Callista’s Ramblings Birth Story

I’ve reflected on why I started blogging a few times before. When I was asked for an Ask Callista post, I said:

“I actually started blogging WAY back in 2003. I had websites from geocities starting in 1999 for many different things and on one I did book reviews. Then I found amazon.com and started putting my reviews there. Then in 2003 they changed the rules and didn’t allow anyone to post reviews on amazon.com if they hadn’t purchased from there and I didn’t have a credit card so I couldn’t purchase from there.

So I was planning to go back to my website for reviews when I stumbled upon a book blog and saw that this would be a great place to feature my book reviews. So I started my book review blog first and then shortly after, started this one. It was originally mostly for me, with results from online quizzes and my own thoughts. Then I saw that others were blogging for an audience and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. The direction of Callista’s Ramblings has changed many times but that’s how it all started.”

I also talked about how my blog has evolved over the years in this recent post for The Great Canadian Blog Bash:

Callista’s Ramblings Over the Years

• Started 2003  - when I was a teen and was new to blogging. Posts from back then are mostly memes, personal thoughts and silly quizzes.
• 2004-2006 – I posted irregularly, mostly in little spurts.
• 2007 – Mid year I started taking blogging a bit more seriously and started trying to post regularly. Still mostly memes and such though.
• 2008 – late in the year I started getting contacted by companies and started out with small posts with product compensation.
• 2009 – This is when I consider myself to really be a serious blogger that works with brands. I started doing more reviews and giveaways with opinion and random posts mixed in. April 2009 I got my current design. I also accepted my first guest post.
• 2010  - Posted the post that has received the most page views and searches EVER on my blog, even to this day it is the most popular and it’s very simple and I wrote it on my own. Why is an Orange Called and Orange? I also got my first “gig” with Mom Central as a Majesta Mom. I also held my first special event: Camping Week
• 2011 – big year for brand work and building readership. I participated in my first cash giveaway and started doing blog giveaway hops and sponsored posts. I also did my first Christmas Gift Guide
• 2012 – Realized I was getting to be too much reviews and giveaways and not other content like I had originally hoped. I’ve lately started to write other posts (such as 6 Things to Remember When Hosting a Child’s Birthday) but have been catching up on reviews. I plan on unveiling more content soon.

So if I wrote about this before, why go through it again? I was tagged by Newlywed Survival to do a post on how my blog came to be.

So now I pass on the tagging.  I’ve included one of their more recent posts if you want to check them out.

1. Darcy of Tales From the Nursery – Recent Post: Moxie Girlz  True Hope Dolls Support Center Research (+Giveaway)
2. Tiffany of Fabulous Finds by novembergirlxoxo – Recent Post: Culturelle for Kids Tummy Truths 14 Day Challenge: Day 12 plus a giveaway
3. Kari of Mommy to Elodie – Recent Post: Spinach and Soy Chorizo Quiche “Recipe”
4. Amanda of The Frugal Greenish Mama – Recent Post: Get a Free Personalized Downloadable Elmo Song
5. Cristina of Tailor Made Momma – Recent Post: Brandcation Here I Come

I’m Proud to Be Canadian, How About You? #TGCBB

I’m happy to be participating again in The Great Canadian Blog Bash(TGCBB), a celebration of Canadian Bloggers and All Things Canadian.

About Me

So first to introduce me. My name is Kathleen and I live in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I’m a SAHM to three children:

1. Girl 6 years old
2. Girl 5 years old
3. Boy 1 year old

I’m also a Girl Guide Leader, playgroup enthusiast and nonfiction book lover. I love to blog and learn about blogging and blog with others.

I’m turning 29 very soon (June 28) and I’m happy to be sharing a Birthday Weekend with Canada!

Proud Canadian

I have always been a proud Canadian. I love living in Canada and I can’t imagine living anywhere else! I’ve always lived in Windsor, Ontario, Canada too. Well I was in Leamington for a while as a baby but I don’t remember and that’s pretty much the same places anyways!

Photo Above Taken at the Canada Day Parade Windsor, Ontario, Canada 2010.

