Bad things happen to good people...

There's a saying out there that goes I DON'T DO MONDAYS. Well, that sort of hits home for me, only my saying goes, I DON'T DO JANUARIES (VERY WELL). Januaries for me are very stressful at work. This year is proving to be the worst yet; only it's flowing into the family side of life.

For those of you who don't know, two years ago, if I remember correctly it was in the fall, Tim (my boss) kept going outside on a Friday afternoon. I commented to Gene that I thought Tim wasn't feeling very well. Being a man and very stubborn, he wouldn't say a word to either of us, so we just assumed all was OK. Gene just thought because it was a semi-nice day that Tim just wanted to be outside rather than stuck inside. I just felt something was wrong.

Well come to find out that the following day he had died on us...not once, but twice. The Lord sought fit to bring him back to all of those who love him so dearly. He was diagnosed with what Tim calls an ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION. He has a sort of "short" in his heart. Apparently it forgets to beat. So he has a pace maker.

The day he came back to work, I went up to him and gave him a big hug and then slapped him upside the head for not saying anything about feeling the way he did that Friday before. MEN, I tell you!

This year he had a test done that showed a shadow. So his doctor showed another doctor, and now on Friday Tim has to go and have some exploratory surgery. Of coarse, he's real calm about the whole thing. I'm freaking out. I can't imagine how is wife is dealing with it. My prayers are with Tim and his family. Please keep him in your prayers also.

Then on Friday I walked into the office and said my usual good mornings and said, "So, is Tim at a fire?" (Tim is also a volunteer fire fighter!) Gene said, "Yeah, he just left not too long ago. When he left they said the garage was on fire. Now the news radio is saying it's spread to the house." My first thought was, "Oh those poor people."

I went on about my morning trying to get most of my W-2s and monthly books finished to concentrate more on training my new employee. Tim had an appointment at 11:30 and it was getting close to that time. The phone rang and I got a message in e-mail at the same time. Tim was on the phone, and Vickie had e-mailed me. Tim was stuck at the fire yet, so I had to review the return with his client. While talking with Tim I was reading this e-mail:

hey- if you hear about house fire in Sheboygan on lisa ave..that's ryan's family....they're all ok

This gave me chills. Tim was fighting a fire of someone I knew! And from what Tim said, it didn't sound good. So my brain went to work thinking of how I could help. Hey, they have no food. So I made chicken noodle soup and bought some dinner rolls they can eat...comfort food.

Gabriel and I drove by the house yesterday, and it gave me water eyes. There's not a whole lot left to the house, or the truck that was parked in the driveway. So they lost just about everything. The Lord was watching over them though. Nobody was hurt!

Ryan called me yesterday to thank me for what I was doing. He questions my "love" for him from time to time. He's asked Vickie a few times if I like him or not. I only have a problem with him should he hurt my sister! I think this shows him that I do love him and I do care about him and his family. (But that is not why I did this.) He was almost in tears when he left me a thank you message in my voicemail. That made me feel so amazing. Something as little as a pot of soup can make a family cry! (And I don't even know if the soup tastes good or not!)

We had Movie Day at church today. Every Sunday after service the parents of the Sunday Schoolers meet in church with their children for pre-devotion. Today we had a quick opening, and Mrs. Ristow had a parent go up front and put on a backpack. Then she asked all the kids what kinds of burdens sinners carry around with them. With every burden mentioned, Mrs. Ristow would put a rock into the backpack. This "presentation" was soooo hitting home, it gave me water eyes. The theme of the day, "Lay Down Your Burdens". At the end of putting in all the rocks, the helper was given a present. She opened the box and inside was a cross.

Just the sight of that little cross, opened my eyes to see that yeah, my burdens are heavy, but Jesus is there to help through them all. It's human nature to still feel worried and helpless at times, but I keep it in my head that I'm not alone in all of this...Jesus is there with me.

God bless you all! Have a great week.

Out of the mouth of a five year old...

I have a scary story to tell everyone. I guess it's something I have to deal with being a mother and wanting to be there for everything my children go through...even if it is bad things.


