Posts Tagged ‘remember’

This seems to be video 4 in my series this week.

I’m very much looking inside of myself right now – thus all of the sappy videos.

I am so grateful for my family.  I am so grateful for my friends.  I am so grateful for my life.

This video is called “How Could Anyone” by Shaina Noll.  This brings a lump to my throat for a number of reasons.  One, and foremost it reminds me of my sister and how much I love her.  We were out of touch for over 10 years.  We found each other luckilly again and made amends for what we don’t even remember being an issue.

Please listen to this song because it can mean so many things to each person.

“How could anyone ever tell you, you were anything less than beautiful… ”

WOW!  Normally I don’t promote Contests of any kind, but there were SO many sponsors (me too!) that I just had to get this out there.  I’m entering now – ’cause well, just because.  LOL

This was taken directly from chethstudios and is all information for the contest.  Oh good luck!

Yes! it is a big contest for a big occasion, this contest need no more explanation titled as “Christmas and New Year Bash!” chethstudios tries to bring out a big contest celebrating this moment.
We are launching this contest to celebrate Christmas and New Year! We totally have 50,000 Entrecard Credits to be won along with loads of 125 x 125 AD spaces for 10 Lucky winners! + 3 special prizes!

And here i would like to thank all the sponsors for the overwhelming support given to make this contest a BIG one! And yes, since the winners will be selected randomly using random.org I would ask the sponsors too can take part .

PRIZES:

#1 (15,000 EC credits, $5 , Ad Spaces, Blog consulting)
5000 EC Credits worth $30 sponsored by: chethstudios
3000 EC Credits worth $18 sponsored by:anshuldudeja
2000 EC Credits worth $6 sponsored by: dwaynereaves.com
2000 EC Credits worth $6 sponsored by:sweetprettynaughty
1500 EC Credits worth $9 sponsored by:seeknomore
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Blog consulting by: sitegorge
468 x 60 ad spot for 6 months at broodonline
125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at chethstudios- PR3
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125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at contestwhiz
125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at sweetprettynaughty
125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at: funny concepts
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#2 (12,000 EC credits, Ad Spaces, Blog consulting)

1000 EC Credits 2009 Fantasy Baseball
1000 EC Credits The Matthias Chronicles
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1000 EC Credits Niacin Works
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Blog consulting by: sitegorge
125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at chethstudios- PR3
125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at thepositivelife.com
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125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at chethstudios- PR3
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#5 (4,000 EC credits, Ad Spaces)
500 EC Credits idiotbox
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500 EC Credits worth $3 sponsored by:Wonderful things In life
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#8 (1,000 EC credits, Ad Spaces)
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#10 (1,000 EC credits, Ad Spaces)
500 EC Credits worth $3 sponsored by:Walt Disney World Auditions
250 EC Credits sponsored by:Destiny eternalblackzero
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125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at:artistikz
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Text Link Ad for 1 month at artistikz

Special Prizes:

Special Prize #1
Featured PR3 Directory link worth $36 whoisabhi.com
Blog review by: todaysblogreview
125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at chethstudios- PR3

Special Prize #2
Sponsored domain name by: scott-ford
Blog review by: pro-blogreviews.blogspot.com
125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at chethstudios- PR3

Special Prize #3
Blog makeover (for blogger blogs) thepositivelife.com
125 ?125 ad spot for 1 month at chethstudios- PR3

HOW TO ENTER:

(Required):

1.Blog about the contest along with the Prizes and Sponsors links, link to chethstudios and the contest post – 20 entries.
(You can post it in multiple blogs of yours to earn more entries. Click here to copy the Prizes and Sponsors links.)

(Optional):

2. Refer to a friend of yours ( he/she must join this contest and should mention your name as the referrer) – 10 entries.

3. Add chethstudios to your Technorati Favorite – 5 entries

4. Stumble upon, Delicious this contest – 5 entries for each action

5. Review any of the sponsors blog of your choice it is optional- 5 entries

6. Subscribe to chethstudios feed via Email and confirm your subscription – 5 entries
If you are already subscribed, please leave a comment in this post to enter the contest.

7. Place the contest banner at your sidebar until the contest ends – 10 entries

( Remember Special prizes will be given to only who have top number of entries)

After completed your entries, kindly leave a comment in this post telling what you have done to enter the contest. Please include the following information:
the email address that you used for the feed subscription, your blog URL of the contest post, your Technorati ID, your ID of Stumble Upon/ Delicious, the page where you post the contest banner.

(SPAMMING WONT BE TOLERATED)

CONTEST TIME LINE:

Contest officially starts today November 15, 2008 and will end on January 1, 2009 NEW YEAR! (11PM GMT+5.30). Winners will be drawn randomly using random.org and will be announced a week after the contest end.

