Why So Long?

It has been so long since I last posted that my blogging account had deactivated!

Why?

I have no idea. I have not been motivated to write about anything. And it's not like we haven't done anything. Thanksgiving, Christmas Tree shopping, Jackson began his wrestling season...I have a wealth of blogging entries to share. Just no motivation.

I figured if I posted this lame entry, it would inspire me to revisit and continue my blogging journey.

The test will be if I come back tomorrow...

It's Going To Be A Crazy Week...

Can't write...no time...

1. Two big projects to do by end of day tomorrow...

2. Parents arrive sometime in the afternoon...(please hold off snow!)

3. House needs to be cleaned (parents arrive TOMORROW!)

4. Twelve people for dinner on Thursday (house still needs to be cleaned!)

5. BLACK FRIDAY!

6. Christmas tree hunting Saturday (house will need to be cleaned - again!)

7. Parents leave Sunday...and the house won't need to be cleaned :)

I Need A Magic Pill

There needs to be a pill invented for days like today. One that pulls all the lose ends together and makes the world stop spinning - if only for a brief moment to catch your breath.

I logged about 200 minutes on my cell phone today. Nuff said...

It's Going To Be A Long Winter...

We woke up to this...in November...before Thanksgiving...

Don't get me wrong, I love snow...but only until Christmas!

I Am A Junkie

A Food Network junkie that is...

On Friday I was able to satisfy my insatiable cravings for all things Food Network by attending the Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland.

My biggest thrill was actually seeing Guy Fieri LIVE.

You don't know Guy? OMG - Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guy's Big Bite, The Ultimate Recipe Challenge - that's all Guy!

Of course I might as well have been watching him on television as there were a thousand other people also in the room.


Oh yeah - and I saw Paula Deen too! She's the one with the silver hair, behind the lady in the black coat...
The Galloping Gourmet never had this kind of adoration.

It's Quiet...Too Quiet...

We are so used to going a million miles a minute that it becomes a huge challenge when we are between seasons. What do we do with ourselves now?!

Well....

Jackson and Caeden fight more (oh joy!)

Cameron reads more - I think this book is 800 pages, the third in a trilogy about a dragon.

John lies on the couch more and watches hockey (now that MLB baseball is over)

And I eat more because everyone is home at night and I actually have to cook dinner!

We need a sport really quick before I grow out of my jeans (again!)

Changing Seasons

A friend of mine pointed out that my blog picture looked very summery (summery - it sounds right when you say it but not when you spell it...)

Anyway - change of seasons...change of photo...the autumn version of Sportsmum...

A Day At The Farm

It has become our tradition to visit White House Fruit Farm two weeks before Halloween to enjoy a rare family day of fun and food. White House was one of the first places we visited when we moved here in October of 2003, personally giving me a great deal of joy as it made me recall growing up in Canada and enjoying the fall season with my family.

I love the following pictures - our simple, loving, and beautiful family...

5 Years Ago Today...

Today is a bittersweet anniversary.

Five years ago today we arrived here..Had we researched more, I'm sure we would have seriously reconsidered our decision.

This is what I have observed over the last five years...One of the highest unemployment and per capita murders rates in the country, the lowest home prices (translation: you can't make money by investing in real estate), one of the most divisive and volatile political landscapes (See: Jim Traficant, Youngstown Tune-Up), bitterness-anger-hopelessness (Black Monday 1977) and a complete lack of understanding about how to move forward and compete in the global (or even national) economy.

But this is what I also observed...while there is a sense of hopelessness and cynicism, bred by promises made by politicians and selfish business people out to make a fast buck; the people are still fiercely loyal. They will adamantly defend Youngstown when outsiders put her down. They stand by and support their schools, banding together with their fellow alumni to bring spirit and pride to the whole community. And they love their country and have one of the highest voter turn-out rates in the nation.

For better or worse we have made this our home, and while we will always be considered outsiders, we will defend, support, and cheer for the place we have chosen to raise our children.

Besides - today will be 80 degrees, there isn't a cloud in the sky and the maple tree I planted our first spring looks like this...What more could you ask for...

Clarity

I just re-read what I wrote this morning. I sounded a little harsh in relation to Art. Frankly, he was wonderfully humble and accomodating for the entire day - and we ran him ragged going from tv to radio stations to Rotary to the awards!