About Callista’s Ramblings

First of all you should know that Callista is the name I used to use online. It’s still in many of my usernames and emails but when I was younger, I was told not to use my real name online for safety. Now that I share my name with all kinds of companies anyways, I figured I might as well go by it. I prefer Kathleen anyways. I contemplated changing my  blog name a few times, not just because of the Callista thing but I didn’t want to have to go through all that renaming such with all the links and references to my blog and such.

Callista’s Ramblings Over the Years

• Started 2003  - when I was a teen and was new to blogging. Posts from back then are mostly memes, personal thoughts and silly quizzes.
• 2004-2006 – I posted irregularly, mostly in little spurts.
• 2007 – Mid year I started taking blogging a bit more seriously and started trying to post regularly. Still mostly memes and such though.
• 2008 – late in the year I started getting contacted by companies and started out with small posts with product compensation.
• 2009 – This is when I consider myself to really be a serious blogger that works with brands. I started doing more reviews and giveaways with opinion and random posts mixed in. April 2009 I got my current design. I also accepted my first guest post.
• 2010  - Posted the post that has received the most pageviews and searches EVER on my blog, even to this day it is the most popular and it’s very simple and I wrote it on my own. Why is an Orange Called and Orange? I also got my first “gig” with Mom Central as a Majesta Mom. I also held my first special event: Camping Week
• 2011 – big year for brand work and building readership. I participated in my first cash giveaway and started doing blog giveaway hops and sponsored posts. I also did my first Christmas Gift Guide
• 2012 – Realized I was getting to be too much reviews and giveaways and not other content like I had originally hoped. I’ve lately started to write other posts (such as 6 Things to Remember When Hosting a Child’s Birthday) but have been catching up on reviews. I plan on unveiling more content soon.

So it’s nice to “meet” you  and thanks for reading this. I hope you will decide to Subscribe, Like or Follow me to keep up and please introduce yourself in the comments (or say hello if I already know you!)

Ask Callista–4/27– E-store, Hockey, Go To Dinner

Ask Callista is my weekly feature where I answer reader questions.

I’d love for you to join the conversation in the comment by adding your thoughts on the questions and/or my answers.

Find out more and how to submit your questions here.

The Questions

Clarinda @ A Jewel in the Making asks… What is the best way to integrate a store on your blog? What plug-ins would work for that? Any other information on setting up a store front on a blog would be great

You stumped me with this one. I wasn’t able to find a person who could recommend a certain way of doing it but here are some resources I found on my own.

The easiest way seems to be using Paypal where you display products however you want and put “add to cart” buttons underneath and it will take care of the rest. More Info on Paypal.

You mentioned plugins so I assume you have wordpress. I found the following plugins for stores which seem to be rated as the top two.

- Get Shopped
- Shopp

I also came across Mal’s Ecommerce which isn’t a WP plugin but can also create a store front.

More Resources:
How To: Adding a Store to Your Wordpress Blog
How to Add a Store To Your Blog

Hope that Helps!

Greta @ Greta’s Day asks… I know you're from Canada. Do you like hockey? And if so, what's your favorite team?

I am not a sport fan in general. I don’t dislike Hockey but I don’t really watch it either. I have played it on PS3 before with my husband and his cousin but I wasn’t really good. The only part I don’t like is if it gets physical, I don’t think that’s funny or right in any sport.

Since I don’t really follow Hockey, I don’t know much about the teams but the one I played on the video game was always Edmonton Oilers. I suppose I should root for a team closer to home but I like their name and the colour of their jerseys.

Now you are probably asking this because you know Hockey is one of Canada’s Official Sports, but do you (or anyone else) know what the OTHER official sport is (without googling it!)???

Emily @ Nap Time is My Time asks… What is your "go to" meal for busy nights?

On busy nights, I almost always make Spaghetti. I try to always have pasta sauce, some kind of pasta (usually penne, rigatoni, rotini or cavatelli) and ground beef on hand. It often becomes our Tuesday night dinner every week as Tuesday is our Girl Guide night and is always rushed.

Another one is eggs and toast as we always have both on hand. Breakfast for dinner is fun!

