I think God is weeping in Heaven.

So Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas season has begun. I can't say it's been a great start. If you haven't heard the horrifying news yet, a man was killed on "Black Friday". It occurred at a Wal-Mart in New York. Over 2,000 people rushed to get into the store to get their bargains and trampled a man to death. When the police announced they needed to close the store for a few hours due to the death, shoppers became irate. Can you picture that gift exchange? "Hope you like the vacuum I got for you. It only cost me $20 bucks and oh, yeah a man died for it." Come on people, what in the world are we thinking? Maybe that is the problem, we're thinking in this world. Do we not remember what Christmas is? It is the celebration of Christ's Birth. Remember?
Even before I heard this news, I was having a difficult time trying to balance the secular-commercial christmas with the truth of CHRISTMAS. So many people are having financial issues right now. We have several friends who are out of work right now. Chris has had his hours cut at work and several of his co-workers are barely working. There is the possibility of stores closing after the first of the year. Every time I turn around, I hear news of jobs being cut. The thing is every time I start to feel worried about our finances, I'm hit with how truly blessed we are. We have everything we need and then some. Honestly, we have so much stuff; I'm trying to get rid of it all. I just can't see spending money I don't have on stuff that we don't need.

My friend, Beth, had this video on her blog. When we watched it for the first time I was moved to tears.

Think about it; in some parts of the world people die from lack of water. Here in the U.S. people die for a bargain.

I go a little crazy when I'm feeling stressed.

I need to leaarn self-control. Every time I start to feel the pressure of stress, I end up doing something a little wild. Nothing major this time. (No piercings, no tattoos.) I cut my hair short, ( above my shoulders) and dyed it a dark red. It will take some getting used to. My reflection in the mirror has caught me by surprise a few times.
Stress... Why am I feeling stress you may ask. In one word: School. I'm trying to write my final paper for my Literature class. (1800 words)
I'm almost done with this term. Hopefully I will get through it without making anymore major changes to my appearance.

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday. She is an amazing women. If you haven't had a chance too meet her yet, you're missing out on a lot of fun. I really can't share some of things she has done and said lately... she'll kill me! Let's just say my mom gets wilder with age! I LOVE it!! She's so much more fun now then I remember her being when I was a kid. (She's smarter, too.) Funny, how that happens, the older we get, the more we begin to realize just how wise our parents really are.
I love you Mom. You really are the best.

the duck says quack

I know, I know, it's been a long time. I have written a few blogs but decided against posting them. (Mama always said if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all.) It was cheap therapy!
I have been writing a lot lately. A Lot. A LOT. I'm a full time student right now. I know I shouldn't be surprised by the amount of work but it's taking some getting used to. I'm taking an Intro to Literature class, which means I write four essays every week. I'm also taking an Intro to Writing Poetry class, which means I have to write a poem every week. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to pull a poem out of my bu.. I mean thin air. I'm also taking ceramics and a class on medical careers. I'm enjoying it and keeping my head above water so far.
So besides school, we've had a lot of stuff happening. Lauren is now 16. No, she is not driving yet. Emilia is 11. She's not driving yet either. She is taller than Lauren though.
I will write more soon and post some photos.

The Great Fish Massacre of 2008

Well, We finally made it to California. Eighteen hours - straight through. We are safe and relatively sane. Getting ready to go was a real test of patience though. While this in no way compares with the "Skunk Attack of 2005", the "Great Fish Massacre of 2008" does deserve it's own page in the Maki family history book.

Our original plans were to leave around midnight on Wednesday night after Chris got off work. Once he got home we realized we were just to beat to start driving and that a good nights sleep was needed. Flash forward to Thursday 10:30, we are packed and just about ready to leave, when Chris starts yelling at me from upstairs "Suzanne, get the pump, unplug the pump, it's going to explode!". To which I responded with, "What the heck are you screaming about? What pump?". Chris yells back "The pond!! Get the pump!!". I'm thinking "oh yeahhhh, that pump". So the kids and I run out to find that our beautiful pond has spontaneously emptied its self. We have a rock formation waterfall that the water cycles through with the help of a tube and somehow the top rocks had fallen into the pond, the tube had come loose and with the help of the pump drained all of the water out of the pond and under our deck. Not good! I unplugged the pump and then proceeded to view the damage. Ever year we purchase goldfish for the pond and wait to see who survives the raccoons, hawks and even a blue heron. We had three large fish left that have been with us about 4 years now. Last week Lauren and I purchased 40 new fish. As I'm peering into the pond, I see one big goldfish who is half out of water and no one else. I start looking for the other 42 fish and find next to the pump a pile of what looks like chopped salad. Yup, you guessed it, my missing fish. The pump had sucked up the fish, chopped them up and spit them back out. Really gross and sad. With the help of the kids I filled the pond back up and started working on the waterfall. Chris came down and we hoisted the rocks back up (these are not little rocks) and got the tube secured and the water flowing. Just when we thought we were done, Chris touched the top rock and it all went down again, sending the tube flying into the air and spraying us with a mixture of pond water and yes, chopped up fish! We finally got everything put back together with no more mishaps, got cleaned up, everyone in the van and pulled out of the driveway at 3:45. Only 15 hours after our original departure time. We arrived in Tustin at 9:30 Friday morning, ready to start a new chapter in this adaventure we call "life".

The adventure begins...

We're on our way to California! I'll keep you posted to just what we do once we are there. Goal #1 is to get out of the house and on the road. So much easier said then done.