The Unpopular Mom....

Being the mother to hormonal teenagers makes me very unpopular... Mostly because it is very difficult to fool me... I wasn't born yesterday.. My daughter could have been me 30 years ago... She sounds like I did... Her passion is the same as mine was... And NOW I have a first hand experience of what MY mom was thinking... feeling.... so very long ago.... Mom, I am sorry - really - I am soooo sorry....

I am guessing that I will just have to suck up the fact that I am no longer their "hero".... I am no longer the one with all the answers... I have learned that due to my age... I "don't get it".. I have been replaced by the much wiser 15/16 year old... and you know what? I am so sick of it...

Can you tell that I am not in my normal upbeat state of mind??? Mothering a passionate, hormonal, and very impatient 15 year old is not much fun today....... So I will bestow the curse wish my mom bestowed upon me.... "I hope you have a daughter JUST like YOU" enough said!

I Have Become My Mother AND I Have Been Blessed With A Daughter Just Like Me....

**photo from Visual Photos -

How To Freak Out Your Mother In Law..

Yesterday my daughters and I went to a carnival in our neighborhood... We had a great time... The girls hung out with their friends and I took pictures... I like to do that... Both girls won a hermit crab and goldfish... Original goldfish tally was five (5) and as of this morning... there is one (1)...

One of the booths featured at the carnival was a tattoo booth... There were people actually getting inked right there... My oldest thought they were "really cool"... I asked her if she wanted to get her picture taken with one of the tattoo artists... She of course said "yes" and he was happy to pose..... Now how did I freak out my very conservative mother in law?

I sent her this picture with an email saying this.. Hi Lois - Thought you would like to meet your oldest granddaughter's new first boyfriend... His name is Eugene and he is a sweet young man... Dusty and I just adore him and we honestly think Nikki is in love... Can't wait for you to meet him too..... See you soon. Kelly

Thankfully - my mom in law has a good sense of humor... She was happy it wasn't the other guy with the floppy ears and horns sticking out of his head.

A Personal "Ghost" Story

As far back as I can remember I have always been interested in ghosts... scary movies... the unexplained.... I think it may go back to the stories my dad used to tell me as a child... The neighborhood kids would gather up in our yard and my dad would spin tales that would scare the toughest of kids... We would scream... We would hide.. We would sleep with the lights on (I still do when the husband is not home... - Yes, My name is Kelly and I am a wimp).... Ghost stories were a huge part of my childhood... A very good memory...

Shortly after my dad's dad passed away (my grandpa) - my dad had one of his brothers out to visit us... Now this brother is a devout Catholic man... A man that does not tease about ghosts and such... Well - one night when my dad and my uncle were going through their dad's (grandpa's) belongings that were left at our home - my uncle glanced up into the kitchen and saw my grandpa looking at him and my dad... This vision startled my uncle... my dad did not see the apparitions but he believed my uncle... his brother... There are many tales in my family of relatives seeing those that had passed on... Maybe it's my Scottish/Irish bloodline... Whatever it may be - the Paranormal intrigues me...

One more tale that happened to me and my girls.. this is NOT fiction...

When my oldest was about three years old - She would tell us a tale about a elderly man that was standing in the doorway to her bedroom... She would call him the "mean man" - she thought elderly people looked mean ... She was not afraid of this man.... Every night she would add more information to this "mean man"... She would tell us he was sick... that he needed an operation on his leg and that he needed to go to the hospital.. Every night for months - she would tell my husband and I about this man... We started to get a little freaked... seriously.... So one night I was carrying my youngest up the stairs to her room... In the middle of going up the stairs - she pointed to my oldest daughter's room and asked "Whose that man?" (she was about 18 months old)... Okay - I'm getting a major case of goose bumps going up my arms... I asked her what man.... She points again and says "That man!"... This was enough to convince me something most definitely was going on... So I called a couple of my Christian friends.... What I was advised to do was to go into my daughter's room and tell this (whatever it was) to leave... In the Bible it states something about ghosts, demons, or whatever - has to leave because God is in control and if we believe God is in control the entities will not have a choice... they would have to leave...

So in the middle of the afternoon (no way was I going to do this in the dark)... I went into my daughter's room and spoke out loud and told this whatever to leave... I said out loud that God says you have to leave.. So Go.... Later that night my daughter did not speak of this "mean man"... She never spoke of him again.. Now that she is a teenager - I have told her the tale of her nightly visitor.... and now she is as intrigued as I am..

To add to our interest in the paranormal... This summer on our Mom and Daughters East Coast adventure - I have booked actual Ghost tours... Not the fake actors... But real documented tours... with Real Paranormal investigators... The tours will take place in Williamsburg, VA, Boston, MA, and Salem, MA.... I have done weeks of research into the best companies... Two of the tours are nationally rated... I think this will be fun... I bet the east coast with all that history will be a blast! I'm wondering if we'll sleep with the lights on.....

