A Personal Situation
I don’t have the greatest past, and avoid contact with one person as he still leaves my skin crawling. He’s passing through town and is making it blatantly obvious, with the numerous phone calls over the past four days, that he will be making his way here and will be stopping, no matter what reasoning I give him otherwise.
I am angry and frustrated. I don’t like for people just to stop by at my home, and unless I want someone in my home, I don’t appreciate them taking it upon themselves to find their way here.
So who is this person and why, if I really can’t stand him, does he know my address and phone number?
This person would be my ‘father.’ Better described as the man who adopted me when I was eight, claims to be my father, yet still, somehow, likes to force himself into my life and cause disruption in any way possible.
The only reason he wants to stop by is to meet my other half, as Cheyenne is on his way to see his ‘real’ son in Indiana. He wants to stretch his fatherly thumb down when he’s been far from an active part in MY life since about the time my mother passed away in 2001. For that matter, the last time he saw his grandson was the last trip I took to Evanston; when my younger brother had his first child over a year ago.
He’s committed to being here sometime Wednesday afternoon and wants to take us out to dinner. Horray, said in a very sarcastic manner as I rolled my eyes.
So, I’m curious… Is it possible to change my phone number and move in two days?
Revamp and Redirection
This blog has become cluttered. Yes. Cluttered! I have had it with wanting to go so many directions, covering multiple topics and disrupting the flow of this blog, because of that, I created a new blog which turned into it’s very own dot-com! My new site is dedicated to providing information for proofreaders, editors, writers, and more (work from home job opportunities, telemarketing, and the list continues.) You can visit PEWAM at http://pewam.wordpress.com.
Be forewarned, this place is about to undergo some serious revamping! I’ll offer topics covered in this post, which will always be viewable first!
I look forward to spending more time covering everything that tickles your fancy in an organized manner!
Extreme Makeover: Update
I was blessed with the opportunity to travel out to the Extreme Makeover Site again yesterday. We (my son and I) were there during part of the filming for the “move that bus” segment. We had too much to accomplish before days end to stay until the final reveal after 5 pm yesterday.
I do have many pictures and even a video to share, but I will make you all sit waiting for a few more days as I’m gathering much information and quotes from individuals.
Update: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
As promised, I did drive out to “Project 507″, Cheyenne, WY Extreme Makeover site.
While I was there, I took a few pictures of the place.
So now that you’ve had your viewing pleasure, I’ll give you the exciting news! I pulled around following the street and came back up. I parked along side of the road and got out of my car to speak with the security guard. I asked a few important questions, watched the workers go by, discussed a few key people in the company (all women by the way) and acquired some much needed information.
The grand reveal will be Friday and when I return later today or tomorrow to snap more pictures, I will be given the time window of the reveal so I can be present for the event!
There are more posts to come about the exciting events transpiring on Four Mile Road in Cheyenne, Wyoming. One of them being video of the explosion that took the original house down!
Extreme Makeover, Pictures
ABC’s hit show, Extreme Makeover, is in Cheyenne! They have destroyed a house riddled with radon and are well under way of building an entirely new home in its place. The Miller family residing on the 20 acre lot, purchased the home with the intentions of creating an animal shelter. Due to the health issues from the radon exposure, their plans have yet to come to fruitation. Extreme Makeover star, Ty Pennington, did one up in designing the home for the Miller’s. Not only did he design an enormous house to replace their moderate one, he has also designed a 1700 square foot area for the animals needing help.
I drove by the site, as close as possible before reaching security directing traffic away, and took a few pictures. I do not have a before image, unfortunately. Here are the pictures I took this evening.
View from the back.
You can see the top of the house over the design tents and trailers.
Distant View of the whole property. The new house is well under construction with two days left to build and get it together.
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Another view of the house, zoomed in.
Building constructed on the side for an animal sanctuary. That construction is complete on the outside.
I am going to attempt to drive by again tomorrow now that it will be easier to find. I will update with additional photos as they come available.
Mysti
ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Cheyenne, Wyoming is the temporary home of Extreme Makeover Design Team Ty Pennington, Paige Hemmis, Paul DiMeo, Ed Sanders, Eduardo Xol, Michael Moloney, Preston Sharp, Tanya McQueen, Tracy Hutson, and John Littlefield.
The Miller’s 20 acre lot of land was purchased in hopes of creating a sanctuary for animals, yet has posed a life threatening issue for all. Radon, an odorless radioactive gas, fills the home.
Carter Brothers Construction, of Cheyenne, was selected to provide the manpower for the project. Their website offers a few photos as well as some information about the Millers and why they were selected.
I will travel out to the general area tomorrow and try to capture a few pictures myself!
"Please bring it back."
As my son is playing with a train set that Santa delivered over Christmas, he began asking for his tracks that go with his trains. Those tracks, as I tried desperately to explain to him, were broken while I was playing with them and I threw them away. He quickly replied, “Please bring it back.” I, again, tried to explain that I couldn’t go get them. They went out to the big trash and went to the dump. He quirked, “Will you PLEASE get your sandals on and go get them. PLEASE!”
