From Tragic....isn't it pretty?!!!!

From http://www.saturday8.blogspot.com

sat8 :: you say it's your birthday!

1. as you get older, are you jazzed about your birthday?
yes--it's MY day and I celebrate it! I believe this is the day the Lord decided to grace me on this Earth. I feel fortunate to be able to celebrate
my birthday and so I quote from an anonymous writer,
"Do not regret growing older. It is a priviledge denied to many".

2. do people usually remember your birthday?
yes--my family, my husband and co-workers always remember. We, my brother, sister and dad are big celebrators of birthdays. I am always blown away when I know families who don't even send out a card to their siblings.

3. an ex-coworker used to begin 3 mos. before her birthday flat-out reminding us that it was coming up. it's amazing what no self-esteem does for you. anyway, do you know anyone who pre-announces their birthdays?
well, I have to say that I have done that. Not cuz I was trying to get presents simply becuz I was so excited. I feel I have calmed a wee bit when it comes to my b-day and announcing my jubliation.

4. what was your best birthday? why?
one that stands out has to be a few years ago when my girlfriends and sister came and got me, took me to paint pottery (which I really enjoy), we had sparkling wine as we painted, and then they surprised me and took me to a Japanese restaurant in a private room for my favorite meal--sushi-- and then they had an Elvis impersonator come in and serenade me! Too awesome!

5. what was your worst birthday? why?
maybe 4-5 years ago I was out with my husband and my family having dinner at nice restaurant and my dad tells me (or should I say he shocked me!) he got arrested for a DUI a couple weeks (?) before my birthday.
I drank a little too much and found myself as a crying drunk which I am not!!! It really upset me.

6. name your best birthday gift
I honestly cannot choose since I always get such awesome presents!

7. name the best birthday gift you've gotten for someone else.
Got my husband the putter he wanted so badly!

8. as i age, i value SLEEP as a priceless commodity. i didn't get any for my birthday, however. what do you want this year for your birthday?
Now just becuz I want it doesn't mean I'll get it!!
-new printer/scanner/copier/fax machine for home office
-memory card for my camera with bigger memory
-gift certificate to my favorite Catholic bookstore
-nice dinner out at my choice of restaurant
-Chanel No. 5
-for years I've been wanting one of those devices they play different nature sounds to calm you to sleep and to wake you in the morning
I definitely want to have certain sounds on it like: ocean waves, rain,
maybe some frogs croaking, etc.
That's all I can think of now but believe me if I really made a list it would be long (just ask my sister!)

OKAY, YOUR TURN FELLOW BLOGGERS!

A little about me...........
Name: Blessed
B-day: November 17-I am a scorpio. I read my horoscope
sometimes for pure entertainment. I have always
heard that scorpio's rule the planet Pluto. Now
what are we gonna do now that it's no longer
a planet?
Birthplace: KY
Current location: KY
Eye color: green
Hair color: medium brown with golden highlights
Height: 5 feet 9 inches
Right handed or left handed: Righty
Your heritage: Eastern KY-that's right, I got mountain in me.
The shoes you wore today: Nike cross trainers
Your weakness: animals, stationery, ink pens, frogs, Elvis,
sushi, books, ocean, Jesus, being Catholic, being loved
Your fears: Going to Hell, losing a loved one, being in the car when it rains
Perfect pizza: The spinocoli pizza at Uno's. Spinach
and broccoli. It's the bomb.
Goal You would like to achieve this year: To see the
image of God in EVERYONE.
Thoughts first waking up: It's time to get up ALREADY???
Your best physcial feature: Eyes
Your bedtime: 11:30 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
Your most missed memory: my brother
Pepsi or Coke: Coke
McDonald's or Burger King: McDonald's
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: can't choose
Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: cappuccino
Do you smoke: Yes:(
Do you swear: ONLY when I let myself lose my temper. But ordinarily no, this is one flaw I have been working on for awhile now.
Do you sing: Yes, karoke, in the car, in mass
Do you shower daily: yes
Have you been in love: yes, am now.
Do you want to go to college: yes, I want to go back
Do you want to get married: I am married
Do you believe in yourself: yes
Do you get motion sickness: usually not
Do you think you are attractive: yes but then again, ask me tomorrow. LOL.
Are you a health freak: no
Do you get along with your parents: I do get along with my dad most of the time
Do you like thunderstorms: not really
Do you play an instrument: no...unless my voice counts

In the past month have you.......
drank alcohol: yes
smoked: yes
been on drugs: does Advil count?
been on a date: yes, my hubby and I go out on dates
gone to the mall: yes, one day ago
eaten a box of oreos: no, hardly eat oreos
eaten sushi: yes, my favorite food
been on stage: no, haven't karoked in awhile
been dumped: no
gone skinny dipping: no
stolen anything: no

Ever been.......
drunk: yes
called a tease: yes
been beaten up: yes, by step-mother
shoplifted: yes
How do you want to die: in my sleep---is there a more pleasant way?
What do you want to be when you grow up: loved
What country would you most like to visit: Italy

Do YOU want to make a mark on the world?
Do YOU want to make a difference in the world?
What kind of difference would that be?
What kind of mark would YOU leave?
Would it be your talent? intelligence? abilities?

