Mother's day plans
                                                     Well it's mother's day, a day where you are supposed to show appreciation to your loving and caring mother.  How many of you got cards or gifts for your mom already or even better how many of you moms reading this have already received your gifts or cards from your children?  LOL Mark had went to the store and picked out a card for Onyx to give to her.  It was funny.  It has a golden retriever puppy sitting on his hind legs with a bouquet in his hands and when you open it it reads : I ruv you in place of I love you.  
                                         I burst out laughing when I read it.  For the record Mark picks out the cutest cards that just have some humor into them.  I had to laugh and I said to mom: "I love the humerus cards.  I'd prefer to get those rather then the serious ones on my birthday all the time.  I told her that she always gives me these serious cards such as To a very a special daughter on her birthday and a very touching message and don't get me wrong those messages are really sweet but I want a little laugh.  She laughed and she said she'll remember that and I told her if she needs help ask Mark LOL.  
                                    Well anyway I didn't really plan on what to get mom and before I knew it time was up.  I Do have some ideas for next year though.  I think I am going to try my luck at home made thing next year for mother's day.  They give some excellent ideas on the news programs and plus I think home made items have a little more meaning.  But that is still a year away from now LOL so I don't have to worry yet.  
                                 But anyway today we are going to my uncle Craig and Aunt Lisa's for dinner.  Yes grandma and grandpa will be there and so will aunt Lisa's parents.  It should be good time.  We are in charge of bringing the salad.  I'll let you know how it all turns out and what we do.  Well better get going.  Happy mother's day to all the loving mothers.        

                                       Customization; A very special birthday
                                                 I know, I know I haven't posted in awhile but I have decided to do some work on my blog and make it truly mine and now I feel like it is :)  If you checked it out you noticed the lay out has changed and I have uploaded some photos that fulfill my interest.  I mean I always felt like I had ownership to this blog but I felt like anyone could have created it and I just felt like it needed something special.  It took me a good three days of hard work to make this blog truly mine and to really be satisfied.  I feel like every photo I have chosen to upload has some meaning or interest to me but if you have to ask me what my favorite photo I would have to say the epilepsy awareness one.  I DO believe that there is an angel watching over me because I have survived epilepsy.
                                             Well anyway today is mom's birthday.  Happy Birthday mom I love you :)  Well anyway like since we already had celebrated it Mark is going to take her out to dinner for a bit of romance so I will probably be on my own watching movies.  In a way I feel like I could just hurt myself because Jess invited me to a banquet but I declined thinking we were going to do something.  LOL that is the last time I am doing that.  If you ask me to do something on May 12th Jess next year and if it's not mother's day I am in LOL.Well anyway I better go.  Hope you like the changes I made on my blog. Just so you know tomorrow is mother's day.  Don't forget to wish your loving mother a happy mother's day :)                 

                                    Eye appointment update; nappy time
                                                  Well....... I tackled another thing on my to do list which was to attend my eye DR's appointment and to find my new eye glasses that I wanted.  I had ordered these beautiful black and white designer juicy cotore glasses.  When mom told me they were juicy cotore I started laughing because I knew that that was a perfume but I didn't know that juicy designed glasses or clothes or anything LOL.  Just in case you want to know the Dr said my I am doing real well as far as my eyes and he's surprised that my vision hasn't changed since my surgery besides the loss of my preferential vision.  He mentioned the possibly of eye surgery so that I wouldn't have wear glasses or contacts anymore a year from now.

                                                Anyway after both and mom and I were done we were on our way to the grocery store to get the things we needed for dinner.  For the record we had mom's cornflake chicken along with a cheese rice broccoli casserole that everyone loves.  For the record Hailee loves mom's cornflake chicken and gets excited every time mom and I make it.  Anyway after we got all the stuff we picked up Katey and we headed back.  It was funny when we came home because everyone their own thing for a while.  Mom did a load of laundry, Katey ate a sandwich, and I went upstairs to read.

                                              But after awhile we all gathered in the living room and watched a marathon of top chef.  It was funny because Katey and mom were laying down on both couches taking a nap and I was on the floor on these chair cushions that were so comfy I curled into a ball and took a nap of my own.  It made my mom laugh because I hardly ever take napps but I couldn't help it those cushions were so comfortable LOL, plus my allergies are acting up so who says I can't take a nap every now and then LOL.          

