So thought we were going to be banned from Pirate City for this! Instead Nellie Briles swiped it from our folder and hung it up in the dugout.
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Me and Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski
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Is it going to stop for awhile?

My dad called last night. He called to let me know my cousin, Steve, who was 44, died of a heart attack. He's about 3 months younger than my brother. I didn't know him very well, but I am completely floored. I think it's more that it takes me back to reflecting about my sister again. It scares me, but it's probably more to do with his mom's side of the family. My uncle, his dad, died of a heart attack in 2000, his mom died when he was 6, I think it was congestive heart failure, and his oldest brother died in 1980, also from heart attack at age 32.

Did you ever have to do this in grade school?

M	Magical
E	Easy
L	Legendary
I	Irresistible
N	Neat
D	Distinguished
A	Adventurous

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

snow cream

wow! Don't know if Mayfield ice creams are available across the nation, but THIS tastes just like the stuff we used to "make" in the winter. For those of you who either don't have snow or haven't heard of this (btw, what rock have you been living under?) to make snow cream, you go out, scoop up a large bowl of snow (white only, please) and then add a little milk, sugar and vanilla and let it freeze. YUMMY!

My 45 pound lapdog
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Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me! Am I really almost halfway through my 30s?!?!

Funny thing...also born today, Rush Limbaugh AND Howard Stern..so astrology isn't good for predicting what your personality or political beliefs...it's what your occupation will be. :-P So I'm either a radio talk show host, or like Ricky Van Shelton and Tex Ritter, a country singer!
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Alright, here's some drama for the internet. I am posting this after reading about the incident in Missouri with the girl who was pregnant and was murdered so the woman could take her baby. I post this in case anything happens, that there is a short trail to follow.

I've mentioned that I lost my grandmother in 2004. My mom and my uncle, Donald L. Ward, both of Lakeland, FL. are listed in the will as the only two heirs. (Fine with the rest of the family.) The issue is that it was very basic, in that it merely states that they are co-responsible parties in paying her debts and dividing up all assets. My grandmother's attorney has not filed the will as of today, January 10, 2005. My mom left for Illinois on December 21 and returned to Lakeland, FL January 9, 2005. On January 6, 2005, I received a message on my home phone's voice mail from my brother that it would be a good idea to check the house in Lakeland (my grandma's house where my mom has lived for the past 8 years), that the contractor fixing roof damage from Hurricane Jeanne let my mom know that my uncle was clearing out the house. I left immediately and went to the house. I walked in and first thing I noticed was that a case that had been filled with dolls, antique and ones made by my grandma were all gone. All framed art on the walls was gone in the family room and living room. Living room furniture was gone. All bed linens from the guest bedroom were gone, a very large display case that held cut glass (glass had been divided) was gone. I went through the house while on my cell phone with my mom, so she could ask and I could verify what was there and what was not. I tried to enter my mom's bedroom. The door was locked. She had locked it when she left. It is a typical lock on an interior door. I couldn't get it to open with the object (nut picker outer thing), so we left it until she returned. Upon returning, she found that they had been in her room (as the contractor said) and shuffled through her entire room. Among the missing items, HER pearl necklace and earrings. They belonged to her, not my grandmother.

I write this for the sake if anything happens, my uncle has bragged about owning several guns, he's been in a mental unit of the VA, a former Vietnam veteran who suffered from post - traumatic stress disorder, he's gotten mad/suffered road rage where he's approached someone in their car after making him mad. He comes off as a very nice person when he wants something, but when crossed, he explodes. My mom has said that she is afraid of him. If something were to ever happen, he is the first person who should be investigated.

Delurking Day!

I know I don't have that much traffic, but c'mon and say hello in the comments when you stop by. :-) Photo lifted from Poppymom who got it from Stacey who got took it from sj . (Sort of sounds like we're all passing a virus!)
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So remind me why I like being the free-spirit of the family?

I'm doing laundry tonight. (OK, not a sad commentary on my life--I did go out for awhile tonight). When I returned from my venture, I found that someone, in that hour and a half since loading everything into washers, had come, unloaded one of my finished cycles, washed and was drying. I looked to the right and the only other dryer in that laundry room was unplugged. All I could think was "Why do I like being so free-spirited and not wanting to own such domestic things like a washer and dryer?" I think somewhere deep down inside, as soon as I buy something that big, I'll seem like I've settled down--doesn't take a walk down the aisle, just major appliances. And...side note...settling down isn't the real issue, it's the whole idea of the things I haven't done yet that I am not willing to compromise. This stubborness probably doomed a relationship in college, but I was in the process of fulfilling a goal, and I wasn't going to give it up. And like last spring, I was in the process of starting a relationship when my sister took her turn for the worse. It was a wake-up call, and I knew I wasn't going to be torn, and I didn't want to feel like I was choosing one thing over another. My other sister is in a long term relationship, and she was constantly feeling pressure to contribute time to helping Debbie, but feeling pulled in other directions as well. Fine, so I am not good at the multi-tasking my emotions! Also, I don't know that I want to live in Orlando forever. Outside of being such a huge tourist destination, it's rather blah. (Apologies to the Chamber of Commerce.) Is Vegas the same way once you venture away from the Strip?

Anyway, just my little rant for the evening about how I hate to trudge to the other side of the complex b/c I am too stubborn to buy my own w/d and too cheap, no--frugal--, to spend $35 a month to rent them here. Oh well...time to go pull everything out of the dryer now!

Side note....to anyone from Springfield theater, am having dinner with Brent Huber, flight attendant w/ NWA, Sunday evening at Orlando airport. :-)

Some blog promoting

Ok, so I'll stop with the photos already...for now.

I started this blogging thing awhile back, after visiting friends in California and learning that my buddy, Christine, had one. She now has another, too. I started looking at hers, and found dooce, and from that one, found Beth. Tonight, Beth has single-handedly caused me to decide to never, ever, ever have children. Why? Only because of this. (Go search her site for the story behind that--if you can stomach it!)

My other most regular read is the web-goddess who is Kris in Australia who is an ex-pat and knits lots and lots of things. She always posts cool links to an assortment of interesting corners on the world wide web.

Lastly, I'll prop up my cousin, Betty, who I told about this whole idea of blogging just before Christmas, and she's already started her own!! YAY!! Go visit hers and leave comments!

Happy 11th Birthday, Baylea!!

My middle niece--lover of Harry Potter and Lemony Snickett and boston terriers.
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Happy Birthday Grandma Ward!

Taken a long time ago! Happy birthday Grandma! Although I hated seeing you so sick, I was really hoping you'd make it to your birthday!

She was an amazing and very talented woman! I could fill an entire blog of photos of her painting, dolls, bears and jewelry she made. After the many times she had crazy health problems and bounced back, it's still hard to believe that she didn't beat lung cancer (mesothylioma).
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Ok, so I feel like a parent now...

alright...so I am going to go nuts uploading photos now. Just had to say I miss Max, who is vacationing up the road at the vet.
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Dan Fogelberg cancels fall tour b/c of prostate cancer

Dan Fogelberg. One of my favorite singer/songwriters and in putting together my little q&a, I learned he's battling "advanced" prostate cancer. You can send your well-wishes and prayers here.
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