Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to everyone. I hope all the trick or treaters have a super day. I went to visit Amelia, Kendall and Landon this afternoon. I had to check out Kendall in her cute little witch outfit. She wasn't totally thrilled with it. She refused to wear her hat, which is how I ended up with it. You know I can't resist the opportunity to wear something stupid on my head. Isn't Landon adorable. He is just the sweetest little pumpkin ever. Poor Amelia wasn't feeling all that great. It has to be rough coming down from the hormone high. I hope see feels better soon. I have a busy weekend of ebay work planned. Hope everyone has a great weekend. ROLL TIDE !!

Welcome to the World Baby Boy !!!

Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't blogged since last Wednesday, but I have been totally swamped. Last Thursday we had a super shower for Amelia & Baby Landon. Then on Saturday, I had a super Bridge Street outing. Most importantly though, on Monday at 1:44pm Mr. Landon Nicholas Ledlow made his entrance into the world. Isn't he adorable. Mom & baby are perfect. I got to go visit them last night in Huntsville. He is so sweet and so tiny!! He had lots of love from me, Christyn & his Aunt Jaime. Plus he had his awesome mom & dad. He is a very lucky little boy to have such wonderful people as parents. And of course we can't forget that he has the most super fabulous big sister ever, Kendall. I am going to visit them Friday afternoon after work so that I can see Kendall in her cute little witch costume. I am also anxious to see what she thinks about baby brother once he comes home. So far, I don't think she should really care less, LOL.

Questions about Books

Anyone who knows me knows that I am the ultimate bookworm. I read anything and everything all the time. So when Amelia's mom posted this book survey on her blog, I knew I had to share.

1. Name a book that has changed your life? Well, first off I can't name just one. Of course the Bible is a given. There are 2 more very pivotal books for me though. The first is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. This was the first "real" book I ever read. I wrote a book report on it when I was in the 9th grade and I fell in love with it. The other important book is "The Wives of Henry VIII by Allison Weir. I bought this book with my birthday money when I was 16. It was the first book I bought that cost over $20, LOL. It was the first historical book I read and again, I was totally hooked. I have been obsessed with British history ever since.

2. What book have you read more than once? Ok this one is funny because there is no possible way I could tell you every book I have read more than once. It is probably in the 100's. I will say that I can reread the Harry Potter books over and over again and find something new in them every time. I will never get tired of them.

3. What book would you want to take to a desert island? This one is tough for me too. I want to take all my books with me. I couldn't possibly pick just one. I would have to take all my Harry Potter books, the complete works of Shakespeare & the Bible. That should keep me occupied for awhile, lol

4. What book has made you laugh? When I was little I always loved the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.

5. What book has made you cry? Anything by Nickolas Sparks is sure to bring out the tissue. !!! I don't think I will ever read The Notebook without sobbing.

6. Which book do you wish you had written? Well first I want to write my own book. But other than that, I would love to take credit for Harry Potter or for Twilight. I would love to continue the Harry Potter books into that 19 years between the end of Deathly Hallows & the Epilogue plus some about the next generation too.

7. What book do wish was never written? I think every book ever written serves some sort of purpose, be it good or bad. Censorship is something I feel extremely passionate about. If I was forced to choose one that shouldn't have been though it would have to be Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler. This book is where he voiced his horrible views and led to the extermination of millions of innocent people.

8. What book are you currently reading? Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

9. What book are you meaning too read? Again too many to count. I am really looking forward to reading The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory.

10. What is your all time favorite book? There is no way I could pick one. Heck I have trouble picking 10, LOL. I will just hit a few of the high points. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: East of Eden by John Steinbeck: all 7 Harry Potter books: Books 1 and 3 of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer: The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory: The Kennedys and Fitzgeralds by Doris Kearns Goodwin and many many many many more.

I hope everyone will share their favorites too. Have a super day !!

No More Drama !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have always prided myself on being a repulsively boring person with an extremely non-dramatic life. I don't like foolishness, in fact I despise it with every fiber of my being. I have already been in the 7th grade and I hated it the first time I was there !!!!! I don't like feeling like I am back there again with all this she said, she said foolishness. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH !!!!! I had my say last night for good or for bad and that is all I am going to say. If things don't work out, it will not be my fault. I am tired of being made out to be the bad guy, some impossible hateful bitch of a person. You know something, I am many many things but I am not cruel or heartless. I consider myself a pretty good friend. I don't appreciate being made to feel otherwise.

Ok, that is my rant for the day. I will leave everyone with a quote that I had to memorize when I was a junior in high school. It is from a very famous surrender speech by the Nez Perce Indian Chief Joseph. I find it stunningly appropriate today.

"Hear me my chiefs, I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.

Weekend Happenings

Hello to everyone. Hope you had a fabulous weekend. On Saturday, I got to go to a baby shower with Jaime for my friend Amanda and her adorable little man Camden. Isn't he a cutie !!!!! He is so sweet & he slept through his entire party. She got so many cute things. I told Jaime I couldn't wait until we knew what little baby E is so that we could plan her super party !!

