Thanksgiving

There are many different things I am thankful for this year. We will start with my car accident, I am thankful God allowed me to survive and gave me a second chance at life and raising my son. I'm thankful for all of the wonderful people I have met this year and all of the great experiences I've been through. I'm thankful that my family is healthy, well fed, and have a roof over our heads. I'm also thankful for the small yet significant advances I have made at work and for the bosses who allowed those advances to come my way. I am thankful that my mother and I have gotten back to being close again, we drifted apart for a while but are doing much better. Finally, and most of all, I am thankful that every day I get to spend time, a lot or a little, with my little angel of a son Wayne. Happy Thanksgiving to you all and I hope you all have a great holiday! :)

Email reunion with overseas friend

About two weeks ago I got a wonderful face book message from a friend of mine that has been overseas for quite some time. It has been about a year and a half since I had heard from him and I was starting to get worried that something may have happened. I was so happy to see his name in my inbox that I started crying. He has a wife and daughter in North Carolina, I don't get to talk to them much either but I'm sure he keeps in touch with them, and I know for a fact that his parents and family are very glad to hear he is doing well. We still don't know when exactly he will be coming home, if Obama sticks to his promise we may see him for the holidays which would be the greatest gift of all. I am definitely looking forward to seeing his face and hugging him after not seeing him for so long. I shared this because it was of great excitement for me.

Syracuse assistant accused of child sex abuse

A school in Syracuse, NY placed their assistant basketball coach, Fine, on an administrative leave after two former "ball boys" came forward and accused him of sexual molestation. Bobby Davis, 39, and his step brother Mike Lang, 45, told ESPN that they were molested by Fine on several occasions, back in the eighties for Mike, and late eighties until age twenty seven for Bobby. Authorities are still investigating the allegations but say they will do everything in their power to find out the truth.

Its hard to believe things like this when the "victims" don't come forth with the accusations until many years later. Its also hard to prove if it is true or not when evidence of things like this disappear quickly. I'm not saying these men are lying but they should have told someone what was going on while it was happening. It really is tragic either way, if it is true then Fine will lose his career and most likely do jail time and will have forever mentally scared these men; however, if it isn't true then these men will not only look like fools but lose their careers and lose out of future success. Stories like this make my stomach churn because after this long is there really any way of knowing the full truth?

Ohio Teen Charged With Craigslist Killing

A sixteen year old boy from Ohio was charged today with attempted murder and complicity to attempted murder after authorities investigated the killing of one man and the wounding of another man who had applied to a phony job ad on Craigslist. The body of a Florida man was found in a shallow grave about an hour and a half outside of Columbus just after a man seeking employment from South Carolina was shot but escaped through the woods. The teen is still in custody and the authorities are releasing no further information due to the Judge issuing a gag order.

How many "Craigslist killings" have happened now? This is getting way out of hand. A sixteen year old posting a job ad to lure victims....where do you think he got that idea. My opinion is that he got the idea after reading about other similar cases or watching the movies about them and thought that it would be cool if he could get away with something like this. I believe that Craigslist should use better security measures and have mandatory background checks on people or business posting these job ads. I understand that at 16 he may or may not have already had some sort of record but it would be just an extra safety precaution. It may even save alot of people not only from murder but identity theft, getting conned into or out of something, and even save them the wasted time and effort they put into applying for the phony jobs.

Scientists Sound Alarm on Nuclear Plant

A thirty foot hairline crack was discovered in an Ohio nuclear plant reactor. Many more cracks were discovered after further inspection. The plant's owner says that the reactor was thoroughly inspected and passed requirements. However the plant has still been shut down so the reactor head could be replaced properly.

This is pretty scary, the last thing our country needs is for a nuclear plant to start leaking toxins into our atmosphere. You would think that these buildings would be inspected on a regular basis and that these cracks would have been taken care of as soon as they appeared. Japan just had a radioactive disaster that is already causing panic and will eventually cause health problems to the citizens there. I think that whoever is in charge of inspecting these things should take this as a prompt to inspect these things more often for the safety of the workers there and the rest of the country.

Medical Schools Neglect Gay and Gender Issues

Medical students are only taught in school to ask about the gender of a patients sex partners. There have been incidents where doctors go to do surgery on a patient and are shocked to realize that that patient is not who the doctor thought they were sexuality wise. Dr. Desiray Bailey of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association believes that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender studies should be included in all medical school curriculum's.