Note:
We have all the rights to modify the contests and prizes at any point of time.
Sponsor are allowed to join the contest since a 3rd party will draw the winners for the major prizes.

BEST OF LUCK!

Oh pooh! I don’t remember who had this up!

Jeeze, there I go clickin’ to quick!

Anywho… thanks to whomever found this fun thing!  Hugs and Love at ya!

So, here’s my contribution to a little fun stuff…. A OK?

You Are an “A-OK”

Your life philosophy can be summed up as, “Whatever will be, will be.” Your greatest wish is to live each day a little better than the next. You are naturally calm and stable. Some people would call you a rock. You feel one with the world. You are a spiritual person, though no one who knows you would guess it.

I’m 40, and I don’t feel old.  Old would be 90 perhaps.  Not 40.

I smoke, have for a long time.  Disgusting, I know.  But I smoke.

On Friday, a first happened for me.  I was called “The Mean Ugly Old White Lady” by 3 children and their father.

Here’s how that went.

I was standing in a handicap parking lot space outside of the hotel (the Friday night fun night!) instructing my hubby on where the night of mystery was gonna be and what to do when he got there.  (It was a blow your socks off night!  Well planned out, I might add).

I was standing in the parking space because I was outside of the hotel having a cigarrette chatting on the phone.  If I smoke, I do it more than 20 feet from the door, in California there are laws on where to smoke.  I understand and abide by them happily.

After my phone call I looked up and noticed a Mercedes Benz with it’s blinkers on clearly waiting for me to move out of the space their were trying to pull into!

Ooops!

I hurry out of the way and made sure I was quite a bit away from the car.

Out popped three little kids with their hands over their faces.  I didn’t notice as I was yelling at the dad “Goodness, I’m sorry.  I completely zoned!”.  Smiling my usual smile and waving at him in apology.

Things happened a bit quick from there.

He said:  Yeah, well we are more concerned about your smoking.

Me: My what? (not sure if I heard him right, I’m quite a bit aways from them)

He said:  Hurry kids, get away from her and run to the door!  (not kidding here, he sounded like I had a gun)

Me:  Um…. (remember, I’m pretty far from them and they are entering a hotel with smoking rooms ~ so they aren’t getting to safety runnin’ inside of there!)

He said:  Cover your face kids!

Me:  Okaaaaay (I backed up even further, although the smoke was going the opposite direction of them – all I could do is watch while the kids covered their faces, but stuck their tongues out at me yelling “gross” “she’s gross” “daddy hurry up!”)

He said:  Yeah well (turning to me) they teach them this in school (almost, although not quite, apologetically)

He brought the kids inside after they gave me dirty looks and he just laughed and encouraged them to look at the gross smoking lady.

I was dumbfounded.

Not at the fear of smoke, although – that’s a bit over the top.  But I get that, if they don’t like it now maybe they won’t pick up the filthy habit.

But at the fact a parent did not reprimand their child for treating a human, a perfect stranger, like dirt.  I’ve seen it happen around me and it disgusts me.  But to really pay attention to the little ones that night, it hurt my heart that beautiful souls are being taught at such a young age that being mean to someone is okay and simply part of your day.  That left me in disbelief at the door. It’s only the beginning for these little ones I’m afraid.

As I walked upstairs thanking myself for raising children that don’t see race, physical limitations, or anything out of their norm as something they use against people – I heard the family through the door and stopped for a moment just outside.

The kids were telling their mum I suppose of the event.  But what I heard was this:

The dad was agreeing “yup!” after everything each of the kids were saying.  The mum was saying “I should go down there and kick her butt (different word used).”

The children were telling a tale of a “Mean.  Ugly Old White Lady downstairs smoking at the door and not letting them in.  She was blowing smoke at these poor little kids.  This Mean Ugly Old White Lady was giving them dirty looks and threatening them.”

Oh.  My.  Gosh.

She promptly said she was calling the manager and complaining about the Mean Ugly Old White Lady and the kids were happy and yelling “yeah!”.

The father never corrected their story.  He laughed and described how ugly I was.  I’m not joking.

I’m left with being the Mean Ugly Old White Lady at the Holiday Inn Express.

Jennifer, TruthDancer, at her Blog Goodness Gracious asked her readers to write the world as they would like to see it.  I took her challenge, but then thought I’d take it up a notch tonight.

When I was at the grocery store there was a young woman and a teenage girl in front of me.  I wasn’t paying attention to much other than getting my own groceries on the conveyor belt.  But I noticed the young woman appologizing and saying she’d be right back.  The grocery clerk nicely smiled and told her not to worry, her belongings would be right there and that she was sorry.

