Monday Blogger Challange- Two Peas

What is one thing that look forward to these few days before Christmas??

Finishing up my shopping and wrapping my presents. I can't stand having a tree with no presents under it. I've been behind on my shopping and wrapping and my goal is to get it all finished by Friday! I don't want to go NEAR the stores or malls this weekend when it's total mayhem and chaos.

Two Peas Blogger Challange

I'm just getting back into scrapbooking again after a long hiatus. I saw this challange on 2 peas this morning and wanted to participate.

TEN THINGS THAT BRING ME JOY

1. Spending time with my hubsband and two children as a family.
2. Sunday dinners at my parents house.
3. Christmas Shopping with my Dad. It's a tradition that we go together every year to shop for my mom. I LOVE spending time with my dad.
4. Playing Canasta with my mom. Even better when I can beat her! Most of the time she's unbeatable!
5. Baking with my niece. She loves to bake brownies, cookies or cakes. We have so much fun doing this together.
6. Connecting with my Garth Buds.. either by phone or in person.. but especially when we get together AND get to see Garth too!
7. Garth Brooks Music.. it speaks to my soul.
8. Photography.. I love to take pictures.
9. Sunsets
10. Watching my children grow up to be strong, confident young adults.

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

Have you ever lost touch with a special person from you past?

I have been searching for over 20 years for my childhood best friend Cathleen Vegvary. I finally found her tonight! THANK GOD FOR GOOGLE!!!!

All I did was type her name in and up came a list of matches.. The first one was a link to a church website that she is involved in and listed her phone number to contact.

As I sat here thinking "Could this really be her?" I decided what do I have to lose. So I dialed the number.

Here's how the conversation went:

CV- Hello
ME- Is this Cathleen Vegvary?
CV- Yes
ME- I know this may sound wierd and I'm not sure I have the right Cathleen Vegvary but...
CV- Well you must have the right one, I'm the only Cathleen Vegvary I know of.
ME- Did you used to live in Tampa when you were a child?
CV- yes
ME- Did you live in a neighborhood called Cherry Creek?
CV- Yes, IS THIS MONICA???
ME- OMG (starting to cry
CV- OMG, OMG How did you find me???
ME- I can't believe I found you!! I went to Google.com and typed in your name and it came up with a church website that gave your phone number!!


So we talked for almost 3 hours tonight!! Caught up on the last 30 years since we last talked.. OMG it was WONDERFUL!!! I'm so happy!!

Life Throws Us Curve Balls....

On September 24, 2007, I lost my baby brother. This picture of us was taken on Christmas Eve 2003. It's my favorite picture of us. Stephen committed suicide. We will NEVER understand why he felt this was the only way to end his pain. I pray for peace and understanding for my parents. This has been so unbelievable hard on them. Being a mother myself, I can't imagine losing one of my children.

I do know that my brother loved his family and friends and we loved him too. He leaves behind a beautiful daughter almost 10 years old.

It's Beach Vacation Time!

Tomorrow I'm off with my family for our annual vacation to New Smyrna Beach! We look forward to this every year and always go the week of the 4th of July. The pictures above were taken in 2005 and are my favorite sunrise pictures I've ever taken. I hope to take lots of pictures while I'm there and will share with you when I get home.

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July!

Update on Dad

If your reading this long post...let me warn you... get a drink or cup of coffee and a snack.. it's going to be a long entry.

I'm going to start at the beginning. On Thursday, May 24, 2007, my dad went to a local water park called Adventure Island. If you know my dad, he's very much a kid at heart and LOVES adventure, rollercoasters, water rides and slides and is very active. Dad is 66 years old, will turn 67 on July 29th.

When he got to Adventure Island he wasn't feeling well. He said he sat down at a picnic table near the concession stand. He tried to get up and found he couldn't move his right leg. After a few minutes he was able to get up and decided to go home. He told my mother of his spell and that he still wasn't feeling well. He took it easy the rest of the night but he also noticed he was having a hard time writing.
My dad has impecible handwriting. When he tried to write, the words were very sloppy and some were illegible.