I totally agree with Doctor Bailey. Medical personnel would be better suited to treat ALL patients of All sexuality's much more sufficiently if they had training with the matter in medical school. I can't even imagine what these people would go through if they got the wrong kind of treatment for any sickness or disease if their doctors don't even really know how to deal with patients from these types of backgrounds. In today's society there are just as many gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people as there are straights and they all deserve to be treated as equals medically and socially.

For Soldiers, the End of the Mail Means the End of the War

Brandon Friedman wrote this news story about how he had served in the military overseas while envisioning a career in an office behind a desk. Throughout his services this was always a fantasy of his. After retiring from the military he and four others ended up working Brandon's ideal career. While sitting in the office one day just gossiping the news announced that by the end of the year all troops would sent home, and that mail postmarked after November 17th, 2011 would not be sent to the troops due to the end of the war and soldiers being brought home. Brandon goes on to explain that he was there when the mail started coming and that he couldn't believe it was finally ending after all these years.

This is a very touching article. So many veterans of war and soldiers alike have been praying for this day to come. I just really hope that the President goes through with it this time and that these soldiers get to come home to their families and friends. They have been waiting for this for so long and I would be very sad if this doesn't go through. I like many others have friends and family members overseas, and would be so relieved if they were to be sent home safely and not have to worry about this war any more. I'm just not sure that even if they are sent home that this war will be entirely over. The enemy may see this as a victory for themselves and continue terrorist attacks on America. Which in turn would lead us into another war and cause anger and sadness nation wide. I really hope that this is for real this time, for every one's sake.

Teen in Wheelchair Scores Touchdown

At Fairfield Union High School in Ohio a young man in a wheel chair scores his first touchdown. Senior Trent Glaze has been in a wheelchair for the last ten years of his life and for the past few years has been a manager for the football team. His dream was to be able to play football and this past friday that dream came true. After Fairfield Union lost their game both teams stayed on the field and allowed this senior to run one last touchdown

This story is very heartwarming. Most of the time you hear negative things that happen in football games, but this story changed all of that. And to have the other team pitch in as well is just absolutely amazing. This kids entire life was changed by this one little incident. They will never know how much this truely meant to this young man.

Drowning NYPD Dad's Last Words to 5 Year Old Son

In august a NYPD veteran was killed in a kayaking accident. The man had taken his five year old son out on the waters of Smithtown Bay where the kayak was overturned. The little boy was the only one wearing a life jacket and was also wearing a safety whistle, as the man struggled to hold on he handed his son his hat and told him "If you blow that whistle someone will find you, Daddy is going to go under water and not come up. I'm going to go to heaven." The little boy never talked to his mom abut what happened but he told the rescuers about his fathers final words.

This story brought me to tears. How sad for that little boy to practically watch his dad suffer moments before death. Its no wonder that little boy doesn't want to talk to his mother about it, he is probably very traumatized by it and doesn't want to make her any more sad that what I can imagine she already is. It states towards the end of the article that the mother had gotten a law passed that stated any one occupying a vessel less that fifteen feet long had to wear a life jacket. When she told the media about want to pass this law her reasoning was "My husbands whole life was about saving lives. Why shouldn't I keep doing that?" It was a story that was heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. I think it is great that she got this law passed for New York, but I think it should be a year-round law all over the country.

Black Licorice and Harm Heart

An FDA study finds that black licorice can cause heart problems if adults consume too much. If two ounces of black licorice is consumed every day for two weeks it will cause the kidneys to excrete potassium which then causes the heart to either beat dangerously fast or out of sync. This is caused by the compound found in licorice called Glycyrrhizin, this compound gives licorice its sweetness.

I knew there had to be a reason I hated black licorice while the rest of my family is in love with it. This is actually pretty scary because my family has a history of heart problems and it seems like all of the women in my family love to eat black licorice. After reading this today I texted all of those women in my family to warn them that this happens, however some of those women are stubborn and probably won't listen. They can't say I didn't warn them. I know for a fact that after I take my son trick-or-treating I am clearing out all of the black licorice I find in his bucket and burning it so no one is tempted to eat it.

Two workers plead guilty to murder in abortion case

In Philadelphia two workers from and abortion clinic plead guilty to the murder of seven babies who were born alive and killed with scissors, and the murder of one patient who died of an overdose of Demerol. Charges were pressed against all ten employees at the clinic. Two of the workers told the judge and jury that they willingly did this to these babies and that they lied to the family of the woman that died and told them that she was just  unconscious, but not to worry. The women had pictures of one of the babies they killed due to the size of the baby, cell phone photos were handed to the judge during trial.