My angle is that I was amazed how normally rational people lose it over someone who is really just like them. He's just a guy who is trying to get his life back together - he has debt, he has employment issues, and he loves his Mom!

And he has people like me who still hold suspicions of his motives. Remember - you are never cured of an addiction. Part of recovery is the potential for relapse.

He has so much to offer with his story...I pray the process of recovery will allow him to continue to tell it.

Has It Really Been A Year?!

I am a master procrastinator.

Everyone thinks I'm this "get things done" kind of girl, but what most don't realize is that I'm a "get things done" kind of girl - at the very last minute!

That is why I have been sitting at my desk doing everything I can to put off having to write the history of one of my client's, for an event they have coming up in two weeks. My deadline is yesterday.

As my mind was wandering around the internet, I thought about this blog and realized that it has been a year since I started SportsMum. 365 days chronicling our life - as I said in my first post, the good, bad and very, very ugly.

What started as an adventure into finding another source of income (I've made a total of $63.56 over the course of the year, lost all but two of my Google Ads to some mystery computer glitch, and had almost 8,000 visits) has turned into a wonderful journal for my family.

Providing the world wide web remains a piece of our lives, I have opened a window into a year of our lives that my children can forever have access to.

So my grand adventure in making money has really turned into a grand adventure in providing my children a history of our family.

The best is yet to come...

Hallelujah!

52 hours.

Our lights came on at precisely 12:23 a.m. ending the longest power outage in our family history.

How's the saying go?...If you love something, let it go, if it comes back it is yours, if it never returns it was never yours to begin with.

Power is MINE!

Where For Art Thou Ohio Edison?

As of this posting we are entering our 39th hour without power.

I just got back from a couple of meetings and in my wanderings noticed two areas where trees had fallen over power lines - so it's obvious where the trouble spots are. What I also noticed was that the trees, for the most part, had been removed, making accessibility to the power lines possible. What I didn't see was a single Ohio Edison truck in either of these locations!

Where are they? Well, we heard that they are in Texas helping out the Hurricane Ike victims. Hello? Wasn't it the remnants of Hurricane Ike that came through here on Sunday night?! Nothing like taking care of your own.

But there is a silver lining...we played games last night. No television, computer or video games - well, actually, the game we played was "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader", on DVD, with our tv hooked up to the generator.

But we did play it by candlelight...

The Day The Lights Went Out In Ohio

23 hours without power and no end in sight...we're hearing maybe by Thursday!

No T.V., video games, and sporadic computer time (thanks to our neighbor Ken, the generator king)

...SHOOT ME NOW!!!

My Morning Surprise...

As I was making coffee this morning, after pleasantly sleeping in for an extra hour (kids are on spring break...), I looked out my kitchen window and saw something unfamiliar.

We have a very large pool in our yard and therefore, we also have no trees so as not to deal with the leaf issue in our filter.

But today - we have a tree...in our backyard...right across the roof of our shed!



It's been a very wet winter and we had strong winds on Tuesday but yesterday was sunny, warm, and beautiful! I guess the tree had just had enough of Mother Nature pounding it.

So good-bye old tree - we will enjoy our new view and remember your sacrifice...

How To Live

For those of you who know me, you know that besides my family, my major passion in life is music and singing.
This video is currently my passion - it speaks to me on so many levels. I plan on singing this as special music in church on the 17th. I think I'll make God smile...

Should Old Aquaintance Be Forgot...

I have a theory that applies only to me - every odd numbered year is generally not very good, even year's bring much more joy.

Starting in 1989, I can prove my odd year theory...
1989: New boss at work - the worse I've ever had; prompted me to hand in my resignation the end of the following year
1991: Bad leading to good - leave my home, my best-friends, my family; and move to the other side of the country. Meet John two weeks after I arrive :)
1993: John loses his first job; My Mom died
1995: John loses his next job
1997: My company refuses to compromise on my return after maternity leave, I quit and go freelance
1999: Stuff in our marriage - won't go into details
2001: REALLY bad stuff in our marriage (briefly break-up), and of course, 9/11
2003: John without work, forced to leave California for Ohio
2005: John still without permanent work, takes job in Wisconsin, we see him 4 days a month for almost two years; I take a new job at the university that I HATE!
2007: John has two jobs, second one ends unexpectedly; I quit my job earlier than planned - go deeper into debt