Friday morning he got up, came downstairs for breakfast and my mom noticed he wasn't acting normal. His speech was slurred. She called his doctor but they were closed for the holiday weekend so she left a message for the on call doctor to call her back. Dad leaves about 9am to drive to work. He gets to the parking lot and decides he's not feeling well enough to work, so he turns around and comes back home. He get's home about 10:30am. Mom has an appointment and has to leave but calls me at work and asks me to come over to the house and sit with dad until she gets back home. She's worried about him and is still waiting for the doctors office to call her back. I got off work at noon, and went straight to their house, which is about 8 minutes from my office. I pull into the driveway and Dad's car is not there. I immediately call my mom on her cell phone and tell her that Dad isn't home. She asks me to call him on his cell phone and find out where he is. I call him and when he answers he tells me that he's feeling better so he decided to drive back to work. Now mind you, he works in Clearwater, which is a 40 minute drive from his house, over a very very long bridge crossing Tampa Bay. As soon as Dad starts talking to me, I notice his speech is very slurred. He sounded drunk. He couldn't complete sentences in a normal timeframe, couldn't think of words he needed to say. I KNEW something was wrong and I asked him to please turn around and come back home. He immediately said " ok, I'll turn around and come back home". I immediately call my brother to tell him what's going on. He says he'll leave work and head over. When dad pulls into the driveway, I'm waiting at the front door for him. I watch him get out of the car and walk towards the house and he can't walk a straight line. His balance was off and he looked like he was struggling to lift his right leg when he walked.

We come inside and he sits down and I tell him to explain to me what's going on and when he started feeling bad. He told the story about adventure island and then said " Monica, I think I've had a stroke but I didn't say anything to your mom because I don't want to worry her". I tell Daddy we need to go to the Emergency Room right away. I call my mom and she said she's on her way home and will be there in about 10 minutes. She arrives home and we both tell Daddy we're taking him to the ER.
He says ok, with no fight and we get in the car and go. Called my brother, Stephen to tell him to meet us at the ER.

Friday he's admitted to the hospital after several hours in the ER. He is diagnosed as having a stroke.

Saturday, May 26th is my parent's 43rd Wedding Anniversary. Dad is in denial and thinks he's fine, wants to be released from the hospital so he can take my mom out to dinner. Dr says not happening. He stays and is released to go home on Sunday afternoon. The stroke was classified as a mild stroke and the Neurologist releases him to go back to work on Tuesday.

Monday is Memorial Day. Dad is home and again in denial that he's just been through a major health issue. He decided to go outside and start pulling weeds in the 90 degree heat! OMG I could just take him and shake him!

Tuesday morning, he wakes up and tells my mom he has really really severe integestion. He drives to work and as he's driving to work he starts having chest pains. He gets to work, doesn't even get out of the car, but instead turns around and comes back home. My mom is shocked to see him home. He only tells her that the integestion was so bad he came home. He doesn't say a word about the chest pains. Mom calls his doctor, again has to leave a message. At this point, my dad tells my mom he's fine and tells her to go to the office. If the doctor calls back, he can talk with him and tell him what's going on. Mom said that dad was basically forcing her out of the house. She left reluctantly, and came home about an hour later. When she pulls into the driveway, my dad is outside cutting down tree limbs. She tells him to stop immediately and come in the house. When he gets inside, he tells her that he's talked to his doctor and the doctor want's him to go the ER because he thinks he's had a heart attack. Mom calls me at 3:26pm and tells me she's taking him to the ER. I leave work and head straight to the hospital.

Stephen meets us there again and we waited 8 hours before they finally got Dad up to the CCU. All the preliminary tests show he's had a heart attack, but they aren't sure how strong or how much damage. They schedule him for a Cardiac Cathater for Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning, we arrive at the hospital and they take dad in for the Cath. The Heart surgeon comes out and tells us that dad's heart is severely diseased. He will need a triple if not a quadruple bypass as soon as possible. Daddy is diabetic, but keeps his blood sugar very well controlled and is insulin dependent. The diabetes is the cause of the heart disease. Of course we are devastated. Anyone who's been through this knows what a scary thing this is. Life is so fragile!!!

Dad is stable, but is very scared and depressed. After consulting with the Neurologist who treated dad over the weekend for the stroke, they decided that the bypass would take place on Monday, June 4. My dad has had an astronomical amount of blood thinners since he had the stroke and then the heart cath, so they have to wait a few days so that the medication can leave his system. They don't want to open him up and have him bleed to death.

So, that's where we are right now. Dad's still in the hospital, under close monitoring and will have his surgery on Monday afternoon. We appreciate any prayers and good thoughts that you can send his way.