Okay that’s it for today. If you submitted a question and I didn’t answer it, check back next week! If you want to submit a question, go here.

My Experiences With Elder Care

(c) 2007 Kathleen Garber. Do Not Reproduce.

I had never thought that I'd be doing elder care until I was much older myself. My parents are only just recently in their 50s and are doing fine. My father-in-law however was much older than my mother-in-law (by 30 years) and his health was not good. In 2005 my in-laws moved into our house and by end the end of 2006, his health kept getting worse. My mother-in-law passed away January 2006 and my father-in-law was dealing with multiple heart attacks (he had a pacemaker and defribillator in his chest), diabetes and by 2007 a stroke.

In 2007 my father-in-law was 71. He was at the hospital a lot, sometimes for weeks at a time. When he was home, I took care of him. My husband worked and since he was living with us, it fell to me to take care of him. I didn't mind though. As he got more and more sick, he was often confused. So I dolled out his medication, administered his insulin, made him the occasional meal or tea (he liked to do some things himself) and I even had to help him bathe once or twice. I'm the one who recognized that something was wrong when he had a stroke and I called 911 many, many times.

Taking care of my father-in-law was stressful. I constantly worried when he'd have another heart attack, stroke or extremely low blood sugar. We had a nurse visit him weekly. He was having more and more trouble walking because of what the diabetes had done to his legs. Our house now had a walker and one of those special seats for the shower in it. Sometime later we acquired an oxygen machine because he was often out of breath. Then we got a hospital bed. At one point he was even on an IV. Our house was looking more and more like a nursing home. I had a child at home and felt I was too young to be this responsible for someone's life but I did it anyways because I loved him. 

In April 2007, I gave birth to my second child. I couldn't possibly care for a new baby and my father-in-law so he moved in with one of his daughters. I felt relieved that someone else was taking over his care but also guilty that I wasn't taking care of him anymore when we had established a routine and I knew what to look for and such. I felt like I had decided my new daughter was more important than him and just threw him out. I visited him as much as possible and did what I could. In October 2007 his body had finally had it. He had been in hospital for weeks when it became apparent that he wasn't going to be coming home this time. His body was failing, one organ at a time and it was tired. October 12 was the day we said goodbye.

I still feel a little guilty for not taking care of him right till the end. I keep thinking I could have taken care of the baby and him. I now know that wouldn't have been possible as I was dealing with postpartum depression as well and I needed to take care of myself too. But I still feel bad.

*This is a sponsored post from Bucks2Blog and I was compensated, but everything in it is true and from the heart. I'm feeling quite sad from stirring up these memories.

Introducing Baby Liam...

Liam was born March 29 at 4:19 PM at 9lbs 1oz, 19 inches long. 

He came in a scheduled C-section. Everything went fine and we are taking it easy at home.

Getting my Wisdom Teeth Out! - UPDATE

Wisdom Teeth Photo from H4n0 on Flickr

I"m getting my Wisdom teeth out today so I won't be blogging till I'm with it enough to form coherent sentences. Wish me luck!

UPDATE: There's been a complication and I can't have my wisdom teeth out right now. I'm going to have to have it done in the hospital. This is causing a lot of stress. 

End of Year Meme 2009

I got this from Bleeding Espresso

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Went to a Harlem Globetrotters game, got my book blog listed in an e-book, visited Kitchener/Waterloo [Ontario], took the train
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? No not really. I don't make resolutions per say but do make some general goals. I don't take them too seriously though because I know they never get stuck to.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Two of my friends
4. Did anyone close to you die? My dad's friend.
5. What countries did you visit? USA, does that count? That's as far as I've gone and not even that far, just Chicago.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Good health and a new baby
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? January 2009 because I got a little closer to figuring out the specifics of something that's wrong with me (rather not give details) and October 2009 because I had surgery (again no details sorry)
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? My book blog has gotten more successful.
9. What was your biggest failure?Not sure.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Well as I said I needed surgery in 2009 but that was from something that happened in 2007.
11. What was the best thing you bought? I haven't really bought a whole lot. Oh my Wii.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I have no idea
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I have no idea.
14. Where did most of your money go? Bills LOL
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Visiting my brother in Waterloo.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Boom Boom Pow Black Eyed Peas
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer? Sadder, Fatter, Richer (but not by much)
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Reading and Blogging
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying and Overthinking
20. How did you spend Christmas? Christmas Eve at my moms, Christmas Day with my family. We were going to do Boxing Day with hubbie's family but we had to cancel.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? Nope, was already in love.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Big Bang Theory

