet self. His mom is trying to get some work done & some excercise in-dancing to the music-while Luke is content by himself. Luke is playing just fine & then out of nowhere he just starts wailing! His mom comes running to check things out & looks for injuries-she doesn't see anything wrong & Luke settles down. A few minutes later, the same scene is repeated again & then again.

What happened?: His mom finally realized that every time a song on the CD came to an end-Luke would have a complete meltdown-apparently he believed that the music was over for good! Being the good mom that she is, Luke's mom is now prepared & makes sure that she is nearby to console & reassure Luke that there will in fact be another song before the song ends!

Don't let him know about those lyrics "the day the music died" from that famous song-I'd hate to see how he'd react if he thought there would never be more music! :)

Finally...

He is WALKING!!!

It was brought to my attention today that I have not mentioned this here yet & that one of Luke's aunts was unaware of the fact that Luke has been walking for a whole week now!
In my defense, he has been doing the whole "I can take 5-6 steps from Dad to Mom" for awhile now & all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. have seen him do this, however, to walk any further than that still required at least the tip of his finger to be touching something-my hand, the wall, or even just a little bit of material from my clothing-it didn't matter as long as he was touching it. He has also been quite proficient with all of his push toys for several months now too. He can even run while pushing these & likes to perform several "ice skating routines" as I have termed them. Passing the toy from one hand to the other in midstride or just twirling it out to his side while still walking & turning-NO problem!
Last weekend, though, he finally let go. His uncle was home for the weekend & we went over to Scott's mom & dad's that Friday night to visit. His uncle wanted to know if Luke could walk yet & then decided to see if Luke could do it. Luke walked from him to me & of course we all cheered like usual, & after several repeated episodes-Luke decided that walking wasn't too bad. He walked across the room to another family member & just before he got there-he made a U-turn & headed back my direction, but ended up falling down after a step or two. (We decided that if he could make a U-turn, then he most likely has been ready for quite a while, but just needed that little bit of confidence!) We continued practicing with him that night & at one point he scooted over to the toy box, pulled himself up & walked right over to where I was sitting when NOBODY was watching! I counted this as his "first voluntary steps" if there is such a milestone because it was his decision-not us trying to make him do it! He got to practice more the next day at my mom & dad's & then again that Sunday at his Great Grandma's birthday party too.
All week he has been practicing & I guess that I just assumed that word had spread after Friday night's accomplishments, but I was wrong. I found out this weekend that people had assumed it was just more of the same old same old on Luke's part. So, Mary, sorry that we didn't call you! I hope the story helps you to feel like you were there! :) Maybe for the next big milestone, we'll shout it from the rooftops so that everyone will know right away, but don't count on it-I tend to be a bit forgetful sometimes! :)

Another Wholesome (NOT so much) Country Song

Here's another one of my favorite songs to hear on the radio- "Pickin' Wildflowers" by Keith Anderson. I love the play on words & subtle (or not so subtle) nature references! Enjoy!

Election Blues!

I am sooo ready for this election to be OVER! I don't mind the politics & discussing the issues, but after literally 2 years of hearing about 'candidates for President', what can I say, I am just plain sick & tired of listening to them! I am also not writing this post as a way of starting a debate! I have made up my mind about who I am voting for & although I hope that everyone votes for him-I am not about to sit here & try to persuade people to vote for him. I am a voter who has a few issues that are very near & dear to my heart & no one-I mean NO ONE-will change my mind on them. I do freely admit that my Faith is a huge factor in how I vote-that is how I was raised & it is what I hope my children will base their decisions off of in their lives. Now that is not to say that I just 'automatically' let my faith make my decisions for me-I do give them lots of thought & consideration so that I can be an educated voter, but I do let it play a part in influencing who I will vote for on election day.
I am also aware of the fact that other people think differently than I do & that they have their own "issues" that are important to them. I also know that I will not change their points of view on their issues so I am not here to tell you how or what to think or who to vote for, but just to say that I am sick & tired of listening to all of the political jargon/ads/doublespeak! So...

Mr. Obama-"Will you please stop running the ad that says 'John McCain voted with President Bush 90% of the time?'" I can't help but think that you are implying that every single thing Bush ever approved was bad-were 90% of his policies all bad or was it just the 10% that John McCain didn't vote for that were bad? I'm sure it falls somewhere in the middle-I can't say that I know how many of his policies were bad & how many were good, but please stop implying that everything has been horribly wrong for the last 8 years! I'm sure that somewhere in that 90% there are at least some good policies!

Mr. McCain-"Will you please stop running the ad that says 'This crisis will be his first crisis in an executive postition?'" Yes it will-does that necessarily mean that he won't be able to handle it. I don't know for sure, but I would imagine he would be fine especially if he surrounded himself with an intelligent staff or maybe he would fail miserably. At this point, if you don't win, well, we have to have confidence in him to lead us so stop suggesting that we shouldn't! Would he really be the first President with the least amount of experience? Again, I don't know for sure, but at this point it doesn't really matter anymore because he won the Democratic nomination & their vote of confidence so give it a rest.

With all of that being said, I can tell you that I will vote for McCain on Nov. 4th because I am confident that he will support my 3 BIG issues-proadoption legislation, prolife legislation & protecting the environment (although here in Illinois "Obama country"-it won't really matter, but at least I can feel at ease that I made the decision that I felt best suited my family & our needs & that I fulfilled my duty as a citizen of this great country of ours!)

Please go out & vote-no matter who you're voting for this November!