Saturday morning Emmanuel came in my room and said, "Mama, I need a tissue." So I reached over on my nightstand and grabbed a tissue. He took it said thanks and went back to his bed. A few minutes later he was back in my room kind of whining/crying. He said, "Mama, I have gross on my face." I rolled over and could see something on his face. I got up and took him into a better lighted area. At closer look the poor guy was covered in blood. His face, hair, and hands. I flipped. I ran him into the bathroom for even a better look. He looked closer and saw all the blood and began to shake like crazy. I grabbed a washcloth and made in nice and warm to wash his face to see if he'd cut himself, or if I could find a gash or something on his head. After cleaning his face up, I noticed blood dripping from his nose. Thank God it was just a nose bleed. But so much blood! I couldn't believe it. His blanket was covered with it too.


I was in shock. I felt sick to my stomach, and just wanted the whole ordeal to be over. We ran a nice warm back, and put Manny in the water. (The bathtub and his bed are his comfort places when he's sick or hurt.) This gave me the opportunity to catch my breath and try to calm myself down.


After his bath, I put him in clean jammies, and sent him off to bed again. By this time Gabriel was up. I was so tired from lack of sleep the night before, I just wanted to go back to bed. I put in a movie, and the boys watch while I tried to sleep. For two hours it was nice and quiet. The boys just stayed in their room while I napped. They are so sweet.


I have to tell you how Gabriel tells the story of Emmanuel's ordeal...


"...He was getting a lot warmer. And he was getting a lot drier. And the elecfricity (electricity) from the plug made bleed come out of his nose. He was sleeping. Now we have the water to never make his nose bleed again..."


It's very dry in our house, so that explains the drier part of the story, but where the child gets the idea of a plug up his nose I'll never understand. Every time he tells the story, I have to turn my head and chuckle. The expressions this child makes when he's tell it is so cute.


Well, I need to go to bed now. I'd like to be to work by 7:30 tomorrow morning to get stuff caught up. I really hate Januaries at work. It's the worst month for me.


Good night to you all!

Where were you...

WARNING: Just a warning to all of you...this may be a tear jerker.



Where were you eight years ago today?

Why eight years ago you ask? It's not an easy number to remember such as 5, 10, or even 20 years. How would you remember what went on or where you were on such an odd year? Well, for me eight years ago today was a very sad emotional day. Never in my life did I think I'd feel so many different emotions.

Eight years ago today my entire family and I were in Florida to say good bye to a very dear loved one. It was eight years ago today that we laid to rest the one person who we didn't think would pass at such an early age. We were all at the funeral of my four year old cousin, Timothy Charles Day. What made the whole event even more trying was that today is his birthday. We buried a five year old little boy. I have a five year old, and I can't even imagine what it's like. Every year it's the same sad feeling I get when I think of how awful it was the night I received the horrible call. "We lost Timmy tonight."

Yes, we may have lost Timmy, but on the happy side of things, look what heaven gained! The bright eyed smiley little boy with the lowest voice I ever heard from a little fella. I can remember walking into the house the night we arrived in Florida. It was very hard for me to look out at the pool. I collapsed into Roger's arms and just sobbed. Then Kim said something to me that I will never forget. "Timmy's sitting on Jesus' lap, probably pulling on His beard." Yeah, he's sitting on Jesus' lap. What a perfect vision.

Kim always knows just the right thing to say at just the right time. The Lord may have taken Timmy from her, but He blessed her with the gift to comfort others in times of sorrow. I feel that to be a bitter sweet blessing.

I remember when Vickie and I took our girl's vacation and we stopped by to visit Timmy's resting place. Vickie's mother had just passed away a few weeks prior to our trip. All of us were standing by Timmy's grave crying for different people. Kim knew just what to say then too. Mom passed away while sitting at the dinning room table getting ready to eat a meatloaf sandwich. Kim put her arm around Vickie and said, "Your mom prayed, "Come, Lord Jesus" and this time he came." Oh how true. Vickie told me that night, "I never thought of it that way. That makes me feel better."

Kim wrote in her blog today about people saying, "Get over it." or "You need to move on." What kind of words are these. To me they are a slap in the face. You never fully get over losing a loved one. They are always in your heart and memories. I remember the Friday before Timmy passed, I talked with him on the phone, and he sang to me. He sang "Who Let the Dogs Out". I used to think it was a stupid song. Now it's a treasure I'll never (get over) or forget. There are just things that you can't move on from. Yeah, it's been a whole eight years, but it's going to take forever and back to GET OVER IT. Never once has anyone said that to me, instead, only word of encouragement. I've had a few downer days this last week, and there are several quotes I'd like to share from people who tried to comfort me. Each quote shows that yeah, it's bitter sweet that we lost a loved one, but look where he is now...PARADISE!