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Dislike: Yes. Hate: no
24. What was the best book you read? I still haven't picked my top of 2009 (yeah I know just a BIT behind) but the one that comes to mind is Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Uhhh. I don't think I discovered music LOL.
26. What did you want and get? An MP3 player
27. What did you want and not get? A laptop
28. What was your favorite film of this year? Orphan was AWESOME!
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 26 and I visited my brother in Waterloo, ON and bought myself things.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Blogging all year with no breaks.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Fashion? Me? Yeah right.
32. What kept you sane? Who said I was sane?
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I don't really pay much attention to celebrities.
34. What political issue stirred you the most? I don't talk politics on my blog.
35. Who did you miss? My brother
36. Who was the best new person you met? I met a bunch of new friends at playgroup. So far I don't see them outside of playgroup but we're still good friends.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. Quality vs Quantity

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. 
Is it too late
Nothing to salvage
You look away
Clear all the damage

The meaning to
All words of love
Has disappeared

We used to love one another
Give to each other
Lie under covers so,
Are you friend or foe
-  Friend or Foe, TATU

Riding the Train

Have you ever ridden a passenger train? I'm on one RIGHT NOW as you read this. I'm visiting my brother. He's come down lots of times but this is the first time I'm going to see him. It's my first time on a train and first time travelling alone. I will admit I'm nervous. I'm one of those people who needs to know exactly how things will work and when and in what order. If it's something new, I need to know everything I can. I get anxiety too and motion sick but have the appropriate pills for those problems. So wish me luck and then peruse my archives for something that meets your fancy. Let me know if you stopped by or if you've been on a train before! I'll be back monday!

Friday Fill-in

This week there is a married one and a food one for those who aren't married/engaged but I wanted to do both!

1. I met him/her _online through a yahoo group I started_.

2. We dated _for only 6 1/2 months_ before we got engaged_.

3. I knew he/she was the one _almost right away, I just felt it_.

4. The thing I like best about him/her _is that he loves me for who I am_.

5. When he/she proposed _it was Valentine's Day and he wrote a poem_.

6. The song we had/want at our wedding _The Broken Road by ??_.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _relaxing_, tomorrow my plans include _Niece's birthday party and Rosh Hashanah Dinner_ and Sunday, I want to _Visit my parents_!

1. Chips or chocolate? _chocolate__.

2. Pickles on your hamburger? _no, on the side__

3. Baked potato: with everything or _cheese, bacon and sourcream_.

4. The perfect meal _poutine, is that a meal?_.

5. Martinis, wine, beer or _none of the above yech!_.

6. Your favorite pirate is (technically not food, but still yummy)_Jack Sparrow (if he was all cleaned up)_.

The Name Game

I tagged myself at The Diaper Diaries

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Kelly LeSabre
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Chocolate Viva Puff
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) K-Gar
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Yellow Dog
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) sorry don't share my middle name
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)Gar-Ka
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Blue Iced Cappuchino
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Jay William
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) Ghost Myst Fuzzy Peaches (LOLOLOLOL)
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Ann Lawrence
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Ewer Edmonton
12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Summer Tulip
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Blueberry Shirtie
14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Toast Oak
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Scrapbooking Thunder Tour

I'm tagging:

1. JennieBoo
2. Joy
3. Tony
4. Anyone else who wants to play (just tell me in the comments so I can visit.)

Quizzes Again

60/100Rate My LifeRateMyLife.net - Find out if you suck at life

Am-I-Dumb.com - Are you dumb?

Personality

I'm sure you've seen those tests that tell you if your personality is Introverted or Extroverted, Sensing or Intuition, Feeling or Thinking and Judging or Perceiving.

