Open Letter Friday

Polymer Clay Snails is having a new MeMe… and I love the idea!

It is called Open Letter Friday.

Write a letter, to anyone. Sister, parent, crazy driver, coffee house person who takes 15 minutes to order one drink, in the morning, with 10 people in line AND is on the phone. (This is more like an obituary at that point.)

So… here is mine. It’s been on my mind all day, and is fitting.

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This is a disturbing video, please do not let your little ones see this.

My letter is in response to this video.

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Dear Parents of child in Kalamazoo, MI.,

Your son beat a middle aged bus driver 18 times in 24 seconds.

Your teenage son beat a bus driver because he was angry about a stop she made.

The son you raised beat a middle aged woman so severely it broke her hand, gave her

two black eyes, stitches and forced THREE other students to hold him back.

You said he was provoked by the bus driver? That he is not to blame.

How dare you blame this poor bus driver for your child’s actions. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

He is not to blame? Are you kidding me? Who is?

The twins living in his head? (He is schizophrenic and bi-polar)

The mental illness he has?

Your son has been taken out of your care “because parents cannot meet the juvenile's needs for structure and/or supervision given mental health issues and/or special needs of the juvenile” (taken from mlive.com).

This young man of yours has four prior accounts of violence against women; I wonder where he learned this behavior?

Take responsibility for your child, you know he is a danger; it is not something that is news to you.

Signed,

Someone who works with bus drivers everyday

Someone whos best friends are bus drivers

Someone who hears about the lives of bus drivers everyday, and has realized if some parents just paid more attention, there would be less issues.

Plans tonight......!

Wanna know what I'm doin' tonight??

Can you guess....

Do you remember......?

Yep... it's time for....

Soooo excited...

Teenage Protests.....

Open minded, free thinking, independent, highly intelligent and strong.

All of these words describe my 15 year old daughter, Ashlyn (we call her Nikki).

I love these things about her, she amazes me every day… and then…. I get this phone call.

“Mom… I want to protest”

“Umm…. WHAT?”

{The Mommy is sitting at her desk, 5 minutes from the high school and working in the SAME district, with images of my daughter chaining herself to the railing in the high school}

“They are not letting us Freshman out of the cafeteria at lunch time, however they are letting the Sophmore’s and Juniors jump around and act up.”

“What exactly are you protesting?”

{At this point that Mommy brow has furrowed into a deep concentration.}

“It is unfair”

“Uh-huh… Honey… ya’ll are on the lowest of the totem pole, it is what happens to all freshman”

{How did the Mommy NOT teach you that life isn’t fair? Did I forget that life lesson?}

“It is NOT fair, we want to do a sit out… we are going to sit outside all day until they change it.”

“Understand the ramifications of your actions, go through the right channels and try to talk to the person who changed the rules, if that doesn’t work, then do what you need to do. However, they might need my new cell phone number when the cops come and get you.”

{This statement was much funnier typed into my Blackberry waiting for Friday morning bagels to get here}

“Ok… Love you”

I have decided not to answer the phone anymore today!

Ever wonder....

....what it would take for you to walk away from your current relationship?

Would it be a lie? Them cheating? Or are you already gone emotionally and you are just waiting for them to find someone else, or visa versa?

Do you always have your foot out the door?

What would it take?


OR....


Is that not an option... are you staying no matter what?

What is YOUR comfort food?

Wanna know what these things are??

Yep... My weakness today.

Too much thinking creates Lilith to lose her mine.... so here it is.. My lovely Lean Cuisine down the tubes for this stuff... ~sighs~ I'm weak!

What is your comfort food?

When you are stressed what do you come up with to shove down your pie hole?

Dang... Now I want pie.

Wordless Wednesday (Simple Joy)

How do you Answer......? Part Two

"What is blogging?"

How I got started

I started Crunchy Green Lovin' Mom during the time of a huge green step in my life.
With six kids I needed a way to leave them the beautiful places I had seen in my own life, The Black Forest, Rocky Mountains and even just simple city parks full of squirrels and the like.

I also needed a place to do local foodie reviews, I had just planned on keeping it simple.

Then came along, The Bloggy Giveaways.

I was in love with giveaways, not dating, no life other than my children and my friends, Blogging became my social networking and focus. I would ignore all other issues and concentrate on reviews, giveaways and quality content.

Ok.. the quality content was a joke.. I tried, however my writing skills were rusty.

What have I won?

-Jewelry
- Bouncy seats
- Coupons
- Gift cards
- Bows
- A Wii and a Wii Fit
- I-Pod Touch
- Full Boon Feeding Kit
- Boon potty bench
- Tons of handmade items (LOVE these!)

Yeppers... a ton of things and there is a lot out there.

However, more importantly I found women I relate with and follow their blogs daily.

Teresa at Wardrobe 911
Joanna from This Southern Girl's Nest
Nancy from The New Life of Nancy
Crystal from Everyday Life, Love and Happiness
Nydia from Bringing up Salamanders
Lisa from Crazy Adventures in Parenting
Michelle from Big Blueberry Eyes
Brittany from Mommee & her boys
Jill at Get it Write here
Margelina at What a long strange trip I'm on


And about 50 other bloggers that I follow every single day through Google Reader... just because I like their blogs. No giveaways... just because I like them as people.