Really been doing some soul searching and came across yet another
something I wanted to share and hear your comments. Now this is pretty deep but pretty profound.

An odd sounding question at first until we realize what is meant by it....
Many folks do not realize that we must DIE TO SELF in order to GROW!
Now let's do a little soul searching to see if we truly know what it means to "die to self":

When you are forgotten or neglected
and you don't hurt with insult,
but your heart is happy,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When your advice is disregarded,
your opinions ridiculed,
and youre fuse to let anger rise in your heart,
and take it all in patient, loving silence,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you lovingly and patiently bear disorder,
irregularity, unpunctuality, and annoyance..
and endure it as Jesus endured it,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you never care to refer to yourself in
conversation or record your own good works,
or itch for praise after an accomplishment,
when you can truly love to be unknown,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you can see your brother or sister
prosper and can honestly rejoice with them,
and feel no envy even though
your needs are greater,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you are content with any food,
any offering, any raiment,
any climate,any society,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you can take correction,
when you can humbly submit inwardly
as well as outwardly,
with no rebellion or resentment rising upwithin your heart,
THAT IS DYING TO SELF."

Pretty deep huh? I gotta alot of work to do!

Very busy today-as if that is any different from any other day---
so I stumbled upon this quote and had to share:

There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self.
--Aldous Huxley

I put our flag out today in honor of our great country and in memory of
all those who perished so tragically 5 years ago today. So many still hurting over this devastation. God bless them all!
Where were you on 9/11/01??????

******************************************************************
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I have been tagged by Dial-up Princess @ www.relationshipsdepotmnf31.blogspot.com
I don't know if I've mentioned this or not but I dig being tagged.

Blog Meme

What 4 blogs are you tagging with this meme and why?
Now how can I pick just 4 when I want to tag everybody who reads because I want to know what all they have to say

Why do you blog?
I blog to ramble, babble, complain, vent, understand, praise, celebrate, share and to connect.

How long have you been blogging?
I have been blogging since December of 2005 despite what
my archives say. This is my 4 blog. I had trouble with 2 blogs-so
1 I deleted, another blog is still out there but I have a note on it to come to this blog and 1 blog I was using as a way to post my photos and inspirational quotes, poems and I decided to get rid of trying to keep up two blogs.

Self Potrait:
How do I see myself? Just a woman going about in this world on a journey to grow, understand, experience, live.

Why do readers read your blog?
Hopefully it's becuz sometimes I might say something interesting or something that makes us (who out here in blogland) feel connected.

What was the last search phrase someone used to get to your site?
Seinfeld-I did a post about a Seinfeld episode and it's correlation to my life!

Which of your entries unjustly gets too little attention?
Well, should I go to mention anything about God, Jesus, my spirituality,
scripture, some seem to shy away from posts like that. But that doesn't stop me from sharing anyway.

Your current favorite blog?
Now this is really hard. I have to say that so many are so very interesting
but the one that I tend to leave a lenghty comment on is
Misti's blog at www.carononfire.blogspot.com.
Her deep, no-holds-barred, honest, truthful, passionate and yet sometimes tear jerking and heartaching and yes sometimes explicit writings, from the her heart on her relationship have left me on the edge of my seat and yet made me feel as tho I was along for the rollercoaster ride. Her blog has really moved me.

What blog did you read most recently?
Obviously Miss Dial-up Princess since I saw that she had tagged me.

Which feeds do you subscribe to?
Daily Dancer-He's a hoot!

Okay, peeps out there-you ALL are officially tagged!