I've tried taking different version of these tests and always seem to come out with different results. My mom has the same problem. Or the results don't seem to match me.

But this time I took it through a blogging quiz and I think I've finally found the right combo that is me. Everything I've read so far makes sense.

My Bloginality is ISFJ!!!

I'm so relieved to finally figure out what I am!

Blogging Meme

From O So Mo Love

1. What do you enjoy MOST about blogging?
Meeting others and reading their opinions and getting opinions on my opinions. LOL.

2. Are you happy with your blog/website?
No, not really. I want to make my own design, I don't like the blogger templates much.

3. Have you altered your blog template or does it display it's original settings?
I've altered it but I"m still mainly using a template.

4. Do you post many pictures on your blog/website?
Not really. For some reason I have a hard time getting them to show up properly. Still working on that. I even tried using a table so the words and photos would show up properly but then it leaves a HUGE gap between title and the post. I would post more photos if I could just get things to work properly.

5. What made you decide to begin "blogging"?
I started it out as my personal journal because I type much faster than I write and my writing isn't very legible. Then as I saw that other bloggers were writing for an audience, I decided I wanted to do that too.

6. Do you make money with your blog?
I recently added Google AdSense ads to my blog but haven't made money yet. I'm afraid if I do too much to make money people will think that's all I care about and won't come visit me but then I can't work and we are struggling so any money I can make would help.

7. Do you post personal info on your blog?
Yes. I try to stay away from my last name and definitely don't post my actual address but I'm not worried about a few things.

8. To your knowledge does your spouse and/or loved ones read your blog?
I point out certain posts to my parents that I feel they might enjoy. My brother reads all my blogs and has one of his own. My hubby could care less about any of them. The two I have for my daughters are the only ones that are read my a lot of family because that's what they were made for. To keep everyone updated.

9. Where do you access your blog?
From home.

10. Have you ever posted a YouTube video on your blog/website?
No.

11. Do you list the blogs/websites of friends/loved ones on your website?
Yes I recently added some blogrolls. I visit many more people than that but those are my main visits.

12. On average, how many comments do your posts receive? Most? Least (if not 0)?
Mostly 0-3 but more if it's a meme (like Thursday thirteen.)

13. Is your blog a creative outlet? A soapbox? A record of your life for future generations? All of the above?
It's a soapbox and a record of my thoughts about various things.

14. What is the one thing you would change about your blog/website?
Well the template mostly.

15. Would you like me to post an entry later displaying your blog/website address?
Sure. http://callistasramblings.blogspot.com/

Interests: How do you choose?

I have more interests than I do time to pursue them. How do you choose which ones to go with? Currently I am interested in blogging, scrapbooking, reading, making graphics online, running web pages, learning photography and starting a pagan playgroup. That doesn't count what I NEED to do like cleaning house, organizing, running errands, caring for children etc.. Plus now I'm starting to do basic homeschooling (http://toddlerhomeschool.blogspot.com)

There is NO POSSIBLE WAY that I can do all of this at once. However I can't seem to choose. At the beginning of the year I was keeping my web pages up and learning how to make graphics, especially pixel graphics. Then I decided to go back to blogging and now I'm doing that almost everyday. This includes reading for my book review blog. I haven't scrap booked in months and am only up to a few months old for my daughter's scrapbook and she is now 19 months old and I have another child. I want to practice taking photographs and start a playgroup.

Does anyone else having this trouble? How do you decide which is more important to you? Do the interests you pursue often change?

The Moaning Meme

I was tagged through SheWhoBlogs.

The home of this meme is at Freelance Cynic.

5 people who will be annoyed you tagged them.

* Tony of The Spiral Path
* Berby of Berby's Babbles
* Everyday Mommy
* Can't think of anymore, feel free to tag yourself!

4 things that should go into room 101 and be removed from the face of the earth.

* Celebrity Scoop (I don't care who was arrested or why or who is in love with whom or where they went to eat lunch)
*Racism (not trying to sound all mighty, it just really peeves me off)
*Politicians and Lawyers (there has to be a better way to do things)
*Inflation (why can't all prices just stay the same? Or if all bills are going up, at least give us more money to start with)

3 things people do that make you want to shake them violently.