This makes me absolutely sick to my stomach! To think that anyone could just willingly murder a newborn is absolutely ludicrous, and that poor woman who died because they gave her way too much Demerol. I hope that these people end up having to rot in prison. I know that that isn't good thing to wish on anyone but these people deserve at least that. What was that doctor thinking having people like this working for him, who were not trained to even work in an abortion clinic. I myself am Pro Life but I do not judge those who are not, and if someone is going in for that sort of procedure they should be able to trust their doctor and his/her employees. I don't even know how this particular facility even lasted as a clinic as long as it did with ill-minded, morbid people working there. I am just absolutely disgusted.

22 Year Old Woman From Tennessee is Mom to 13 Orphans

At age nineteen Katie Davis left home for Africa. She was heartbroken to see all of the orphans that were starving and on the brink of death. She decided to do something about it. She started the Amazima organization, which is a nonprofit that feeds and educates about 2,500 Ugandan children, many of them AIDS orphans. Davis now 22, lives in a house in Jinja, Uganda with her 13 adopted children.


WOW, what a woman. I am twenty-two and can barely keep up with one kid, I can even imagine 13 of them! I give her kudos for this, she is such an amazing person to do all these things for so many children in need. In the pictures and videos in the article she seems very happy and not a glimpse of stress in her face. She has an amazing support system too of family, friends, and sponsors. I wish there were more people in the world that could take the time and effort and put it into things like this. So many people need help in so many different countries, if only we could find thousands of people who were willing to do this we could be inspired by Katie and help the whole world.

Arizona School Objects to Cheerleaders' Breast Cancer T-Shirts

An Arizona school Principal tells cheerleaders they cannot wear their Breast Cancer Awareness shirts because the slogan is inappropriate. The slogan says "Feel For Lumps, Save Your Bumps". One varsity cheerleader says that the slogan says nothing that a doctor wouldn't say to a female patient. The cheerleaders wanted to wear these shirts to go with the football players' pink wristbands and helmet stickers. Another varsity cheerleader said that the administration is blowing this way out of proportion.

I think this is absolutely ridiculous. These girls are trying to support all of the women in the world affected by breast cancer and were attempting to conduct a fund raiser to help cure breast cancer. There is nothing wrong with that, and as for the administration saying the slogan is inappropriate is absurd, I see all kinds of school kinds wearing the "I Love Boobies" bracelets all the time, and in my opinion that would be more inappropriate than the t-shirt slogan. In no way does the slogan offend anyone due to the fact its to support Breast Cancer Awareness. For them to not allow this is very inappropriate in my opinion and it sounds like to principal needs to grow up and realize this is all just for a VERY good cause.

Miracles Happen Every Day

On August 18th I was in a car accident that should have taken my life. I fell asleep at the wheel after working multiple consecutive doubles one night on my way home when my car hit the edge of a bridge and flipped end over end and landed on the opposite wall of the bridge. The police and volunteer firefighters told me they were expecting to find a lifeless body. The only part of the car that wasn't crushed was the driver's side. After the shock of the wreck wore off I realized that I had been blessed by God's hands protecting me every second of the accident.

Two days ago my fiance was also in what should have been a tragic accident. He was on his way home from work when a semi flipped onto the top of his car. When the roof caved in it shoved him into the floorboard of his car and he was trapped. When paramedics and police arrived they thought that they would find a mangled body in the pancaked car. The used the Jaws of Life to cut the car open to find him alive and with just a few cuts on his had. He told me afterwards that when the accident happened he had been in the middle of a prayer for a friends sick child, and I believe that had a part in his safety. Once again God had protected him from death and too gave him a second chance at life.

After going through all of this my faith in the Lord has strengthened and I will be forever grateful for the things God has helped my family get through. I know that things happened for a reason and we were saved to continue taking care of our kids and each other and I will never take the small things in life for granted.

Baby Thriving after Live Saving Heart Transplant

Kylee Faith Jones is the youngest person to have a heart transplant at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, in Hollywood, Florida. Five weeks after her transplant she is making a remarkable recovery, she is doing exceptionally well and her new heart is working perfectly. Her family says that they are blessed to have their baby girl doing so well after all that she has been through.

This story is very heartwarming especially to parents around the world. To know that we have the technology these days to perform such miracles. To be able so save such a fragile life has to make every pediatric surgeon feel on top of the world. It gives me faith in our medical system to be able to overcome any seemingly tragic disease in people and children especially. The medical services provided to our country's children continues to progress immensely and give a promising future to all the sick children out there. My gratitude goes out to all of the doctors that help save this little girls life and provide her with a future. I am also grateful for the relief and happiness that this has given to this baby's family.