And the even year's:
1990: Tour with the Molson Indy circuit (a blast!), go to Vancouver, decide to quit my job and move!
1992: Marry John
1994: Cameron is born
1996: Jackson is born
1998: Caeden is born
2000: Buy new house in California; elected PTA President
2002: Marriage is GREAT; 10th Anniversary; lose lots of weight, look great!
2004: Start new job in advertising, start to settle into living in Ohio, Cameron makes first All-Star baseball team
2006: Back with advertising company, get lots of new clients, start making really good friends in Ohio
2008: My company is starting to take off, John has a new PERMANENT job he loves, boys are all very healthy, I will lose 40 pounds...(had to throw in a resolution somewhere...)

...THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

The Power of Blogging

We had friends over for dinner last night. During the conversation Vickie asked, "have you updated that blog yet?!" I didn't even know she had been reading it!

While in Canada, my mother, John's brother, and several friends asked me the same thing, "When are you going to post again"? My mother was particularly vocal, "I've told all my friends to read it and now you stopped posting!"

Frankly, my initial reason for starting this blog was to make money. I had been working with a friend on his charity website, www.puzzleofhope.org; and we had been discussing ways we could generate hits to his site. We started researching blogging and I saw how people were making hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars a month by simply writing about their lives!

Why couldn't I do the same thing? I had the subject matter...kids and sports...who wouldn't want to read about that? Seemed simple.

And it was simple...I set up the blog on my own and started writing. After a few posts, I was able to sign up for Google AdSense -- this was the money side. There were various ways I could generate income, the easiest was allowing Google Ads to be placed in my site. Again, simple.

What I didn't realize is that you need THOUSANDS of hits PER DAY to actually make money, unless someone clicks on the ads; then I could earn a couple of dollars here and there. There are millions of blogs, and unless you work the web everyday, it's really hard to get readers to find you!

After three months I have had a total of 2,688 hits and earned $57.13. So much for hundreds and/or thousands of dollars per month!

But I discovered something along the way...I really didn't care about making money. I was really enjoying the opportunity to write and even more, I enjoyed writing about my family. It became my journal, with the added bonus of having others share in our experiences.

So for all those who have become loyal readers; I thank you. Now, if you just take a look at the ads across the top...:)

Ohhh...Christmas Tree!

A couple of days after Thanksgiving we found the PERFECT Christmas Tree...you may recall that my parents participated and greatly contributed to the discovery of this treasure.
You may also recall how beautiful it looked once home and decorated. The perfect size; the angel almost touching the ceiling.

But our beautiful tree did not react well to being chopped down and brought into our home. She started to lose her needles. Of course, all trees lose needles but not like this...

We knew she was in trouble when we left for Canada but we had hope that the copious amount of water we were putting in her pot would prolong her life until after New Years (our traditional schedule for taking down the tree). We even had our neighbor, Ken, attend to her needs in our absence.

On our return Christmas Eve, I went over to say hello, touched her delicate branches...and heard the sound of thousands of needles falling to the floor.

Alas, our beautiful tree was gone...

Yesterday was her funeral...as we carried her gently outside, she left a trail of needles through the entire processional route.

Our neighbors will be able to continue to call on her at her final resting place at the curb...until Tuesday when she turns to dust in the back of the garbage truck!

The New Camera

I have a new camera...not just any old camera, it's the camera of my dreams. It's a Nikon D40 with 18-55mm zoom lens!

I have wanted a camera like this since the dinosaur days of 35mm film; back when I entered the advertising industry in the 1980's. I dreamed of taking beautiful C/U shots of my friends -- fashion shots, pensive shots, artful shots. I was in a creative industry, after all.

Once the boy's came along, I so wanted to take pictures of my beautiful children and put them in frames all over the house. Of course, these would need to be black and white pics, with the light and shadows falling away in classic film noir style.

Then came sports and the documentation of every game. Oh how I wish I'd had a decent camera to catch all the action -- the first soccer goal, the first time pitching, the first wrestling match, the first home run...I missed all these firsts for Cameron!

But now I have the real thing, due largely to the fact that I now have my own company and can write this off as a business expense!

I have learned the basics and couldn't wait to get out and start taking shots of the boys in action. Unfortunately, my desire to be a photographer and the reality of my skill are miles apart. Hopefully this will improve before baseball season!