"It comforts me to know that the last 8 years have been much better for Timmy than it has for us. It's sad we didn't get to see him grow up but we will see him again. I wonder if he will be the same age or if you age in heaven?"

"Chin up, he's in heaven smiling down. We should all be so lucky."

Some day we will be so lucky! I'm so looking forward to being up there and seeing what it looks like sitting on Jesus' lap. Of course, I have the manners to not tug on His beard!

Because Timmy was called home at such an early age, Kim has had the opportunity to "counsel" other families who have lost children. The Lord has blessed her with the gift to console. She went through the pain and sorrow of losing a child, but she can feel the joy of helping others to overcome their sadness in times of grief. What a blessing that is for all those she consoles. And my family and I are blessed that we have such a strong caring individual who shares her story to help others.

We don't keep stories of Timmy to ourselves in the Ellison household. We talk about our cousin quite a bit. We want our boys to know what kind of a loving and happy child Timmy was. Gabe asks questions about him once in awhile. "Is Timmy the boy by Jesus?" "Timmy is in heaven with Jesus, right mom?" I only wish they could have met the boisterous little guy we were able to love and adore for five years. I also have the poppyseed donut in the face to remember him by! For those of you who were there you know the laugh we had.

Good night to you all and God bless you!

Long time no write....

So I'm still here. Did y'all miss me? It's been over six months since my last blog. It doesn't seem that long. Lots has happened in that time. I don't know if I'll get everything, but I'll try and tell the high points of the last six months.

In August Noah and I took the boys to see Kim Kim in Florida. We had invited the Grandmas to join us. Only Grandma Lynn was able to come along. We got there on a Saturday afternoon, and it was so humid I thought Noah was going to die. But the more time we spent outside, the better he was with it. We joined Kim at little church and talked with some people I hadn't seen in two or three years. It was nice to see them again. I even met her Pastor Cookie (Kuske). Our pastor's name is also Kuske...they are distant cousins.

That afternoon, Kim held a little pool party for us. All my "Good" Florida friends showed up. It really made me feel special to have all these loved ones show up just for me! Even if it was for only an hour...um you know who you are!

It did rain for a little bit during our pool party, so we moved it up to the Castle Day and chatted and ate and just enjoyed the company. It was wonderful to see everyone again. Miss them all so much.

Monday we drove to Orlando to see Tinkerbell...oh wait, that was for me. We drove to Orlando to see Mickey Mouse. Yeah that's it. We were about an hour out when we hit "Tropical Storm Faye". I've never driven through rain like that before. It was torturous. We made it to the hotel, but it was later than we expected, so we talked it out and decided to stay and extra day. We bought two day park hopper passes. The boys loved Disney World.

Our first day there, we hit Pirates of the Caribbean. Gabe loved it. Manny wasn't too sure. We had to coax him to even walk into the front door. But once we were done with the ride, he couldn't stop talking about it. To this day the two of them talk about Disney World.

Manny's favorite ride was It's a Small World. He went on that four times. He's so into music, so this was the perfect ride for him. After Pirates, he was unsure of the whole boat thing, but if we could have, we would have stayed on that boat all day and gone around and around.

We got back to Kim's around 6 or so on Tuesday evening and the night was just gorgeous. The sun was out and the wind was nice. It's what you expect Florida to be...hot humid and tropical. Then that b*tch Faye followed us. Thursday morning the heavens opened, and it rained and rained and rained. The wind was so strong it was knocking over trees and street signs. Even the stores in the mall were closing.

I felt like we needed to build an ark. It rained until the day we left. Then the clouds cleared again. Just our luck. We had an enjoyable time, but we just wish that it wasn't so wet! Oh I did get to say hello to Billy Powell from Lynard Skynard. I waved and said hello to him and his wife...she's not at all what I pictured her to look like.

