People are amazing!  Yes, I mean that in a sincere way.  For once, I won’t be sarcastic.  Thank you to everyone who helped make such a wonderful Christmas for my family this year.  Santa came, we cooked, we talked, we shared, we loved and we laughed.  The weeks before Christmas this year I wondered how it would be.  How we would “swing it”.  I have to admit, we didn’t “swing” anything.  We had so much help, family, friends and laughter that I’m amazed.

Thank you to the special friends who realize that times can be tough for this single mom of three.  Thank you not just for thinking of me and mine but for not judging us in the process.  Thank you to man at the mini mart who offered each of them a piece of candy.  Thank you to the Marine that helped with toys, thanks to my other single mom friend who always does so much, works so hard and loves without prejudice.

I think sometimes we forget just how good people can be.  We get caught up in the doing and living that we forget there are so many people that actually care about others.    I hope I can do and give as much as has been done and given to and for us the last couple of years.  I hope that I can see when another is in need and help un-selfishly.  I hope that my children learn and do the same.

One last Happy New Year to everyone. Each of you that hurts, goes without, loves, gives and lives!  Happy New Year to you all and may the best of your past be the worst of your future!  I can’t wait to see what 2011 has in store for me and mine!  Live and Love – Shari

The Working Poor

The working poor.  You can add me and mine to that list. This isn’t a request for sympathy or understanding it is just……reality. Not just for me, there are so many that can be classified as the same. What can we do? How do we fix what has been broken for years? How do we ensure our children have better opportunities and don’t miss out on a lunch or a dinner because they can’t afford to eat?
I work a full time job but I’m also raising 3 wonderful children. We make our ends meet, sometimes just barely but they meet. I’ve been told to quit my job and accept help from the government. Are you serious? Do we honestly want to tell people this is a solution? I call inquiring about programs for childcare, food or simple structure. The person answering the phone says “maybe you should just quit your job and live off of the government”.
You want me to teach my kids it is acceptable to not work and sit at home on my ass all day? You want me to keep them off the streets and make them behave but how will they learn this if they don’t get out and work or experience society? We want our youth to be self supportive and finish school, don’t we? So why do we offer them the option of such ridiculousness?
As for me and mine we will wait our turn. We will work, we will attend school and we will never give up. However, we need to fill positions of those in a position to direct with like minded people. Do you want your child to grow up believing it is okay to just survive? I don’t just make it I live and love, you should too. Live each day to the fullest and teach our youth the importance of work, respect and taking care of oneself!
We become no more than we believe we can – Shari

When did you get them?

A few months ago I took my kids to Chick-Fil-A.  While I ordered the food and got a table the kids asked to go play (in the indoor play area).  I agreed and told them I’d come get them when the food was ready.  An older lady was wiping tables and clearing off trash from them, as I was talking to my kids.

This lady proceeds to walk over to my table and smile.   I say hello and she says “When did you get them?”  I look at her with a squinted brow and ask “When did I get what?”  She proceeds to say “the children”.  I’m trying not to let it show that my blood is now boiling and I bite my tongue (very hard for someone that knows me, I might add).  I said “those um, ‘children‘ are mine, I gave birth to them.  She then says “Oh, I see” and walks off.

This leads me to the think of the dozens of other times something similar has happened.  A lady in Dillard’s “Can I touch their hair?” another lady in a grocery store “Who fixes your girls’ hair?  Are these people insane?  Who said it was okay to walk up to a stranger and ask if you can touch their child’s hair?  Who made it okay to ask because I have blond hair and green eyes if I can fix a so called “bi-racial” child’s hair?

Is it ever acceptable to walk up to a complete stranger and ask to touch any part of their person?  I mean come on where does this come from?  The “Chick-Fil-A” lady assumed I adopted these kids?  Did she notice the hazel eyes that go with the dark hair and olive complexion?  I mean doesn’t every parent do their child’s hair?  Must I take them out every two days and pay someone to do it, because I couldn’t possibly know how to “fix hair”?

Sometimes I laugh and think “What hole do you live in?”  Other times when I get multiple inquiries in a short time span I’m shocked and appalled.  Have you been without news, television and newspapers for the last two years?  Have you seen the president of our country?  Politics aside, this man is of mixed decent.

One day when we are all just “people” we will be able to live in peace.  Until then, I teach my children who they are and where they come from (both sides).  Let them grow up to be individuals not a color.

Bless you and your children – Shari
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If you are overweight, less weight on your body means less pressure — and less pain — on your joints and back. “Dropping a few extra pounds can really help improve joint pain in the knees and hips,” says Patience White, MD, MA, vice president of public health at the Arthritis Foundation. “Even 10 pounds can make a huge difference.” Losing weight also can help back pain caused by muscle fatigue.

Women point to childbirth as proof of their greater pain capacity, and some science backs this up. Women and men tolerate pain differently. Women use more coping mechanisms to deal with pain. They seek treatment more quickly and tend to recover from pain faster than men. But experts say pain is such an individual experience that it’s hard to compare one person’s pain to another’s.

If your joint pain gets worse when it’s cold or raining, it’s not your imagination. Although studies have shown mixed results, changes in barometric pressure can cause some people – especially people with arthritis — to have increased pain in their joints. Experts think this is because the change in barometric pressure affects joint pressure.