I'll keep everyone posted on his status.

Prayers Needed

My Dad~ College Graduation Photo 1964


Me and My dad... 2005

This has been a very rough day. We took my Dad to the ER today around 1pm because he wasn't feeling well. If you know my dad, he's almost 67 years old and other than being diabetic, which he keeps under control very well, he's the picture of health. Well, yesterday he wasn't feeling well and today was even worse. He has suffered a stroke. We aren't sure how severe it was just yet, they are still running tests to determine the severity. He's in the hospital right now and probably won't be home for a day or two.

Tomorrow is my parent's 43rd wedding anniversary.

I love my dad.. I'm a daddy's girl.. and I'm worried sick about him.

Please say a prayer for my daddy!

TGIF! Thank God It's Friday...

I have neglected this blog for far too long. I'm really going to give it my all to post daily and find something interesting to talk about! LOL

I still need to post a picture of my scrap room. It's not near finished.. but it's got a table set up for me to scrap on so I don't junk up the formal dining room like I did for 9 months last year.

I took a break from scrapping for about 6 months while I started my photography business and portfolio building. But, I'm gungh ho again to start creating and making progress with my photos. Wish me luck!

Now.. on to important things... plans for the weekend...

* Check on my son who is sick with Strep and Tonsilitis
* clean house tonight so I have Sat and Sun free to play
* Host going away cookout for a dear friend who is moving to SC next weekend.
* Go to Mom and Dad's to visit
* Scrap
* Buy Groceries... no food in the house!
* movies with my daughter

What's on your agenda??

March 12

I actually scrapped this past weekend! And even better, I FINALLY got Eric's old bedroom turned into my scraproom!

I will take pictures tomorrow and post them. It's not finished, but I've atleast got a place set up where I can scrap to my hearts content and not take up my formal dining room space.

I'm a happy girl!!

Grey's Anatamy

OMG.. is anyone out there addicted to this show like I am??

I just can't believe the story line! It's torture! How can I wait 7 more days for the next episode???

Tampa, Florida

Just thought I'd share a few photos from beautiful downtown Tampa...

ABC's

A - Aphrodisiac. What turns you on? My husband when he wears Azzaro. Oh My..
B - BFF. Who’s your best friend? Kelli.. I don't spend nearly enough time with her.. must change that this year!
C - Celeb. Favorite? Matthew McConaughey Most annoying? David Letterman
D - Drink. What’s your poison? Diet Coke. I'm addicted horribly! I'm ashamed to admit it's the first thing I go for when I get up in the morning.
E - Everyday essentials. What do you use everyday? The computer, my cellphone and TIVO!
F - Fav. color. What’s your signature color? Blue!!
G - Groove. What music are you enjoying today? Keith Urban's new CD. LOVE IT!!
H - Hot! Who’s hot? Who’s not? Mmm-Matthew and Patrick Dempsey. Who’s not? Rosie and Donald
I - Indulgence. Dish about your guilty pleasure. I love to sleep in late.
J - {dream} Job. What would you do? Travel Photography for a Travel Magazine.
K - Kitchen Companion. Most used item in your kitchen? The icemaker.. I have to have ice filled to the brim in my cup!
L- Life is incomplete without. . . my family.
M - Mc. . . What would you "Mc"? I have no idea
N - Natural or dyed? dyed and highlighted
O - Outrageous Outfit. What’s hiding your closet that you’re dying to wear? A white linen summer outfit I bought two years ago. Need to lose a few pounds to get back in it.
P - Pet Peeve. What makes you absolutely crazy? When people don't look you in the eye when talking to you. When my kids have friends over and they don't say hello or goodbye.
Q - Quote. Share some inspiration. "Life is not about the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away."
R - Restaurant you give rave reviews Outback Steakhouse
S - Starbucks order. Usually a Cappuccino
T - Television. What keeps you glued to the couch? Grey’s Anatomy and Law & Order.
U - Ultimate Vacation Destination - Germany!
V - Virtual Babe Name. What’s your online ID? ~gatorgirl65~
W - Wonder Woman. What woman leaves you in awe? My mother...she is my hero and and my inspiration.
X - eX - cited! The Gators won the National Championship!!
Y - Youth in a bottle. What keeps you feeling young at heart? Friends, Music and Laughter!
Z - Zodiac sign - Cancer

Just a few recent pictures...