* Abuse children and animals
* Let young girls wear skimpy clothing
* Not clean up after themselves!

2 things you find yourself moaning about.

* Lack of help around the house by other housemates
* Lack of money

1 thing the above answers tell you about yourself.

* I think life is too hard and hate anything that makes it harder.

10 Things Meme

Shared through SheWhoBlogs by Jennieboo

TEN FAVORITES

01. show on T.V- OF ALL TIME - CHARMED, ON TV NOW - CANADIAN IDOL
02. flower - TULIP
03. color - YELLOW
04. sport - GYMNASTICS
05. movie - SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
06. music - AVRIL LAVIGNE
07. food - POUTINE
08. season - SUMMER
09. day - THURSDAY (GOOD SHOWS, ALMOST WEEKEND)
10. location - CANADA

TEN FACTS

01. hometown - WINDSOR, ONTARIO
02. hair color - MEDIUM BROWN
03. hair length - 10" PAST SHOULDERS
04. hair style - STRAIGHT, NO BANGS
05. eye color - BLUE-GREEN
06. gender - FEMALE07. height - 5'3"
08. weight - 195
09. current location - WINDSOR, ONTARIO
10. lefty/righty - RIGHTY

TEN THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE

01. have you ever been in love? - YES, TWICE
02. do you believe in love? - OBVIOUSLY
03. do you give up on love easily?- NO
04. do you think someone likes you? – I SHOULD HOPE HUBBY DOES
05. have you ever broken some one's heart? - NOT THAT I KNOW OF
06. ever loved someone but never told them? - LIKED YES, LOVED NO
07. are you afraid of commitment? - NO08. have you ever had a secret admirer?-YES
09. do you believe in love at first sight? - NOT REALLY
10. do you want to get married one day? - YES. I'M COMMON LAW RIGHT NOW BUT SOMEDAY WOULD LIKE THE CEREMONY.

TEN THINGS: THIS OR THAT

01. love or money? - LOVE
02. white chocolate or milk chocolate? - MILK CHOCOLATE
03. flowers or candy? - CANDY
04. one night stands or relationships? - RELATIONSHIPS
05. television or internet? - INTERNET
06. pepsi or coke? - COKE
07. wild night out or romantic night in? - ROMANTIC NIGHT IN
08. colored or black and white pictures? - COLORED
09. phone or in person? - IN PERSON
10. aim or myspace? - NEITHER

TEN HAVE YOU EVERS

01. have you ever been caught sneaking out? - YES
02. have you ever been completely in LOVE? - YES RIGHT NOW
03. have you ever done something you regret? - YES
04. have you ever sky dived? - NO
05. have you ever been on a house boat? - NO
06. have you ever finished an entire jaw breaker? - YES AS A KID
07. have you ever wanted someone so badly it hurt? - YEP, HUBBY AND KIDS
08. have you ever been streaking? - NO LOL
09. have you ever been skinny dipping? - NO
10. ever wanted to marry a celebrity? - NO

TEN EMOTIONS

01. are you missing someone right now? - MY BROTHER
02. are you happy? - KINDA
03. are you talking to any one right now? - NOPE
04. are you bored? - NOPE
05. are you german? - NO (WHAT DO THESE HAVE TO DO WITH EMOTIONS?)
06. are you irish? - NO
07. are you french?- NO
08. are you italian? - NO
09. are your parents still married? - YES, MARRIED FOR 17, TOGETHER FOR 27.
10. do you have a bf/gf? - JUST HUBBY!

TEN LASTS

01. Last phone call? - TO FRIEND AMBER
02. Last thing you read? - THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING BY LLL.
03. Last IM? - TO BROTHER A FEW WEEKS AGO, DON'T USE IM MUCH
04. Last item bought? - CHOCOLATE BAR
05. last thing u ate? - SIDE KICKS
06. Last time you were nervous? - WHEN MEETING AMBER FOR FIRST TIME IN MANY YEARS
07. Last person hugged? - DAUGHTER
08. Last TV show watched? - STAR TREK TNG
09. Last cry? - YESTERDAY
10. Last time you ran on the track? - ME? RUN? LOL

Celebrity Look-A-Likes

Ever wonder what celebrities you look like? I've been watching The Next Best Thing and I can't believe how great they all are. If I could vote, I'd have a hard time choosing between them.

