Blogging

And not only will they spice up your love life, but they are willing to donate $15.00 to the American Cancer Society thru Bug who is blogging 24 hours straight for the 2006 Blogathon this year!

I plan on checking out Yandy on location with Kevin. I need his input afterall. What would do it for him, and for me as well. One thing that I have discovered over the years, is the lingerie that I wear is just as important to my attitude in the bedroom as it is for him.

If I feel I look sexy, it will put me in a frame of mind more apt for bedroom aerobics than anything else.

Sexy doesn’t equal throwing the clothes in the dryer and making out the grocery list. But all thoughts of groceries and laundry vanish when I feel I look sexy and see it written all over HIS face! So from here on out, Yandy will be my lingerie store of choice. Not only do they have beautiful and sexy lingerie reasonably priced for most budgets, but they are socially altruistic and care about the problems everyday people deal with and fight thru. Cancer being one of the most traumatic.

Cheers! to Yandy, for donating to this year’s Blogathon, thru Bug at An Indian Summer!

Here is a sampling of what you’ll find at Yandy in Scottsdale as well as what you can order online from Yandy Lingerie. It’s a hot summer, it’s time for lingerie that is hot and sizzling. For me window shopping (definition: online shopping) isn’t as enjoyable when I know I can’t afford what I am looking at. At Yandy, the lingerie isn’t going to cost you a fortune. They carry a wide selection, to fit all body types and sizes, as well as costumes for Halloween, swimsuits, sexy dresses, handbags, stockings and silk lingerie as well.

And while you’re window shopping Yandy, don’t forget to sponsor Bug! There’s still time before the big Blogathon!

These three were my picks that I’ll run by Kevin for his selection. I’ll letcha know which one he chooses.

On so many different levels I don’t know where to begin. The Blogger Community is a unique, caring and giving community that I thank God for allowing me to find!

First, I want to ask for help from the Prayer Warriors out there. CP of Certifiable Princess is amidst a personal crisis that she and her son need our prayers for. They are waiting on some test results, to determine whether Nicholas, her adorable son, has non-Hodgekins or Hodgekins lymphoma. As a mother, I cannot possibly understand the turmoil and worry she is feeling. But along with all of the wonderful prayer warriors on my blogroll and beyond; we can pray hard and often for her little boy.

As well as for CP’s husband’s family that is over in Israel right now, amid all the warfare going on over there. Pray for peace to emerge from this fighting. A peace that surpasses understanding that can only come from our God in Heaven. And to keep CP’s husband’s family safe!

CP will also be blogging in the Blogathon 2006. Her charity of choice is one that can reduce me to tears in seconds. She is blogging for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. And yes, my husband and I antied up on her sponsor list as well. To sponsor CP click on this button.
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This brings my list of sponsorships up to three!

Also on that list are the beautiful ladies of Weblog Design Studio, Jenny and Wench. These talented ladies will be blogging for The American Lung Association. As anyone with asthma will attest to, as anyone who has lost a loved on to a lung related disease can attest to, this charity is another one that pulls at my heart strings. My husband’s brother died of lung cancer 10 years ago, when he was just 45 yeas old. And it is with him in mind that we sponsored the ladies of Weblog Desgin Studio.
To sponsor these talented designers click on thier button right beneath this sentence.
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Now for another moment of amazement, the bloggers here have done it! There are more than 10 sponsoring the gorgeous Bug of An Indian Summer, which means the drawing for the $30.00 e-certificate to Amazon will happen on schedule!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Bloggers are an awesome group of people who are aware and care for those that suffer around and amidst us! There is still time to sponsor Bug for her charity of choice, The American Cancer Society by clicking on the button here.“>

I stand in amazement of all of you.

Next post, will be the list of sponsors for Bug at An Indian Summer. If you sponsored Bug, be sure to leave a comment here, for your name to going into the drawing. Each of you deserve a standing ovation!  God Bless all of you.

Image taken from Blog of Dreams

BLOGATHON 2006

And I have chosen to sponsor a blogger who picked a charity that is near and dear to my heart for several reasons.

