Tonya's Space

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't been on here to check in and write a bit. It has been a solace for me while it was cold and nasty out, but the past month has been crazy around here. And that's putting it mildly!!! LOL

Between all the birthdays (5 so far) Meo's giant science fair project (a model of the sun that was a little over 4 feet around) trying to get some work done outside between the all rain (flower beds, garden, weeding the walk and patio, power washing the house, getting the porch sanded and painted and finally - setting up the pool) then all the never ending housework. Whew. As if that wasn't enough Aidan has been teething like crazy, my back went out for over a week - still healing and the rain has totally screwed everything up. Ugh.

The Good News 1. Meo got 2nd place in the science fair and got to talk with a guy at NASA. He graduated 8th grade with honors on Tuesday and is now on summer break. YAHOO 2. With plenty of fruit popsicles and ice cream Aidan's gums are feeling much better and he's his usual chipper self. 3. The flowers are starting to bloom and I think the hummingbirds are finally coming back. 4. It might be too muddy to get into most of my beds, but hopefully I can take that time to work on the house and front porch while it dries up. If it ever stops raining long enough!

Ok, I'm done rambling.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.

Take care and God Bless.

Tonya

I just came in for a break and to check my e-mail. An old Navy buddy sent this to us and I just had to share it. If you haven't seen this one before, please feel free to pass it along and say a prayer for all our brave soldiers. God Bless.

Tampons to the rescue in Iraq!! Don't worry, it's a good story, and worth reading. It's even humorous in parts. It's from the mother of a Marine in Iraq.
My son told me how wonderful the care packages we had sent them were and wanted me to tell everyone thank you. He said that one guy we'll call Marine X, got a girl care package and everyone was giving him a hard time. My son said, 'Marine X got some really nice smelling lotion and everyone really likes it, so every time he goes to sleep they steal it from him.' I told my son I was really sorry about the mistake, and if he wanted I would send Marine X another package. He told me not to worry about Marine X because every time I send something to him, Marine X thinks it's for him too.

He said when my husband and I sent the last care package; Marine X came over to his cot picked up the box, started fishing through it, and said, 'What'd we get this time?'
My son said they had the most fun with Marine X's package. He said he wasn't sure who we were sending the pack to, but the panties were size 20, and he said one of the guys got on top of the Humvee and jumped off with the panties over his head and yelled, 'Look at me, I'm an  Airborne Ranger!!!!' One of the guys attached the panties to an antenna and it blew in the wind like a windsock. He said it entertained them for quite awhile. Then of course.......they had those tampons.
When he brought this up, my imagination just went running, but he continued. My son said they had to go on a mission and Marine X wanted the Chap-Stick and lotion for the trip. He grabbed a bunch of the items from his care package and got in the Humvee. As luck would have it he grabbed the tampons too, and my son said everyone was teasing him about 'not forgetting his feminine hygiene products.'
He said things went well for a while, then the convoy was ambushed and a Marine was shot. He said the wound was pretty clean, but it was deep. He said they were administering first aid but couldn't get the bleeding to slow down, and someone said, 'Hey! Use Marine X's tampons!'  My son said they put the tampon in the wound. At this point my son profoundly told me, 'Mom, did you know that tampons expand?'  ('Well....yeah!')
They successfully slowed the bleeding until the guy got better medical attention. When they went to check on him later the surgeon told them, 'You guys saved his life. If you hadn't stopped that bleeding he would have bled to death.' My Son said, 'Mom, the tampons sent by the Marine Moms by mistake saved a Marine's life.'

At this point I asked him, 'Well, what did you do with the rest of the tampons?'
He said, 'Oh, we divided them up and we all have them in our flak jackets, and I kept two for our first aid kit.'
I am absolutely amazed by the ingenuity of our Marines. I can't believe that something that started out as a mistake then turned into a joke, ended up saving someone's life. My sister said she doesn't believe in mistakes. She believes God had a plan all along. She believes that 'female care package' was sent to Marine X to save our Marine.
Either way, our efforts have boosted the morale of many Marines, provided much needed items for our troops, AND saved the life of a Marine! God bless every one of you for your efforts and hard work, and God bless our Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force and all our military service personnel.
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND KEEP IT SAFE!

Please send this on after a short prayer. Prayer:
'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us.  Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.'
Prayer Request: When you read this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world.
There is nothing attached Just send this to people in your address book. Do not  let it stop with you Of all the gifts you could give a Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman, & others deployed in harm's way, prayer is the very  best one.

May God Bless you and be the center of your being,
And remember, God Loves You.

  Geez, in my last post I was flying high with garden happiness. This week, I'm just now feeling good enough to sit down and write a little. I only had 2 1/2 days to play in one of my flower beds when the rain/wind storms and cold came back. Then I discovered my weeping cherry tree is on it's last leg since one whole side is now gone and I'm going to have to dig it up. I've had that tree for ten years and it's the 1st tree that we planted here :>(

If that wasn't enough, I ended up with one hell of a head cold to boot!! Of course it didn't help that I snuck out between storms and took a few pics of my trees and shrubs (April Showers Album) Duh, not too smart I know, but I didn't want to miss getting some shots and I really need to practice with this new camera. Now I'm paying for it. Yeah, yeah I deserved it and I know it, but I can't say that I wouldn't do it again. I did get a few shots I'm happy with. LOL

Well, the good news is that I've decided to say the heck with it and am going to completely redo that flower bed since I'm gonna have to dig up the tree anyway. I've got my creative juices flowing and have been drawing out new plans for that side of the house. Now if I can only figure out exactly what I want and get Romeo to agree with it!

Next I'm also going to plan for a big yard sale (skipping Ebay - no time) and make enough to get the good macro lens for my new camera. This Nikon doesn't have it with either lens that I have so far and it's really starting to tick me off. I've been tempted to get my Minolta Diamage back out and it doesn't come close to the clarity of my new one, but I miss those great close ups dang it! I'm going to have to make myself sit down and read that manual front to back and get better acquainted with my new one.

Now, if I can just get my head to quit throbbing I've got 2 whole days to play outside before the rain is supposed to come back again! Happy Gardening everyone!!!!

YEE HAAW

The sun is finally out and the ground is drying up from all the flooding rain we've had and I got to spend all day outside weeding the house flower bed. I had Aidan in his playpen shaded on the front porch and just dug in. It's been almost 2 years since I've been able to do that. I even got a sunburn on my arms and it was pure heaven :>) We will be back out there today as well. I've got a lot of work to catch up on. Isn't it great? LOL

We even had some guests from the lake all day to keep us company.

Wow, where has the time gone? Meo is now officially 15 as of Friday!!! My little boy is growing up so fast. It seems just like yesterday that he was Aidan's age. He was happy with all his presents and is now anxious for summer to finally get here so we can get to work restoring his old Chevy pickup. Oh and of course, real driving lessons on the road - not at the farm and on the old tractor!!! HELP ;>)