Then I stumbled across this. At first I disagreed with most of the results but then realized it was given a likeness in the 60% range. I think I can see the likeness in some cases. What do you think? That's me on the left. Okay, well, that's me in Grade 12. I like to pretend I still look that good LOL.

Thursday Thirteen #5 - 13 Childhood Memories

13 Childhood Memories

1. November 11, 1988 - the day I was run over by a school bus. Yep, you read that correctly. I ran to catch the bus and slipped on the ice and went underneath the bus. The back wheels went over me, crushed my pelvic bone and ruptured my spleen.

2. Playing water games in the backyard with my friend Katherine at age 5. Haven't seen her since, don't know her last name either :(

3. Dad taking us to the Peace Fountain at the Detroit River. We went at least once a summer.

4. Age 12 - the day I got my very first period. Embarrassing. Enough Said.

5. Grade 6 - the hairdresser cut my hair too short and I was embarrassed about it. I walked around school with my coat on so I could hide the length of my hair.

6. Tenting in the backyard with my friends. Sleepovers were so much fun!

7. Speaking of sleepovers, the one at my best friend's house when we were trying to do a seance and just as we asked for a sign that someone was with us, the friend's grandfather dropped his keys onto a table and scared everyone!

8. A red-haired babysitter. Unless I was dreaming. That's all I remember about her.

9. Sometime between Grade 6-8 when we had so much rain the street flooded and I had a friend over and we ran through the water (a foot high)

10. Finding out I was Lactose Intolerant. Screaming in pain at a friend's house after having ice cream and then the test. (You ingest their lactose potion and then wait and then breathe into something.)

11. Watching Cartoons! Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, My Little Pony and more.

12. Playing Boogieman with my brother. We'd be in the bed with the covers over us and then pretend the boogieman was pulling us into the bed and we'd be sucked under the covers.

13. My bedroom being redone just the way I wanted it... and them moving out 6 months later.

Tina's Tuesdays

It's really hot today and I have a headache so I'm not in the mood to write a good post or tackle anything so I decided just to answer the Tina's Tuesday's meme again.

Are you a web junky? Why or why not?
Most definitely. I am on the computer all the time (see second question) I just can't get enough of it. I love being able to talk to people all over the world and see both how much we have in common and what is different. I can't imagine it being any other way. Talking only to people who live in my city.

How much time do you estimate you spend on the web?
Currently about 3-4 hours/day but I'd spend a lot more if I didn't have kids and a house to take care of. When I lived alone in an apartment I spent over 8 hours a day on the net.

Where can we find you around the net? (ie: facebook, flickr, mybloglog, etc)
Lots of places. Most places I'm callista83, sometimes I'm MoonMorgan, Kaylana Anaya, ConnorMorgan or kgarber. I'm on:

[edited July 2011)

Facebook
Twitter
StumbleUpon
Google+
LinkedIn

and lots more! But those are the most common ones.

Dreaming...

The Saturday Special is all about dreaming this week:

1. My dream house is?:

Large enough that everyone can have their own room and there are enough other rooms to allow for people to be alone if need be, but not too big that people get lost in it and can't find each other. Beautiful gardens with fountains out front, a large wrought iron gate around the whole property and LOTS of animals. Perhaps next to a lake or a wooded area. I love the castle look of this house.





2. My dream car is?:

I don't know much about cars but it would be a convertible of some kind and be red or white. Or perhaps white with flames on it.










3. My Dream Vacation is?:

To go to the countries where my ancestors come from: Israel (pictured left,) Russia and Poland. To spend enough time there to sight see or even just lay on a beach all day doing nothing. To go to museums to learn more about my history.






4. My dream life is?:

To live in my dream house with my family, have my dream car and go on my dream vacation. To be loved and to love and to not fight about petty things. To really cherish what life has to offer.