                                    Family fun filled weekend 
                                       Wow! that's all I can say about this weekend.  This weekend was all about my mom's surprise party that Mark was planning for months.  Yes we all got her good.  If you remember on a previous post I said that I was going to dad's if you were at the party you noticed that was not true.  We all started to arrive around 5:30 or 6:00 but Nathan, Hailee, and I arrived a little early to help get things ready.  
                                       For the record we had brought the cake and it was beautiful.  Nathan had ordered it and it had half of it vanilla and half red velvet since she LOVES red velvet cake but the thing with red velvet cake you either love it or you hate it, there is no in between and not everyone in our family including (me) loves red cake.  So I thought it was so neat that the bakery that he ordered it from could half and half.  But anyway the cake had all mom's nicknames on it and it read HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA, MOM, LALA, GRACIE.  For the record Mark calls her Gracie because she always breaks  glasses and bumps into things, and Mark seems to always hear her drop things when she is showering. and my cousin Emilia calls my mom Lala ever since she was younger  because she has two aunt Lisas.  If you are familiar with the teletubies Lala is the yellow one.  Yes if you know mom yellow is her favorite color.  
                                      But the letters were written in lime green.  Well anyway I was happy to say that she was in total shock when she came in that room.  There were so many people that came into town that she didn't expect such as Uncle roger and her cousin colleen  from Cincinnati
                                 Aunt Karla and my cousin Maria from Louisville 
                                 Uncle Rick and his girl friend Judy from south Carolina 
                                 Uncle Bob and aunt Sue along her cousin Patrick from Florida plus many more.  I was very glad that Maria could come.  She came in her father's place and she was dressed more casual  than most.  It wasn't a real dressy event but I wore a purple dress that I had gotten in Florida along with a jean jacket with my silver shoes.  
                                            Yes the silver shoes that you like Jess.  ;)  But anyway Maria seemed a little embarrassed and apologized.  All she had on was a sweatshirt, jeans, and tennis shoes.  The reason she wasn't so dressed up was because she wasn't sure she wasn't able to go.  I had gotten a call from grandma saying that she was coming in her father's place and if I would think Mark would mind.  I honestly didn't think he would mind because it wasn't like she's a little girl she's a teenager.  
                                              She seemed to have a good time at first but after a couple hours she wanted her mom to take her home and sure enough aunt Karla did and came back.  So you know there was a lot of dancing and I sure did join in.  I surprised myself by discovering that I could slow dance but the real funny and embarrassing was when the DJ played one of ABBA's songs Dancing Queen.  Uncle Rick basically dragged me out on the dance floor and started spinning me around and we were basically the only people out there and he was pointing at me yelling " Dancing queen."  It was a great party and everyone enjoyed themselves.  
                                                  Sunday was a more relaxing day.  We still gathered at grandma and grandma's for pizza and to say good bye to uncle Roger and Aunt Karla before they left.  When we were talking Aunt Karla showed us a video of a talking dog that was posted on youtube. that just made everyone laugh.  I was happy to see that I was able to upload it on to my blog so that you can view it.  
                                                After Aunt Karla and uncle Roger left we went to cousin Frank's to visit.  It was nice to see my cousin Nina who is in college to become a special ed elementary school teacher similar to Jess.  All she has to complete is her student teaching.  Best of luck to her and hope everything goes well :)        