I asked the clerk as the young woman was leaving if she was short on cash.  The clerk hushed me as if not to embarass the young woman.  But I insisted as the young lady walked away.

The clerk said she would be right back that she was a regular.  She said the young woman had just had a child and was a bit short on her amount and would definately be back. 

I remember once as a single mother sitting in line with my three little ones and coming up WAY short on my grocery bill.  The man behind me, that I did not know paid for me.  He wouldn’t take a no.

Tonight, I continued to ask the cashier who was a beautiful caring lady who told me about how when she was 8 she and her friend bought food for a homeless person and how wonderful that felt to them.  She said she’d never forget it.

I finished paying my bill as she was getting the groceries into my cart and I told her I derserved to assist that young woman and that I absolutely would pay her bill.  She saw I wouldn’t take no, and she rang it up.  Her response was "I wish there were more people in this world like you".  I told her there most definately are.  I also told her there are more and more like this every day.

This is my view of a perfect world.  Where we check off "Other" on our applications instead of individual races and write in "Human".

United is the perfect world I see, and giving.

Love and Light,

Monica

 The 1906 Quake, must have been quite a roller coaster.  But the fires got poor San Francisco after the shaking….

I can say I sure wasn’t around for that one.  So without stumbling upon the information on the web reminding me, there was really no thought of it.

I remember my Great Aunt telling me about what she remembered when it happened.  She lived in Oakland and was about 10 years old when it hit. 

My "little" brother was a San Francisco Police Officer (now protecting another city) for quite a few years and when I did a ride-along with him, he pointed out history to me when we drove through the streets.  Where they "held the line" and made a stand to stop the raging fires.  It’s amazing to see the architectural differences just on each side of the street.  One side old, the other newer because it was rebuilt after burning down.

The complete history of it is amazing.  I’m a proud Californian, born and raised… and this Earthquake stuff was always the making of bad dreams for the children.  Still is I suppose.  I remember the fire and earthquake drills we had in school.  I think we had nightmares for days after just wondering if the roof above us was going to crumble. 

Some photos from the California 100th year Page:

It’s amazing what a city, community, area goes through to rebuild from any tragedy.  Emotional and otherwise.  San Francisco is built up again, and hopefully in better shape for the next quake.

———

1989 Loma Prieta – Some Pics from SFGate (Chronicals Newspaper, see citation)

Love and Shaking Light,

Monica (who wasn’t around in 1906, but was for the 1989 one)

Just in case you were wondering if I knew what day it was.  I do. 

Today was quite windy.  I was parked at Starbucks a place that sells nutritious stuff, and was waiting for my son Jimmy to go in and get my Venti Iced Chai Latte nutritious thing, and while I was waiting I could have sworn I was being rocked to sleep.  Wasn’t sure at the moment what the issue was, and then it dawned on me duh! the wind!  It was literally rocking the van I was in, AND the other cars in the lot.  Strange sensation.

It felt almost like when you first step on an escalator, when you try to adjust to the movement and have that moment of inbalance.

I live in California and the only thing that rocks us here are the earthquakes.  Earthquakes, small ones, are actually kinda fun.  Yes, I know… strange.  As long as nothing is falling on your head it really is an interesting feeling to have the earth suddenly move you.  We take the ground we walk on for granted.

Everyone from California has an earthquake story.  If not, they are only passerbys.  Having lived here for almost 40 years (holey crap!) then I can say I’ve been through many of them.  The 1989 one was a big one for me because my 6 month old baby was at a babysitters hours away (traffic was stopped so a normal 1/2 hour drive turned into much longer) and there was no phone connection.  I remember the news first reports that the SF Bay Bridge had collapsed.  Entirely.  It didn’t, but a good size chunk did.  Not to mention all the other hell that happened after.

See?  Get a Californian started… there it goes.

But wind?

Here’s my question for those that deal with Tornados.  Um, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? 

That is precisely the question I get from those outside of California about the earthquakes.  So I do understand.  But wow!  And hurricanes… and all other horrific weather emergencies. 

I’d be the idiot running out taking pictures of the "oh look at the pretty sky" before the twister.

By the way, my most favorite movie in the whole wide world is Twister.  Just a funky fact.

Monica and SkyDiving 1998
Happily updated by: monicaford.

I’ve posted this before I’m sure.

But tonight… I can remember the rush just by looking at the photo. Ahhhhhh…. to be falling twords the ground at breakneck velocity.

What a feeling….

Makes you feel alive.

And aware that could end at any moment…

BUT heck, what a view.