One Of My Favorite Poem! I Have Carried It For Years! Need It AGAIN!

After a while – Veronica A. Shoffstall

After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn
that love doesn’t mean leaning
and company doesn’t always mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of woman, not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye, you learn…

The Unwelcomed Child by VC Andrews

The 411:

I have been a huge fan of VC Andews series books since I was a child. Not even sure why, since I was a child with such a tumultuous past you would think I would hate books that centered on dysfunctional families yet that is VC Andrews writes. 

The Unwelcomed Child is a stand alone VC Andrews book about Elle a young girl who is being raised by her overly religious grandmother, sheltered from the world and alone. Elle has spent her life hearing how evil her father was. How unbalanced her mother was and how protected her future should be. 

As the child of "rape" her mark on the earth according to grandmother Myra would be one of damnation and she needs to repent and repent and repent.  No time for idle hands, her days are spent, helping to cook, clean, pray and do her homeschool work. 

When she is finally given some freedom by being allowed to go to the lake alone and draw she meets the twins Mason and Claudine. These very wordly, very affluent teens are polar opposites of Elle and thankfully are good and do not take advantage of her innocent nature. 

I cannot wait to hand this book over to my sister another VC Andrews long time fan to get her take. I thought it was well written. Sits well with the VC Andrews library and I am thrilled that her family contract with like minded writers to keep the genre fresh and new. I was thrilled that the sinister part of the book was not played up and that the innocence of Elle was allowed to remain.

Great book for VC Andrews fans or a great way to introduce younger readers into the world of VC Andrews.

Ahhhhhh Snow Be Damned We Are Loving 5 Sparrows Hot Chocolate Mixes

It's been cold here in our neck of New York. REALLY! REALLY COLD! Frigged and the snow, well, let's just say, I will not be seeing grass until sometime in April. 

Here is a photo of Handsome taken 2 snow falls ago with Teach cleaning off the car in the background.

Here is Goddess standing at a snow mound at the foot of the driveway two snow falls ago. Yeah, it is very high.
 

We received three different types from 5 Sparrows to try out and they seriously couldn't have come at a better time. Goddess and I loved hot chocolate especially after spending 3+ hours in the snow. Me with no snow pants! Grr...this has to be the year I invest in some. 

 

The first one we tried was House Chocolate.

I have to say, I seriously thought that the Stevia would turn me off. I am not into any sugar alternatives. If it requires sugar, I am a believe in sugar and never met an alternative I liked. HOWEVER, this brand has totally changed my mind. 

There was no weird aftertaste!

The second one we tried was the Chai! I LOVE Chai. It is my absolute favorite indulgence when it comes to getting myself a coffee/tea outside of the house. I would totally buy this to have at home.

The White House Chocolate Goddess claimed and drank while I was out and while she apologized since I was unable to try it, I cannot tell you how it taste personally but she tells me it was her favorite.  

What I loved most is how I simply open the bag, dump the powder mix into my cup, I used a 16 ounce shaker, I warmed up some milk and poured that in as well, shook it all up and poured it into my mugs. It tastes as if I used a big coffee house machine to make it. I could put this into a disposable commuter cup and give it to someone and they would think I got it at an expensive coffee house. 

It is really, really good AND some of them are SUGAR FREE. 

OH and four the price of 2 expensive coffee house coffee's you can get a 10 oz bag of 5 Sparrows mixes. Nothing better than great taste and great value when it comes to how I spend my dollars!

Happy Valentine's Day From Maria's Space

Enough Snow Already BUT Check Out The Size Of This!

Just took this picture of Goddess standing a safe distance away from this massive icicle.

There were sad faces when I used the mop to knock this mother off the roof but I cannot have the weight of it tearing off the gutter can I?

Yummy, Crunchy, Delicious Snacks!

We recently found out that Pork Rinds have more protein and less fat then peanuts. Plus there are ZERO carbs and ZERO trans fat!

We received three bags of Rudolph's Hot & Spicy, Bold and Spicy and Original. This time Goddess decided to give them all a try. She didn't want to do it last time when I posted about what a great Super Bowl snack Pork Rinds are.

Since she likes spicy she wanted to start there. Look at all that spice!!!!!!!  They are hot! She took a huge drink of water and asked for the next one.

The Bold and Spicy were more her speed. She said she really likes the texture and ate about a two hands full.

Her last try was the original ones. Which to be honest are my favorite. She loved them. She asked if she could have them for snack two days in a row.

I recently found out that Pork Rinds may have  many uses. They are not only a snack but there are many recipes you can make with them. Whether you are grinding them down or using them as a way to add crunch to your meal, you can't go wrong.

Music Is In The House

My husband and I are music lovers. We listen to mostly the same type of music and music is always playing in the house and has been since the kids were still in utero. I used to wear headphones on my belly and when they were finally born played that same music in their rooms at night so they would sleep through most of the night.

We are thrilled that over the past two years our kids have really shown a love of music. They love playing music themselves in their rooms, borrowing our headphones and asking us to download their favorite music to their Kindles so they can listen when they want, they watch a ton of music videos on You Tube and are becoming interested in learning instruments. My husband and I both believe that taking an instrument in school is important to our children and are thrilled that Handsome has started drums and Goddess has shown interest in guitar and piano.