                                         Extended time with grandparents
                                                  As my grandparents were getting ready to go home Wednesday night grandpa looked at me and asked if I wasn't doing anything if I would be interested in spending the night with them at their house that night.  Right away I was for it and I went to grab my things.   I was in a little bit of a rush because I didn't want to keep them waiting that I forgot to grab my pajamas but that didn't matter.  There are times when I sleep in my clothes since I wear comfortable clothing anyway LOL.  But anyway grandma and I had a good time.  She was in the middle of an interesting book so she kept asking me if I wanted to read which didn't bother me since I am the middle of a good book at the moment as well.  
                                                   I am happy to say that she finished her book but I am not done with mine yet. For the record I am reading the last of a Beverly Lewis book called The Mercy.  For those of you that don't know she writes amish fiction.  Each series is about a different family and is quite interesting.  You have to start the reading the books in order because they leave you hanging.  
                                              If you are interested in the series that I am reading now the first book is called The Thorn, but she also has a new novel out now called The Fiddler.  I noticed that grandpa is reading that one now.  OK OK enough about that in addition to reading grandma and I also played cards.  Grandma and I like to play to card games in particular and they are Golf and Garbage.  I know they are unusual games but they are fun and I will give you the rules to both games.  
                                     Golf : You deal out six cards to each player and place them in two rows of three face down in front of you.  DON'T look at your cards.  Beginning at the dealers left, you take turns drawling single cards from the stock or discard pile trying to make pairs beside each other.  But the card that was face down there before has to be discarded.  Here is how the scoring works.
                   A's = 1 
                    Jack's = 0 
                    K = -2 
                Q's = 10 and everything else their normal value and if you get a pair right beside each other they cancel each other out.  The hand ends when all cards all face up and just like golf you want the lowest score and there are nine hands total.  It's fun and you don't have to lug a golf bag around LOL.  Depending on how many players you may need another deck. 
                                   Garbage:  This is so simple a child can play it, all you do is deal out 10 cards and lay them out in a row face down and say the top card is the 2, you put it wear the second card is.  You can continue to play but if you come across a card that such as a Jack or a Queen or if I turned over a two I would have to discard it and say garbage.  They are both really fun and if you are looking for a new card game to play I advise you to play one of those games :) 
                          Anyway during the evening things started going downhill.  We went to pizza oven for dinner and grandpa insisted ordering for all of us and grandma and I told him what we wanted.  He heard my order wrong.  I had originally wanted this specialty buffalo chicken pizza but he ordered me the BBQ chicken pizza instead and to make things worse I had originally wanted water to drink but they didn't have any.  What restaurant doesn't have water but I didn't want to say anything to grandpa because I didn't want to hurt his feelings so I just ate the BBQ chicken pizza he ordered and drank the lemonade he got for me.
                                 On top of that when I got back I received a text from mom asking if she needed to come and get me.  I asked if she would and she sent an alarmingly text such as can you please stay another night?  It seemed like she didn't even want me around and it seemed like in my mind and to me it seemed like she was yelling.  I text that I didn't mind staying another night but she didn't have to yell.  She text that she wasn't yelling but it's just she had not heard from me.  I basically apologized but I said I don't like to disturb her at work especially when she's busy.  In a way I am glad I stayed another night I don't think seeing mom would solve anything.  Well anyway besides that I had fun.  Grandma made a homemade apple pie that was to die for.  YUMMY!  I had some for breakfast both mornings.  I better go, stay tuned for further updates there is an exciting event coming up.                                   

                                             

                               

                                      Busy day
                                        Well today we have a busy day ahead.  Mom and I have our usual hair appointment and yes that includes the painful waxing.  Youch but it has to be done before Jess's wedding.  It seems like everything is getting done just in time.  Well anyway after our hair appointment we are going to the store to get some last minute groceries that we need for tonight.  

                                          We are having grandpa and grandma over for dinner and it will be nice to see them.  Of course I had already seen grandma during our girl night but this will be the first time I see grandpa since they came home from Florida and hopefully they will bring their dog Dunkin.  Isn't he cute in the photo:) ?  He loves to be picked up and carried around and he loves my mom.  Onyx and him get along great and he twirls around whenever he sees treats :) 
                                                Well anyway we are having flank steak and mom had picked up a dessert for last night when she went to the store to get the marinade.  She has been really busy trying to get things ready plus get the house straightened up so I better go give her a hand.  

                                     Grandma's keepsake
                                               Today I was feeling a little nervous so to help myself feel better I gave my grandma a call and told her what was up.  It just had to do with a conversation that I had with my mom this morning.  See mom is taking this weekend off because she and Mark were invited to a wine tasting in Cleveland along with her cousins Peter and Sally.  So mom asked if it would be OK if I could stay with dad or if Katie could come over since she was thinking of taking the weekend off as well.  I called dad and he said it was more than OK and that he would pick me up at 12 Saturday.  But anyway grandma cheered me up by telling me that she had found a box of old cards and letters that she had kept in an old box and she was reading them today.  
                                               She said that I had sent her a thank you letter for a toy that she had gotten for me  and that letter I had written : I had started a new medicine and it makes my tummy hurt.  
When I heard that I just started laughing.  Why would I put that in a thank you note? LOL and it also made me think of how old I must have been when I sent that or what seizure medicine I was on.  But anyway grandma told me that she saved a card that Ricky made her that had hand drawn hearts and the sun and had a poem that read: Roses are red violets are blue the sun is shining just like you written on it and she said it's so cute to look back at grand children's or (your) things a few years later.  
                                               In fact I have a box filled with my old finger paintings from kindergarten.  They are cute :)  Well anyway just hearing those stories cheered me up.  I suggest keeping a special box with (your) things or you loved ones things.  They are fun to look at.  Well I better go.