In September I had my 16th class reunion. Man I'm gettin' old. It was 16 years because there are not enough people from class who are interested in keeping in touch with me...well, each other. I saw people I haven't seen in 16 years. One of which was Steve Potthast. Wow! What a handsome guy he turned into. Vickie met up with us that night and she too was quite impressed with the little guy her brother used to wrestle in high school. I used to be the same height as he, but boy grew. I had to look up at him. We exchanged e-mail addresses, and have been talking since the reunion. He and his wife just had their first son on December 26th. What a wonderful Christmas gift that must have been.

In October, Noah and I took the honeymoon we never really had. We did exactly what Bush wanted us to do with our Stimulus Payment. We spent it...in Las Vegas! OMG did we have a blast. Thanks to my loving, kind, generous, gracious mother, we were alone. She watched the boys for us while we were gone. It was very hard for me to leave them that long. I'd never done that before. It was so nice though to not have to worry about anyone but us.

I have a new favorite place to visit now...sorry Kim...I still love Florida, but nothing beats Vegas, baby. We were amazed at all the different architecture and all the different kinds of people. I was so impressed at how clean the strip was...except for those stupid clickers...that's what we called them. They were men (very few women) handing out little cards with half naked women on them. They were soliciting women! Is that legal? Oh yeah, we were in Vegas...it's legal there.

These people really annoyed me. I'd be walking on the side of the sidewalk they were standing on and they would lean across me to hand the cards to Noah. I was getting so angry with them, I said to one of them, "If he wanted one, he'd ask for one." Noah said to me, "I don't think they understand you. They're probably all illegal immigrants working for cash." I would guess that 99.9% of these bozos were Hispanics. We did see a Caucasian handing them out too, so I asked him (jokingly), "Where do I find the cards with men on them." He just looked at me and said nothing. Geeze, you'd think I'd killed someone with the look he gave me. It was only a joke!

Our favorite resort was Caesars Palace. It was a completely different world in there. Gorgeous decor and the statues were amazing. My next favorite was The Venetian. If that's what Italy is like I wanna go! Walking inside the hotel was like walking outside. The ceilings were painted with clouds.

They also had so many different sites to see inside the hotel. The mall was amazing. There were "opera" singers, and even live statues. I was flirting with him the day we were set to leave. He really played with the audience. People would walk up and try and touch him, and he'd slowly move and scare them so bad. One older woman screamed and ran! I sat and laughed. He looked over at me and winked at me. And all he worked for were tips! Made some good money that day!

We are talking about going back soon. There is too much to see and not enough time to see it all. We did go to a magic show on our anniversary. The only show left in Vegas with Big Cats. It was amazing. We had our picture taken there. This is my most favorite picture of the two of us. We saw it, and said that's the one. We had five or six to choose from, but this one just popped out at us.

After the show we went to the Mirage, and had dinner at this place called Sambas. It was a Brazilian restaurant. I've never had a steak like the one I ordered there. It was delicious. I so want to go back there. And let me tell you about my Brazilian Punch. It tasted just like fruit punch...and it punched me right out! It was three or four different kinds of rum, with a splash of pineapple and orange juice served in a fish bowl. It was very big and very yummy!

It was one of the best vacation I've had in a very long time. And there was no rain! It was just cold. While we were they, they had below average temps!

Ok, so the week after we got back from Vegas, my sister Marjorie and I had plans to see one of our favorite groups in concert. She came up from St. Louis and stayed with us for a few days. The day she got here, I left work early, and we hit Harry's Diner for some supper. We got to the concert an hour early which gave us enough time to grab some souvenirs and a drink. I never had to go to the bathroom so bad in my life. The line was so long. I had my stuff opened and was ready for the next stall to open. The people behind me just laughed.

Well, being that Marjorie and I didn't know each other even existed back in the day, we were unable to share their first round of fatuousness. When there was word out about a reunion tour, I thought what a perfect way to share a part of what we missed out on. We went to see THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK. I was a huge fan back in the day, but not so much anymore. I'm now a DANNY WOOD fan. After the group split in the early '90s, I tried to keep up with Danny. He did some acting, but his love was in music. He grew up quite a bit since the first round of touring...wow did he grow up.

Yeah, we were so close to the stage we could see perfectly. AMAZING! Marjorie had so much fun that night. She looked into the concert in St. Louis. They were there three weeks after the Milwaukee show. Yep were were there too...same seat we had in Milwaukee...what are the chances of that?