Teach plays guitar, bass and piano. I dabbled in bass guitar and wish I could teach myself the guitar and piano but have never taken the time required to master them.

Both kids however have a wonderful opportunity to try their hand at an instrument or two and I for one would love if they both learned how to read music so they could play whatever they wanted.

My niece recently visited from California and sat with the kids showing them some apps where they could practice playing instruments on their Kindle and figuring out where their passion is. She mentioned a there is a Piano Store Los Angeles that not only has new pianos but rebuilt Steinways from the early 1900s. One of her dreams, now is to one day have a room with a Steinway where she could practice and play for hours and promised the kids that when they visit she would take them so they could see the Piano she wants most.

Until then, they are playing their Kindles and dreaming of a trip to LA. AND I guess we should be happy that they currently like our kind of music.

What I Am Getting Rid Of

Love this! I found it on one of my favorite websites Huffington Post. This is literally where I get my news or where I go if I have a moment to read.

They have a wonderful list of 37 things you can get rid of right now that are taking up space in your home. I am a big believer in donating and recycling and try to give things to people I know will like it.

• A drawer full of preschool worksheets (I am bringing them to one of the preschools in the area
• Old Christmas, Valentine's and Birthday Cards. If there isn't a heartfelt message in there, it is going. I always save my grandparents because you never know when it will be their last one.
• My huge bag of plastic bags! I may save 4 - 5 but the rest are going to the supermarket into their donate bin.
• The kids school work. It has been a slow process but I am taking photos of a lot of their papers so I don't feel like I have to save everything.
• Some games that the kids haven't played with. I am bringing them to the teacher's lounge at school and leaving them their for them to pick through
• I have over the past few years weeded out a lot of my books. I simply don't have the room and I am downsizing my life. If they haven't changed my life, they are being donated to the library. I recently brought a basket of brand new books I no longer wanted to the teacher's lounge at our school. The teachers were happy to get them.
• A ton of printer supplies. Half used labels by the hundreds

What are you getting rid of?

Goddess And The Nasty Face Plant

Message I left on my Facebook wall Friday:

My little girl took a nasty fall tonight and thank God is OK. I have never seen so much blood come out of someone I love face before. Think she learned a hard lesson and will not be doing what she did again but it is her words I keep hearing in my head that will be there long after the swelling goes down. WHAT IS HAPPENING? Please don't tell Daddy ,Mommy I"m scared and I love you Mommy. Ugh my heart hurts.

Here is what happened a la Golden Girl Sophia style. Circa 6:45 Feb 7, 2014. Cub Scout meeting, lunch room. Dreaded colorful and obviously enticing poles (I know because every kid at the elm school as spun around them at least once). Little girl takes a spin, slips, face slams into unforgiving floor. Slowly gets up, mom is on the way, hands cover face, blood drips through. Not a pretty sight. Much assessing, blood coming from lips, guns and nose, ice, tears, tissues and finally asked for something to eat at 845. I checked on her at least 15 times during the night and stopped myself from wanting to pick her up and hold her. I probably would have if I could have.

She is much better now but the lip still looks a mess. She wouldn't let me take a photo this morning.

I Have Been Living Half A Life For Too Long!

Sometimes I feel like the life has been sucked right out of me and I am tired of it.

One day you think you know yourself and where your life will ultimately end up. You have your family, your hopes, your dreams, wishes and wants and the next thing you know...Bam...life smacks you in the head and says, no way bitch, you NEED a bump in the road. Can't have you thinking life is good!

And...LIFE is GOOD. Being above ground is a good thing. Breathing and being with friends and family, feeling love and living are all things I hope to do for a very, very long time.  But sometimes there are moments in our lives that make our hearts skip a few beats and not in a good way, that make us stronger. The moments that take what you know about yourself and force you to reinforce and build upon your character, your heart and your soul. There are no guarantees in life. The only thing you can count on is yourself and how you deal with what is presented to you.

So, how have I been living half a life?  I have only been trying to breath and put one foot in front of the other for the past few months and while that is OK and sometimes that is all you can do but then you have to stop, regroup and figure out what you are doing. You cannot stay in that hibernation mode for too long. Life is too quick and I want to live it.

5 Things I Plan On Doing To Change My Current Mindset

1 - Pray. Nightly, daily or whenever the need strikes.

2 - Stop crying. I cannot even take it anymore. I have cried at least 4 pounds of tears in the past month.

3 - Workout at least once a day for 30 mins. Whether I am on the treadmill, doing yoga or just stretching. 30 Mins FIRM! I started this over a month ago and cannot wait for the better weather to move it outside.

4 - Stop waiting for others to make their move so I can make mine. This is not a game, if I feel like I have a move, I should make it.

5 - Focus on what I want not wondering what others are thinking or doing.

Seems like an easy enough agenda for myself.

Life has been hard. Over my 47 years I have found that the only person I can truly count on to take care of ME is me. This is something I have always known but like Dorothy Gale, I sometimes forget that I had the power all the time.

Enough! I'm done. No more tears! Today is going to be a good day.