Saturday night I watched the movie "27 Dresses" for the first time. It was really good but it made my cry. The main character is so much like me that it was a little scary. I was sobbing by the end because I could so identify with her pain of always being 2nd, helping everyone else while she gets left on the sidelines. It guess it was just a pity party evening, LOL.

Sunday I finshed up a special project I have been working on so now I will have time to focus on my writing. The story is taking a little different turn than I originally intended, it just seems to be working out that way. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will have a huge file for everyone to check out.

I have a great week coming up. We are having a little gathering for Amelia & baby Landon on Thursday and then Jaime's big 30th birthday is Friday. Hope everyone else has a good week, even my teacher friends that must go back to school.

Busy Bee !

I can't believe it has been over a week since I have blogged. I am so bad. I just can't help it. I seem to be so busy lately. I need to figure out how to put an extra day in the week, one that I don't have to work !! I have been working a lot with my eBay stuff right now. It has been selling so well the last week or so, I feel the need to keep striking while the iron is hot. I still have a ton of stuff I need to get rid of, especially paper. Not only I am making money to help with all my birthday & Christmas shopping, but I am clearing out space in my overloaded scrapbook room. If anyone out there needs anything in particular for a scrapbook, let me know. I have tons of different themes, just about anything you can think of. You can check out my auctions on eBay. Just do a search for the seller name "purpletreasures".

This past Saturday, I went to a reception for my friend Paige & her new husband Chris in Muscle Shoals. It was really pretty there. Her step mom did a really great job with everything. I can't believe that Paige is married with a baby on the way. If you had told me this time last year what would be going on, I would have probably taken your temperature, LOL.

I am so excited about all the babies around right now. I am hoping to make it to Amanda's shower on Saturday and I will finally get to meet little Camden. I can't wait. Plus Landon will probably be here in 2 weeks or less. I can't wait to see the little man in person. I have a special project I have been trying to finish up before he gets here. Let's pray I get it finished before he gets here !!! Plus Jaime & little bebo seem to be getting over the sickly stage and will be feeling better soon. I can't wait until we find out who baby Emerson is. That would be a SUPER Christmas present.

I have 2 friends turning 30 over the next week or so. Kelly is having a party this Friday night at the Horse in Huntsville. It is definitely not my cup of tea but I will go to support her. Plus J's big day is just around the corner too. I am here to say that your 30's will be WAYYYY better than your 20's I promise !!!!!!

I must admit that I haven't been able to work on my writing as much as I would like over the last couple of weeks. As soon as I finish Landon's project, I will have much more free time. The Harry Potter story is coming together now. I am also working on a soundtrack to go along with it. I think I have decided to go with Amelia's mom's suggestion of "Philbert" for my new house elf. I can't wait to share more of this story and some of my original work soon. Just hang in there, hopefully you won't be disappointed. I hope everyone has a fabulous week. I promise I will try to be a better blogger this next week.

6 years

Today is a very important anniversary for me. Everyone has moments in their life that are milestones. These are the days that you refer to as before or after. Today is most definitely one for me. 6 years ago right now, I was in surgery at UAB hospital. I was having a huge carotid body tumor taken out of my neck. It was a very very scary time. The Drs had scared me and my parents. They had prepared us for the fact that I could very well be blind or deaf when it was over. There was also a great possibility that I could have a stroke during the surgery. The tumor was so large twisted around everything that they had to cut out a large section of my main carotid artery on that side. It was replaced with an artificial graft. There was also a lot of nerve damage on the right side of my face and down my right arm. I had no feeling in my face from my eye down into my chest on that side. The worst complication though was that all the nerves that controlled my vocal chords on the right side had to be cut. This meant that I couldn't swallow and I could hardly talk. I was in ICU for 2 days after the surgery and then in a regular room for 3 more days. I went home for one day but then I had to go back and have a feeding tube put in my stomach. I was in the hospital that time for 3 more days. Luckily, I only had to have that feeding tube for 2 months. It was horrible !!!

Needless to say, this was the most difficult test of my faith in my life. It is not fun to look death in the eye at 28. It is only by the grace of God that I was able to come through all that. I know it sounds odd, but I could literally feel all the prayers that were coming my way both in the hospital and after I came home. I remember flipping through the channels one Sunday morning and I stopped at one of the random church services that was on. It was some church in Montgomery I had never heard of. It just so happened they were doing their prayer requests right then and somehow, they had gotten my name. That was so surreal. I also have to thank my wonderful surgeon, Dr. William Carroll. He was so nice and really took time to answer all my questions and explain everything that was going on. Later, he called me his "poster child" because he honestly didn't think I would survive everything. Of course I also have to thank my awesome parents. Without them, I would have never made it. I don't think either of them slept for about 10 days during all the madness. It was the third time in my whole life that I saw my Daddy cry. The only other times were when my grandparents died. That really tore me up. I couldn't stand the thought of him crying over me. It was a very difficult time for all of us.

I have to give a quick good luck to my friend Amanda. She is going into the hospital tomorrow to have little Camden. I can't wait to meet him!!! I am also think about my sweet Papa today. It would have been his 98th birthday today. That is hard to imagine. I hope everyone has a fab weekend.