Being that I believe Danny to be my future husband...Noah laughs at that...I made a sweatshirt I was going to wear to the St. Louis show. I thought I'd get his attention one way or another...there was no way I was going to throw my bra or panties on stage...he'd run the other way! No, I made this sweatshirt. When Danny went solo, he had green buttons that said NEED WOOD on them. Well, I couldn't find a button, even if I did, he never would have seen the tiny thing. So I made a "billboard" out of this sweatshirt. Received at least 5 compliments on it from other fans.

The show started, and knowing what songs came when and when each band member would be on our side of the stage, I knew when to hold up my shirt...it worked...he saw me...he knows I exists! It helped too that I posted a comment on his Myspace page that told him where I'd be sitting and what to look for....he really reads that stuff!

Anyway, he made his way over to us, and I held up the shirt and he looked right at me, gave me a thumbs up waved and smiled at me...be still my heart. That made my day. Marjorie took this picture of him just before he did that! See how close we were? And look at that man's body...hello! Noah told me to get a hobby....lol.

After Danny it was Donnie's turn to come over to our side of the stage. He's the biggest flirt of the band. Everyone, and I mean everyone loves Donnie. Well, I can be a flirt too, so I thought "How can I get his attention?" I put two fingers together and did a little wave. I can remember thinking "No way...did he just do that? Did he just wave back with two fingers? Did he just blow me a kiss?" What a night to remember! I don't usually get all excited about celebrities, but there is just something about Danny (and Donnie) that makes me want to scream. I have a teenage crush on a 40 year old man and I'm proud of it!

This is me and my sister, Marjorie just before the concert started. Do you think we look alike? We don't see it, but everyone asked if we were sister?

Chris, Marjorie's husband commented the night of the St. Louis concert that when Marjorie and I are together, we act like big kids...isn't that what sisters should do? He thought it was cool how well we got along and how it was like was all have known each other our whole lives. What scare is Edward, my brother, and I are almost identical in likes and dislikes.

I'm so glad we found each other. We needed each other. And I have a niece and two nephews I never thought I'd have. Yay!

So after the concerts, there was a pretty quiet month (November). Not a whole lot happened in this month. Gabe had Christmas rehearsals for two Christmas programs he was in. Oh where did the time go? I can't believe my little Gaby Baby is five already. So sad. We always tease him and turn off his growing switch. He laughs and says, I turned it back on! For his five year check up, I was talking with (his friend) Dr. Trager and he looked at the chart and saw Gabe was in the 80% of height and 90% of his weight compared to other children his age. Dr. Trager said to me, "You are going to have one solid child when he's older." I looked at him and said laughing, "I already do!" I can't lift him anymore. He's almost 55 lbs! That's a lot of dead weight to lift.

December came and along with it came the snow. Our first major storm we got 10 inches of snow. I was going outside that night after the boys were sleeping to snow blow, and the stupid thing broke on me...I used every word in the book that night I was so mad! In the morning I got up and started to shovel that stuff...it was wet and heavy. Noah got up early that morning, and fixed the snow blower for me and finished up the driveway so I could get to work. Yeah, gotta love winter...NOT!

Since that storm, we've used the snow blower 5 more times. When is this winter gonna end?

For Gabe's Christmas service at Calvary, our home church, my whole family was supposed to come down to see him. Kim Kim in Florida was even here for it. At 7:30 or so my phone rang. It was Kim crying because they were not able to make it due to the blasted snow. A half hour later, my mama called and it was just like talking to Kim...tears were flowing and she was quite angry with the weather.

It just so happened that Vickie and Ryan and their kids were in town for Ryan's family Christmas, so they spent the night at our house. They got up on that frigid morning, and went to church with us. I was so happy that Vickie could see her godchild in his first Christmas program.

This picture is of Vickie, Ryan, Mason, Zoe (my godchild) and Mia. Aren't they a cute family?

We were able to buy a dvd of Gabriel's performances. The camera man was awesome, I thought. It's a treasured keepsake!

Christmas was good. We were all together. Noah and I hosted Christmas Day dinner at our house. I love doing that. I love to have the family together and just share good food and good company. That's what I like most about Christmas. Who needs the gifts and the trees? Give me church, family and food, and I'm blessed!

With that being said, good night to you all!