Today, 8 years ago, my brother passed away. He was only 23.
He died while out riding his motorbike. He hit a Dodge Ram pickup
almost head on. Hit right on the corner of the drivers side, right by the
headlights. He was wearing his helmut. He was just out in a rural area
looking for some trails and around the corner he came and around the corner a truck came. He was out enjoying himself with a friend.
He was broke to pieces.
I still can remember the call so vividly. I was at work. I was working the
lunch shift of a split shift. I was waiting tables at that time. My
sister-n-law called me and told me to call my step-mom. You see,
my brother and I did not share the same mother. But I never saw my little brother as my half brother.
NEways, I kept asking my sis-n-law to tell me why? Why do I need to call
my step-mom? I kept thinking did something happen to my dad? Why should I call my step-mom over that when they were divorced?
I kept asking her why and then she finally told me that my brother was dead and I remember screaming. I remember that I instantly felt sick and I was sobbing uncontrollably. I remember my manager trying to help me. My world was a blur. I remember trying to call my dad, but he and my brother (sis-n-law's husband) were golfing. Kept trying to reach my sister but she wasn't answering her cell phone. I think my sis-n-law came and picked me up and I can remember her picking up my husband from a bar that he was watching some sporting event with his brothers.
I just remember the absolute horror and shock. I can remember seeing my dad cry the most devastasting pitiful cries. I can remember not wanting to leave my father's side. I didn't want him to be alone. We, my husband and I, rode with him back to where my dad lives, my old hometown. They were bringing my brothers body back from the rural county he was in. I remember I had to see him. I had to see him before the funeral home was going to embalm him. My father pleaded with me not go see him but I had to. And when I went into that room and he was laying there so pale but as tho he was sleeping. There was a sheet covering his body and I could see that one of his legs was sticking out
where it was broken. My step mother was beyond devastation. This was her only son. I hugged her. She felt colder than my brother. She kept touching him and looking under the sheet and it was just beyond words the utter devastation, hurt, anger, sadness that was in that room.
I could see that his neck was swollen. The crash broke his neck.
I kissed his forehead and left the room. And as I left I broke down.
I could not believe he was gone...just like that. My little brother was gone. We were only 4 years apart. I taught him to draw and to dance. I played Barbi's with him. He either was the Lone Ranger or The Incredible Hulk. I beat the tar out of him with Johnnny batter-ups or
brooms. Sent him to the hospital for stitches. I was mean to him when were kids. I resented him becuz he was her son. I was her step-daughter.
She loved him. He could do know wrong. I was the abused step-daughter. As a child, I took out my anger on him. But I loved him, too. Siblings do fight. As we grew older, we grew apart and eventually when I was 19 I moved away. But before he died, I felt we were becoming closer. I understood my childhood jealousy and resentment. He was my brother and my friend.
As I write this, I do feel my eyes tearing up. I just remember how funny he was and how handsome he become. He worked out all the time. Tall, fair, cut abs and what a sense of humor. What a catch! Had a great job, lived with his girlfriend in a cute house. He could dance! Had a boat. Nice truck. So much going for him. And in an instant, he was snatched up from this Earth....snatched up to a better place.
So today, I dedicate this blog to him. I wish so badly he was here. I guess I still can't believe he is gone.
You know, I got married two weeks after he died. He was coming to our wedding. I went thru with the wedding since things were already paid for and dates had been booked. I wish he could have been there. I know he was there in spirit. We toasted to him that night as we stood under the stars. I think him always when I see the stars twinkling, when I pass a channel with somebody fishing, or if I see a hawk soaring in the air,or when I see the Dukes of Hazzard or Night Rider (he loved those shows) or if I see someone suffering from asthma or allergies (since he did so bad) when I see a gray Nissan truck, when I look at my grill on my back porch --he brought that grill over to me and my husband from my dad's (two weeks before he died) or my first tatoo on my right leg, just above my ankle. It is a heart with his intials. He probably wouldn't have wanted me to do that. But I did it anyway.
Every year in the the hometown paper, I put something in the paper in memory of him. This year I missed the deadline and had to put in for two days past the actual day. Made me feel so bad but it's gonna be there! I didn't forget. I could never forget.
I miss him. Wonder what life would have been like with him in it?

Happy Labor Day!
First celebrated in New York in 1882, Labor Day began as a parade to honor the working class. From the beginning, the celebration proved a favorite. Over the next day, similar Labor Day celebrations began cropping up across the United States. In fact, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts even passed laws declaring Labor Day a state holiday. In 1894, the U.S. Congress followed suit. Just 12 years after New York held the first Labor Day parade, Congress declared the first Monday of each September a national holiday in honor of the working class. Canada also celebrates Labor Day on the first Monday of September.
I'm glad today is a paid Holiday for me.

Sad news:
Steve Irwin, 44, the quirky Australian naturalist who won worldwide acclaim as TV's khaki-clad "Crocodile Hunter," was killed by a stingray barb through the heart while filming a new documentary on Monday.
That's just freakin' awful. Very entertaining dude! God bless him!

What about them Cats?
UK vs Louisville. The season kicks off and I had, yet again, a glimmer of hope in my heart for our football team.
And, yet again, they beat us 59 to 28. The sucky thing for me is
I like football better than basketball and yet our basketball team is the team that has been so great. Had fun watching the game and listening to all the heckling. Poor Cats!

Hello to you Miss Understood!
I wish I could comment on your blog but it won't let me, as you know. So, hopefully, one day, I will be able to comment. I loved your blog for Sunday, Sept. 3rd. I saved my comment so I hopefully will be able to add it.
What is this blogger beta anyway???

Questions for anyone who feels like answering:
Have you ever tried to be friends with someone but they didn't exactly seem
like they wanted to be your friend back? Or better yet, you thought you were friends but then you felt they were holding back? And you didn't know why?
Okay, since I'm just rolling with the questions, here's another: Have you ever had a friend that seemed nice to you in person but when ever they were
in front of others they seemed somewhat cocky and dismissing of you?
Just curious.

Well, that's enough for today.
Blessings!