My Hopes and Dreams For Nikki

My oldest daughter will be 15 this week.... She is an amazing kid... I have so many hopes and dreams for her... I want her to be happy... Make good friends... Enjoy her high school and college years... Meet a decent man (way after college) who will love her unconditionally... I want her to know she is worthy of love.. worthy of hope.... worthy of God's love and intentions for her life.... I want her to know and feel great deep love and joy... I want her to have so much more than I did... I think every mom out there - always wants more for their children... We want our kids not to make the same mistakes we did... We want to protect them... We want them to learn from our mistakes... But - I have learned the hard way..... No matter what I say.... No matter how many lectures I give... No matter how many times I discipline... No matter how much "good" advise I give - She will march to her own drummer... She will make her own mistakes..... She will NOT learn from mine..... She isn't me.....

I have to trust that my girl knows right from wrong... I have to trust that she will try to make the right decisions when I am not looking... I have to believe that she will not always bow down to peer pressure... I have to let her go.... I have to accept that God is in control and stop trying to take that control from Him.... I have to let her spread her independent wings... Let her make her own mistakes but be there to comfort her... I will praise her when she succeeds and overcomes life's obstacles.... I will pray for her everyday... I will be here when she needs me... And I will be here even if she doesn't... I'm her mom and there is nothing that would keep me from loving her... Nothing that will stop me from supporting her.... I will always be her biggest fan.... Her strongest supporter.... Her personal prayer warrior...

Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft

I have been in the mortgage industry for over 20 years.... This year alone - I had to turn down 17 loans due to bad credit caused by Identity Theft... The very sad thing is - the bad credit was not the result of the borrower not paying their bills - it was due to someone gaining access to their personal and/or financial information and destroying their once stellar credit... Unfortunately - this is a common occurrence in today's electronic age...

There are many ways a thief can gain access to our information - Right after ATM/Debit cards came out many many years ago - We received a call from our bank asking if we had been to Mexico recently... We had not... A stranger obtained our ATM card - a card that we had not requested - Nor did we receive... This stranger went down to Mexico - had a few parties at a bar - stayed a few nights at a pretty nice hotel AND bought an airline ticket to Africa!!!! Over $5000 was taken out of our checking account... Needless to say - my husband and I were devastated.. Thankfully - we did recover our money... But it took over two (2) months - which resulted in us paying a few bills late.... We were lucky that is all that happened... Many are not so lucky...

There is a company called IdentityHawk that helps their clients prevent Identity fraud and theft.. They offer a very comprehensive package with identity protection tools to help identify where a person could be vulnerable to thieves... They help detect and protect against threats to your identity.... your assets... your home...

*Recent statistics from Javelin Strategy & Research indicate that more than 11 million American consumers were victimized by identity fraud in 2009, an increase of more than one million people from 2008.. Essentially, one out of every 27 people in this country in 2009 had their personal information used by others to engage in fraudulent transactions or to receive services illegally...

Identity theft protection is the first step in protecting ourselves against Identity fraud... Identity theft occurs when someone obtains your personal information - Identity fraud is when someone uses that obtained personal information to commit fraud by obtaining credit cards (ruining your credit), draining your bank accounts, and many other detrimental things that can destroy your good credit, your good name and possibly cause you legal problems.. Early detection is key to your Identity Safety..

The sooner you can detect and respond to the warning signs of identity theft the better you can protect your assets and your name... Don't take a chance.. Anyone can be the victim of Identity theft - just ask Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, and Warren Buffet. Just ask me......

* Quote from IdentityHawk website

Bone Marrow Testing Kits Available

First of all - I have to say "THANK YOU!!!!" So many of you in the blogging community have reached out to Haley - with your prayers.... with your pocketbooks.. with your posts about her.... and Many of you - Have volunteered to get tested! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

We finally have the at home tests available for your use... The link is in the sidebar AND right here too "Link to get a bone marrow test kit" Now, this test is FREE... All you do is swab your mouth and confirm that you fit into the donor criteria... (criteria is on the bone marrow donor site)
When you register on line - you will be prompted to enter an unique code - Please be sure to type in Haley.. This means your test will be reviewed as a match for Haley first - if there is not a match - the test will then go into the Be The Match Registry for others who may need your life saving marrow.... What an opportunity we have - to be a part of something that is so much bigger than ourselves... The opportunity to bless someone.... save someone.... Can't get any better - can it?

When you order your kit - Please drop by Haley's Facebook page and let her know that you are registering to be a donor... She checks FB frequently and all this love coming her way is definitely lifting her spirits.

God Bless!