Lohan Flashes Yellow, Decaying Teeth on Red Carpet

On Wednesday the 12th of October Lindsay Lohan walked down the Red Carpet apparently flashing yellow, rotted teeth. People obviously believe that the decay of her teeth is due to the use of tobacco, alcohol, and controlled substances. Many photos were captured of her that evening as she made her way down the Red Carpet. 
Seriously, who cares. She's human and she makes mistakes. Almost everyone at one point in time has gone through similar incidents in their life where they have made similar mistakes. All of the publicity is most likely making it harder for her to pull herself out of this rut. Nobody wants the world to know their business especially not celebrities who are already exposed to the world with their every move. The media needs to learn that maybe some of these celebs would recover and straighten up quicker if we left all of their problems out of magazines and off of the Internet and television.

Sad Morning

Yesterday morning I was awakened by a frantic knocking on my front door. It was an acquaintance of mine delivering the horrible news of a good friend's suicide. At 7:45 am on October 5th my friends fiancee found him hanging from a tree in their back yard. I am by no means trying to get sympathy by sharing this story just simply trying to convince myself that it really happened. I've talked to his parents, I have read the obituary, and everyone is still talking about it, but for some reason it just hasn't sunk in with me. I should be crying, I have known this kid for more than a decade, practically grew up with him....but I haven't cried yet. Maybe going to the memorial services on Sunday will help it to seem real, seeing everyone else cry may strike a chord for me. I had no trouble crying right away when my brother passed away, or when my best friend at 13 shot himself, or when another friend of mine died in a car accident, or when a kid my sister grew up with died from a brain aneurysm...so why can't I bring myself to tears about Andrew?

Touch-Screen Steering Wheel

German researchers have come up with a new way to "keep ur eyes on the road". Touch-screen stearing wheels are said to make driving safer by being able to browse through radio channels and navigate maps with just the touch of your thumbs. They are even thinking about making the touch-screen thin enough to break in an accident to allow an airbag to deploy.

Honestly I think this is a bad idea. First of all a touch-screen stearing wheel sounds like it would be more of a distraction to drivers...not less. If you can navigate maps and browse radio channels wouldn't that take your eyes off the road and on the touch-screen? I think it would also be more dangerous to put an airbag behind it, when that screen breaks and the airbag is coming at your face going that fast would you be likely to get broken pieces of the screen embeded in your body? It just seems really hazardous to me and doesn't really sound like a good idea.

Oregon Teen's Death Linked to White Supremacists

The body of Cody Myers was found in a wooded area in Portland, Oregon. Authorities arrested two suspects who were also linked to the death of a Washington woman and the disappearance of her husband. After fleeing Washington the two suspects went to Oregon where they crossed paths with Myers somewhere. What actually happened in the woods is still a mystery but the two suspects are in custody thanks to Highway Patrol Officer Terry Uhrich.

It is sad to think that groups like "white supremacists" still exist, believable but sad and even scary. This teenager did nothing to deserve his life ending so suddenly, and for these two people to take his life away from him is unjust. Who are they to decide this boy should die? I really doubt they had a reason, he probably just "got in the way" of their escape and they didn't want anybody recognizing them. As a mother this sickens and angers me very much so. After reading their past convictions it makes me wonder why we even let people like that back out into society. Hopefully now they will be locked away until the end of their lives, and I truly hope that all of bad things they have done haunt them for the rest of their lives as they rot in jail.

Man honored for saving lives after car crashes into store

A fitness instructor from Texas just happened to be in New Jersey on July 30th, 2011 when a car going 50 miles an hour crashed into a jewelry store. The man jumped in the car took the woman's foot off the accelerator and turned off the engine. He carried the woman out of the car then noticed another woman pinned under the car. He pulled her out, bound the cuts on her wrists, and told her to hold her arms up to reduce the loss of blood until paramedics got there. He received a hero proclamation from Evesham Township.

Wow, talk about being in the right place at the right time. This man was all the way from Texas and "just happened" to be in that store at that time. Its great that he was there otherwise these two woman might have died. Normally in an incident like this people panic, freeze, are basically in shock that these things are even happening. For him to have reacted that calmly and quickly is just amazing to me. At the end of the article it says that the jewelry store gave the man an engraved watch that said "to our hero", how cool is that. I guarantee you that this man and all witnesses and victims will never forget this day or how great they all felt afterwards, knowing that he saved all of them. Its always nice to hear real-life stories like this, these days there are not too many stories that have truely happy endings like this one did.