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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

HA HA HA....
















Monday, August 18, 2008

Life as I know it.....



I have gotten everyone in a tizzy over my wedding plans....what can I tell ya.....if I'm gonna do this...I'm doing it the way I want.......it's gonna scream BRENDA......of course everytime I mention something new to him I get the 'whatever ya want honey'. I told him I was gonna get one of my litttle people friends to dress up like a leprechan. OMG---I'm kidding....


So last Saturday was my family reunion....I decided I'm going to make a movie with pics of the reunion... past present and future and include some other shots....look for it....I'll post it up here when I finish it.


I gotta tell ya I did crap today.....and I was so spoiled. I sat in the sun and made Simpson characters out of pics of my friends and family...I'll post one or two of them every so often...see if you can guess who they are....so I made about 35 characters. Dinner was made and I was SERVED outside and after dinner I got a leg and foot massage. I keep looking up to see if a plane falls out of the sky on me. Again....I have all kinds of issues about deserving to be this happy.


Artemis wants to read about herself in my blog so coming soon...the story of Artemis and how I met a friend who changed the way I think, to let me live my life to the fullest....I was suppose to help her get past issues and she saved me from myself.....I miss you....see you soon.....love to you all.......miss ya, B


Guess who these are supposed to be.....hahahaha!


Friday, August 8, 2008

my LUCKY day!

So the number 8 has been my lucky number since I was like 8. I saw it on SchoolHouse Rocks which were like these cartoon things that were supposed to be educational. They taught things like multiplication, addition, grammar......'Conjunction Junction...what's their function...hooking up works', etc.....coming back to you now?....It's from like 1973. So anyway they had this one about the number 8 and how if it's on its side it is the symbol for infinity...they used an ice skater to demonstrate it...anywho....I was SOLD...my lucky number. Well......what kinda day ya think I had.....the date is 08-08-08! Baby....and ya know what I was doing at 8 pm tonight.....not my homework!!!....I was sitting in a theatre watching the new Mummy movie in the arms of a man I love. Snuggled...warm....comforted....I can't remember the last itme I let myself feel that. SAFE. I dunno....I think I might just get used to this.....
Oh before I sleep....check this out.......
How lucky is this.....
Hailey Jo Hauer and Xander Jace Riniker, both born at 8:08 a.m. on 8/8/08, weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces.
can you say...wicked kewl!
night all

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Who am I?

I was born in Roanoke, Virginia. My mother was Irish with red hair and freckles. I inherited her freckles and her Irish temper. She taught me to find four leaf clovers. She instilled in me that anything is possible. If I could find a four-leaf clover and make a wish, then it would come true. She is responsible for the fanciful, silly side of me. St. Patrick’s Day is my favorite holiday.
Being raised in the south has definitely made me view things in a different way. My grandmother never quite got over the fact that I was born before my parents had wed and made sure that I knew how she felt. I felt as if was being held accountable for something for which I had no control over. This instilled in me a need to please and to help people. In the southern ‘Bible Belt’ there is a strict code of behavior among the older Southern Baptists and it can be difficult to overcome the prejudices that they possess. She also had a fascination with John and Robert Kennedy. I keep a picture of them, from her ,in my bedroom because it makes me feel close to her and that times were good then.
I also had the fortune or misfortune of living in the state of Virginia when the law was passed to integrate the public schools. In jr. high school, I was bused across Roanoke city to attend an predominately black school. I could never understand what the fuss was all about. I went to school just as I always had and made many new friends. I remember my parents complaining about it, but it never really bothered me. I did come to have the opinion that people should be judged on what they say and what they do as opposed to how they look. After a few years, it didn’t matter any more.
I grew up with 18 cousins more or less, most of them female. In the summer time, we were sent to stay at my grandparents’ farm. We were the workforces of the farm. We tended the gardens, we took care of the livestock, gathered eggs, milked cows, picked berries, did the housework, made pies and learned how to sew, knit, and crochet at my grandmother dress hem. My grandmother’s attic was set up like a dormitory. We all took turn bathing in an aluminum washtub. she had no running water and an outhouse. We were raised as brothers and sisters rather than cousins and we all remain fairly close to this day. There is nothing like family.
When I was small, I was very upset that I was a girl. I felt that boys enjoyed more freedom and didn’t have as many rules as girls did. I always had to be ladylike. I was learning to run a household from my grandmother. I thought I had been born to servitude. This attitude continued until my teens. It gradually subsided and as I became a wife and mother, I realized how truly honored I am to be a woman.
In 1983, I moved to MA. I got a job working in the Department of Mental Retardation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I became a Recreation Therapist. At this time, I met a man of Portuguese decent. We dated and eventually married on July 17th, 1988. His family was first generation from Lisbon, his parents barely speaking English. They were catholic and was upset that I was not. I consider myself a Christian and had adopted a non-denominational foundation to my faith. So I gave it some thought and attended some masses and decided that I would convert and raise our children in the catholic faith of his family. Funny, now considering how little contact I have with any of them. I’m not sure it makes sense but I have had some issues with the church, but not with my faith or what I believe. I think that the church is made up of men whom God endowed with free will, just as he did the rest of us. Some of them have made poor choices, but they must face the laws of man and God.
I have two boys. The oldest is going to 22 and currently serving in the US Army and my youngest is 14 and entering high school. I am American and I am proud that my son serves. Many of the young men in my family are currently in the service of this country. I am proud of them all.
I enjoy working with people. I have had the pleasure of bringing life, love, and enjoyment to profoundly and severely challenged individuals. I have taught life skills and skills of daily living to people who face mental and physical challenges that would be hard for some people to even imagine. I have experienced the joy of watching the face of someone who had never been sailing, or ridden a horse in their entire lives, some of them in their 50’s. I see their faces light up as they see me because they know I will take them to fun and adventure. For everything I have ever taught someone, he or she has taught me things: unconditional acceptance, respect, and the strength to persevere. While there is a clinical side to my job, I always try to make it fun in its application.
Therefore, I consider my southern upbringing, my Irish side, my job and my being female to impact my cultural identity the most. There are other elements that impact but I don’t feel they are dominant in my value system. I know I will meet people in my life whom I care for deeply and will not care for me, some I will not care for and they will care for me and every once in a while I will meet people I care for and they will care for me back. That all men are created equally and should be treated the same way. So basically, I really believe the golden rule works.

 

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