The conversation continued with his questioning of this item and that; all of which had been discarded to appropriate places.
Fortunately I have a bright three year old. Unfortunately he doesn’t quite understand that once something leaves the house, it is not retrievable.
Fancy a Story or Two??
One of the forums I visit is geared towards parents. As I created my signature to be attached to all posts I make, I opted to do something a bit different. I created a story to follow suit with my introductory post on the forum.
I travel here from a Kingdom far away. I am the Mother-Queen to Mini-King Jaden. I spend my days home, yet busily proofing and editing copy for the grandest trade magazine tailored to Real Estate Agents and REALTORS®. When work fails to call my every moment, grand adventures fill the moments allowed. Father-King-In-The-Making; Rob, Mother-Queen; me, and Mini-King; Jaden, enjoy the opportunity to quest at near-by Castles inhabited by the Royal Family. The occasional outing to the grassy knolls adds a small amount of spice to our summer lives. With the season change fast approaching our royal lives, the chilling air will allow for castles of Ice to be built midst the warming light from above. A fire-pit enclosed in hard stone, shall offer warmth and many moments for this family of three.
Respectfully offered as introduction to the Royal Family,
Mother-Queen Mysti
My signature reads:
In a Kingdom far away, a castle was built with precision. The bright colors reflected the mind of the King, a very young king. He worked for hours to have the Castle just right, encompassing all he saw within his minds eye. Success was found and pictures were taken to remember the greatness that developed through hard work and perseverance.
And through this process, I have created a story for a dear friend, who’s daughter is sure to be a princess and her son, a dragon.
Thunder crashed and lightning struck the ground. Princess Jenna, while startled, unsheathed her sword. She knew the dark forces were near. The bushes rustled behind her and she heard a loud breath. Spinning around she called for the beast to present itself. A young dragon, JT, emerged and offered his help to restore peace and tranquility to the kingdom. Leary to start, Princess Jenna’s questions were soon put to rest when Dragon JT saved her life by breathing fire and crisping the group sent to attack. Their journey continues into the deep, dark forest where the evil Black Sorceress Caroness resides…
It’s been great fun writing simple little stories to go with pictures of our children. A different approach to writing for fun!
The Spill
Upon awakening this morning, I ventured to the living room only to discover an entire glass of water was being soaked up with the magazine proof I need to finish by tomorrow. I’ve salvaged what was possible and will copy notes and edit marks from those that are readable, however about 1/4 of what I’ve worked so hard on must be redone.
Working from home has fantastic opportunities for parents, until the deadline is fast approaching and a spill is mopped up by a three-year-old with the project at hand.
Mind over Matter
It was a sweltering spring day in Texas. I was participating in the middle school track and field events. Running had been a strong suit for me and I was sure I would succeed and earn the blue ribbon, a prize I would cherish.
The events seemed to take forever to complete. I did fairly well on the long jump, sprinted ahead of the pack in the quarter mile and then I stood in line for the high jump. I was far from thrilled about this event and wanted to give up before it even started. One of the girls standing beside me, Kim, offered a bit of a challenge. She piqued my interest with the challenge.
Kim towered over me, standing about 5′10”; compared to my 5′5. She was a couple years older than I was. I questioned if I could compete against her, but since she challenged; I was going to go for it!
One by one, we all took turns, sprinting down the lane and jumping as high as we could over the bar that increased inch by inch. We started at a mere three feet. Kim and I kept egging one another on in a very lighthearted manner through our intervals of waiting. Before I knew it, I was having more fun in that competition than I had running – and I took the blue ribbon in that event!
I stopped listening to the coach as he told us the new height. I looked at the measurements at the start of each race and noted what I thought was the five foot, one inch mark. I knew I could clear that easily and made my sprinting start. I approached the bar and jumped with all my might, stretching out and over the bar; landing on the soft matting without so much as a clip of the bar.
Kim followed me and I watched as her body was so gracefully lifted off the ground and over the bar, just as I had done. The competition was limited in numbers by that point. No one else cleared the bar that round. I felt proud in that moment and then I heard the coach say he was increasing the bar by one inch.
I heard the announcement of “six foot” and thought it was quite a large jump increase from my last jump. I mentioned something to Kim and she smiled and took off sprinting down the track. I watched her clear the bar, but she tapping it. The bar wobbled, but stayed put. I knew clearing this height would be a challenge.
I took a deep breath and focused on the bar. I tried to envision it shorter than it was, but the height kept ringing in my mind. I took off sprinting and jumped with even more force than I had before. I began to rise and over the bar I went, taking it down with my foot dragging too low.
When I got off the mat, I asked the coach what height I had cleared. With a very surprised look on his face, he said it was five foot, eleven inches. My best height was six-inches taller than I!
I took second place in that competition. Many years later, I know that the greatest life lesson learned during that race was mind over matter. I cleared that bar at five-foot, eleven inches because I was sure it was only five-foot, one inch.
Looking at life now, I follow that same approach. There is nothing I can’t accomplish if I visualize my goals at an attainable level.
