Graduation Day

I got this in an email from my friend and thought it was worth posting. It is so easy to forget how how the smallest things we say and do can affect others in a big way.

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my
friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. " They really should get lives." He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came! , and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday! " He just laughed ! and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak. Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous! Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled " Thanks," he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began:

"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends... I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse.

New Auctions up on Ebay

Torrid, Lane Bryant, Hot Topic etc listed on Ebay. I will be listing more in the next few days too. Click the pic to see my goodies!

Kitty love

Felix giving Lola a bath. Awww, kittens are love :)

Tuesday wisdom

"The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

My creative punishment

My son has a new habit of being extremely sassy to adults. After correcting him and taking away his priveleges several times, I ran out of ideas. Last week my darling son decided to be snotty to his teacher. As a creative punishment, he had to turn over 100 of his precious Yu Gi Oh cards. I decided to auction them off and to buy his teacher a nice little gift with the money I make from this auction to let her know how much I appreciate her.

Click here to see the auction.

Crazy cat lady!

I've turned into a crazy cat lady.

My sister had 2 stray cats at her house all week. Today when we went over to her house, they stole our hearts. They followed us to our car even. So we had to take them home. Now we have 3 cats!

They appear to be brother and sister. They are kittens but I'm not sure how old yet. They are so darn sweet, always cuddling each other.

The black one we named Felix and the tiger is Lola.






Now hopefully they can get along with our doggy.

New auctions listed!

I listed a few Americana things. I will be listing more in the next few days as well.

Click to see the goodies

My DSL is DSL'ing again!

So my DSL is back up. Wooohoo! Isn't it sad that my use of the internet is such a critical part of my day?!?

I can post some pictures now. And I can get back to working on some listing some stuff on Ebay. Yay!

Here are the flowers that my Ebay buddies sent me awhile back:

Tuesday Meme

A short story about you
Created by shinikami and taken 178941 times on Bzoink
Name
Current time
Current weather
One day, you were walking down the street when	you started to cry.
And so you	fell to the ground, sobbing.
But then,	a little kitten came and licked you.
And it turned out to be	something you'll never forget.
So now you	wish you had a million billion dollars.
Create a Quizlet | Search Quizlets | Go to Bzoink

I love the BDC girls!

My eBay friends have the biggest hearts.

After not chatting with them regularly for several months, I was invited back to the discussion board we all frequent. They found out that I had cancer and pooled together to send me some treats. First I received a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Then today I received a gift card to Sephora to spoil myself with beauty treats. What a wonderful group of ladies! I am so lucky :-)

I was having such a rotten day too. So it was awesome to get this gift card and sweet note this afternoon.

Hoppy Easter

Happy Easter to you all! I hope the easter bunny leaves you plenty of chocolate eggs.


The dog (yes the dog, not the kids) got us up early today. She was barking at the cat at 6:30. I think the kids would probably have kept busy with their baskets for awhile and let us sleep too. Silly pooch! It was so cute to watch my daughter freaking out with joy over her basket. I love how excited she gets over things. It's amazing.

Yesterday we went on a candy/egg hunt at the park district. It's such a nice one. Both kids had a lot of fun and got bagfuls of candy. The weather was so beautiful too.

After that we helped my sis move all day. She's got most of her stuff moved in, but not unpacked. It's so cool to think that she's only living a few minutes away from me. I've hoped for that since I moved out 9 years ago.

Verizon, flowers, and love

So I'm temporarily on dial-up. OMG, I forgot how slow it can be. I guess I've been spoiled having cable or DSL for so long. Let me also add that I *hate* Verizon! They have the worst customer service ever. In a year, they have screwed up our account 4 times. 4 times they have done something to disconnect our DSL and not once have they solved the matter to our satisfaction. Sadly, the choices for internet on our block are DSL, dial-up or satellite. Ugh!

So for the next 9 days, I probably won't be posting much or emailing anything really involved because it's just so darn slow.

/Rant

On a happy note, I am so touched by the kindness of strangers. Since I found out I had cancer, so many people have reached out to me with a kind word, a greeting card, prayers or thoughtful little gifts. It is because of all this love I have been shown from friends, family, aquaintances and strangers that I have managed to stay strong and fight. Yesterday, I received a card from someone I "know" from the Ebay boards. I am just blown away by the kindess of this woman. Thank you to all those people who have thought of me and wished me well.

The un-pinking of Sparklefluff

So, sadly my pink hair had started to fade. Not overall, but a splotchy fade..ick!


I decided it was time to for me to try something new. After all, I've been at this pink thing for like 6 months now. So I started the week long process of removing my pink. I had to bleach it three times. This is after the 2nd bleaching...



Then I dyed it "caramel", which I love. I left a chunk of blonde in, but it's still tinted pink. I'm hoping that it will wash out.

New auctions listed on Ebay!

Torrid, Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, plus more!
Click the picture to see the auctions.

Random cuteness

Oh, to be Milo the cat. He's so darn cute and lazy. I swear he sleeps like 23 hours a day.

By the time you are 30...

A friend sent this to me and I thought it was worth sharing. BTW, I turn 30 in 6 months. Eeek!


BY 30, YOU SHOULD HAVE:

1. One old boyfriend you can imagine going back to and one who reminds you of how far you've come.

2. A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family.

3. Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour.

4. A purse, a suitcase and an umbrella you're not ashamed to be seen carrying.

5. A youth you're content to move beyond.

6. A past juicy enough that you're looking to forward to retelling it in your old age.

7. The realization that you are actually going to have an old age—and some money set aside to help fund it.

8. An e-mail address, a voice mailbox and a bank account—all of which nobody has access to but you.

9. A résume that is not even the slightest bit padded.

10. One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry.

11. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill and a black lace bra.

12. Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it.

13. The belief that you deserve it.

14. A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don't get better after 30.

15. A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship and all those other facets of life that do get better.

BY 30, YOU SHOULD KNOW:

1. How to fall in love without losing yourself.

2. How you feel about having kids.

3. How to quit a job, break up with a man and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.

4. When to try harder and when to walk away.

5. How to kiss in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn't like to happen next.

6. The names of: the secretary of state, your great-grandmother and the best tailor in town.

7. How to live alone, even if you don't like to.

8. How to take control of your own birthday.

9. That you can't change the length of your calves, the width of your hips or the nature of your parents.

10. That your childhood may not have been perfect, but it's over.

11. What you would and wouldn't do for money or love.

12. That nobody gets away with smoking, drinking, doing drugs or not flossing for very long.

13. Who you can trust, who you can't and why you shouldn't take it personally.

14. Not to apologize for something that isn't your fault.

15. Why they say life begins at 30.

6 years of dating bliss

Yesterday was the 6 year anniversary of our first date. Awww :-) We had a quiet dinner at home. My hubby brought me flowers. I gave him a book. It's a journal about our relationship for us to fill out together. Sappy, but I thought it was sweet and would be something nice for our kids and grandkids to have one day.

Tonight is all about relaxing. I'm watching The Wedding Singer on tv and doing laundry. Tomorrow I plan on doing pretty much nothing. Maybe I'll work myself up to some Ebay listing. It's so nice to have a break after being so busy the past few weeks.