So that's it.. Why do I blog? Because I have found a community that donates to my breast cancer walk, consoles me when I have to go in for a breast biopsy, congratulate me when I have a good day and love to see me happy and in love. And these are people I've never met face to face.

Why do I blog? Because it is a place for me to go to, when I need some "me" time.

Why do you blog?
Who do you follow every week?
Have any suggestions on people I should follow? I love foodies, fashionistas and "real" people!

To-Do Tuesday- Week 4

Here is the 4th "To-Do Tuesday", started by Lisa at Crazy Adventures in Parenting.

To-Do Tuesday has been a wonderful asset to me; I had no idea I needed a list like this, but apparently I did.

I have a Google calendar to keep track of dates, schedule changes and things like that for Dave and me. This is our way to know what we are doing with family time, personal time and other issues that might come up.

I know I work a TON, I know I need to work even harder to get these things done. Heck… I need to sit down with Lisa and pick her brain on a few PR issues. That is going on next weeks list!

This week I actually scheduled in time for relaxing. It is not something I schedule in for myself very often, so I need to make sure that I stay on top of that. I think next week I will schedule in time for “pampering”. Something small, personal manicure, homemade facial, etc. Anyone up for doing this ever week?

So… here goes for the week, it’s a tad bit more organized, I’m on the ball today!

Daily
Drink 8 glasses of water
Vitamins

Tuesday
Work out- Arms
What is blogging? Part 2
UPS for phone issues


Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday post
Legal papers filled out
Work out- Abs
Pack for Thursday/Friday

Thursday
Get it Write post
Tan with Dave
BB Refund paperwork
Electricity issue from last month
Date night relaxing

Friday
Go see Phantom of the Opera!!...!!...!!

Saturday
Put drumsticks in the crockpot

Throughout the Week:

Headache solutions and documentation
Click and Climb tutoring for Nikki and Joey
Fill out Ruby-go-Round questionnaire for TruKid
Make Thumb video
JumpStart review and Giveaway
Find out about the part for my minivan

Simple Woman's Daybook Entry #1

I found this through Joanna from This Southern Girl's Nest (She is the same Joanna that did my blog design, love love her!)

This was started by A Simple Woman's Daybook and I really love the idea, so here it, is, here is my week, my thoughts in a nut shell.


FOR TODAY March 2, 2009

Outside my window... is my freedom from the confines of my desk. The day is warm, in the 70's perfect for the windows to be down, music up and my hair blowing around me. It is hard to sit in this office knowing that I could be outside instead of stuck staring at what I want.

I am thinking... how much I miss my boyfriend, what a great lunch I had with my daughter, the reviews I need to write and the fact that I should go the restroom instead of just thinking about it.

I am thankful for... The Love Dare, my kids, that I have a job, my amazing boyfriend.

From the kitchen... I just remembered I forgot to put the roast in the crockpot! *sighs* Looks like Turkey burgers for dinner!!

I am wearing... one of my cute outfits, denim mini-skirt with black leggings, black t-shirt, half sweater and cute flop hat.

I am creating... A new way of dealing with my children. Interacting with them more and finding a way to connect with them before they leave to become the adults I have taught them to be.

I am creating... a new relationship, discarding the past and accepting the future with an open heart.

I am going... to be happy!

I am reading... The Love Dare, this is my newest book.

I am hoping... for amazing weather this week so I can take my girls to the park tomorrow after work. Oh, and this clock on the wall in front of me, to move faster!

I am hearing... the air conditioner turn on, my fingers quickly moving across the keyboard and a meeting in the office behind me.

Around the house... it is clean, very clean and it feels great! I love Sundays!

One of my favorite things... is chocolate and peanut butter. I'm thinking about sneaking over to the boyfriends house tonight for ice cream/reese's eggs and watching some SportsCenter in his arms tonight.

A few plans for the rest of the week... I get to see Phantom of the Opera on Friday! I am so excited about this!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Nikki, Greg, Kim and Johnny

I love family time. I am a Cancer and family is so important to me. This was an evening for the adults at Dave's parents house... we were playing some silly game that got us all off our feet and made us to Charade's and bounce a ball, attempt to hum (Which apparently I suck at.)

However, I sat back at some point during the night, and watched them. They laughed, his mother laughed until tears came down her face, they all had so much fun and despite sibling rivalry, etc, there was love. It was heart-warming to be part of, and it never fails that this picture will bring a smile to my lips... (Dave and I were at the table giggling at everyone.)

How do you answer.....? Part One

"What is blogging?"

How I got started

I love that question because it is totally up for interpretation. I know when I first heard about blogging I said, "There is no way people want to read about my babbling, boring life with kids and work." - "Why would I want to share my life with strangers?" - "My friends already know about my life"

I used to write an e-mail to all my friends called "Today in History", it went through and told everyone about the current historical events on the current day, Word of the Day, Joke of the Day, SAT question of the day, Joke and comic of the day, just funny things for my friends to read.

My friend Timmeh said... "Hey you should start a website".

HHHHHHEEEEYYYYYY........ Great idea!


So I started a blog called, "Lilithology" and would update it everyday with the little "newsletter". It was fun, time consuming and then I branched out a little, doing a review on a cupcake/cereal bar that opened in town, (Yes, it is THAT cool).

And then....

I found Giveaways......


........... And then I won a giveaway. It wasn't much, but I was ADDICTED!


Now it is your turn:

How did you start this whole blogging adventure? To keep up with family? To win giveaways? For your business?