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Saturday, April 22, 2006

Don't toss your balls...

A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away! It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person. There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth. May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them. I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Thursday, April 13, 2006


My Mom's operation went well, and she is on her way home as I type this... Her therapy has been painful, but she is walking again already... Thank you all for your support!

Sunday, April 09, 2006


The poem and drawing are by Shel Silverstein. I thought it would be a fitting thing to dedicate to my Mom on the eve of her double knee replacement operation. Love you Mom!

Saturday, April 08, 2006


Samantha batting with help from her pal Stephen. Posted by Picasa

This is Samantha before her first T-ball game today with her father, step-mom, and baby sister Jessi. (I was behind the camera as usual...) Posted by Picasa

Ok the quality of this picture is not the best... but I do not have many pics of me and the kids... I'm always the one behind the camera. Posted by Picasa

Friday, April 07, 2006

Great poem...

IF
by: Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Thursday, April 06, 2006

To my blog buddies...

Dear Blog Friends,
For awhile at least, I will not be posting. I will still read and comment on your blogs. You guys are great, and seem to understand me on a much deeper level than some who know me. It makes me horribly sad that people around me fail to see that I am not self centered... I am Samantha centered. I have very little time for myself. I have very little time for my friends. I have very little time for the rest of my family. I wish I had the time and energy to live up to the expectations that some seem to have for me, but I don't. I am too busy trying to survive. This blog started as a small bit of ME time, late at night after the kids were in bed. Apparently, wanting that has made me a seem like a horrible person to those who have never WANTED to understand me. That is fine. Those who understand me (like my Mom) know that I am not this way. I will post photos and maybe a poem or two (not my own least they be used against me), but this will be the last "me" post for awhile. I have too much to deal with right now to handle attacks against my character. I am an emotional wreck. I will miss you guys. Please do not give up on me... I will be back once some of the turmoil dies down, but for now this is all I can do...

Response to a coward...

This is my last response to hateful comments left a few posts back...

Last note:
I will not respond to you again because I try to waste as little time as possible on moronic jerks.

Check out the web address in your browser… it is www.myVENTspace.blogspot.com.
If you are stupid enough to judge my entire being by these blog entries alone, then you apparently need a refill in that inflatable brain of yours.
This is the place I come to blow off steam about the stupid people and situations I encounter from time to time (like you). I also share what I believe are inspirational stories and thoughts as well as photos.
My family raised me to believe that humor can help you through any trial. We try not to dwell on the crappy stuff going on in our lives for too long. That does not mean we do not stay up nights worried about one another. It simply means we are supportive by being there for each other.
If you really knew my family… you would know that.
You keep saying you want me to change, yet it seems you are the only one with this warped view of who I am. Yes, from time to time, my family and I spew not so nice words at each other, its called communication. I tell my family when they piss me off, and they in turn tell me when I piss them off. We do not go behind each other’s backs. We do not leave hate filled anonymous letters to each other. We get things out in the open where they can be dealt with so we can move on.
If you think I do not care about my Mom, you should ask her some time how violently I react when anyone attacks her weight. You should be there when ANY of my family is in the hospital. I always am.
So if I make jokes and seem to shrug off my Mom’s surgery as a minor thing…
DEAL WITH IT!
You are not in my home when I am up all night worried that she will have trouble breathing after this surgery. You are not beside me when I have nightmares about what my life would be without her. You were not around when I fought the insurance company that tried to deny Mom’s reduction surgery (and won by the way).
So in closing, you ignorant grammatically challenged amoeba,
GO SUCK MY BIG TOE!!!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Rate your life quiz...

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:
5.5
Mind:
4.6
Body:
3.6
Spirit:
7.2
Friends/Family:
6.2
Love:
9.1
Finance:
5.6
Take the Rate My Life Quiz