Bug has chosen the American Cancer Society as her charity to donate all of her sponsorships too. If I were to participate in Blogathon 2006, this would be the charity I would want to raise money for. As staying up till midnight for me is damn near impossible, blogging for 24 hours straight seems a bit out of the realm of possibilities. So I’m opting for the next best thing, sponsoring a good friend, who chose the charity that would be my choice.

I cannot say enough positive things about this organization and all the good it has done, from education and research to community services and outreach. We NEED a cure for this nasty disease! BADLY. The American Cancer Society works hard to that end.

And my heart just wants to scream out PLEASE GIVE TO THIS WORTHWHILE CHARITY! I know most of our lives have all been touched at some point by cancer. We all have relatives and friends we have lost, or who have beaten it, fighting bravely to get thru the worst nightmare of their lives.

When I signed up my donation on Bug’s sponsorship sheet, there were four people who came to mind immediately. Four people that in my heart had me wanting to give so much more than I was able to.

My Mom, Dana, fought breast cancer, and had a double-mastectomy as well as a few lymph nodes removed. She also went thru a breast reconstruction surgery. This woman displayed such grace and bravery during one of the scariest fights of her life. She didn’t let it beat her; she didn’t let it scar her personality or her heart. She will struggle the rest of her life with lymphoedema, a side effect that happens a good deal of the time when lymph nodes are removed. It basically is a build-up of fluids that our lymph nodes remove for us. Instead this build-up will happen in the arm (or leg), causing swelling and inhibiting one’s ability to do a great deal of things we take for granted. She does her best to not let it slow her down and she lives life to the fullest. She continues to work, and go on trips with my father, who was by her side throughout this war with cancer, fighting with her. She is my hero, and I love her so much.

My husband, “Kevin,” as you all know, just went through a bout with prostate cancer. One of the scariest things my husband and I lived through. And yet we are well aware of how lucky he was, that number one it was caught early. Number two we had each other to go through it and number three he was able to beat it, with the grace of God, and many many prayers. Most of all, he didn’t have to go through chemotherapy and radiation treatments; those can take months and have several life changing side effects. Even without this, it was the hardest thing we have had to endure in our marriage to date.

Minerva, who writes the blog A Woman of Many Parts, this past year went through her victorious battle with breast cancer. She shared her struggle each step of the way in her blog. This brave and courageous woman stayed on my family’s prayer list throughout her battle with this wretched disease. Her struggles, her victories will stay with me always.

Kathy, my cousin’s wife and my friend, did not win the battle against cervical cancer. It took her life after a four-year battle that throughout she continued to live life to its fullest. She was in her mid forties when this rotten disease claimed her life, leaving behind two teen-age kids and a husband who loved her with everything in him. This woman touched so many lives with her grace, warmth, love and courage. She will always be missed.

These four people who have struggled with cancer are all people who have touched my life. I know all of us know of friends and family who have fought cancer. This disease has touched us all in one form of another, and we need to battle it however each of us can. This is an opportunity to give to a non-profit whose goal it is to eradicate this disease from the world.

And I’m asking, OK, close to begging all of my readers to go and sponsor Bug at An Indian Summer for Blogathon 2006. Even if all you can afford is $5.00, every dollar counts, every dollar helps! This charity, this disease, has so much personal history and emotions attached to it in my life. I know most of us have had experience in one form or another with this disease, which is why I am asking so fervently for everyone’s help.

It is along those lines that I have devised a (somewhat) contest. I could give this $30 that I’m offering up as an Amazon gift card straight to Bug, but I’m hoping it will somewhat generate more sponsorships instead. She has to date two sponsors, including me. I hope to see at least 10 more come over and sponsor her. If 10 more come and sponsor Bug, I will have a drawing with those 10 bloggers names in a hat, and draw one to receive a $30.00 Amazon e-certificate. The hitch is there needs to be at least 10 for the drawing. More would have me doing summersaults, but 10 would be fantastic!

That means you get a tax write-off for the donation, and have the possibility of walking away with an Amazon gift card! The drawing will be done by LOL Tomboy with Kevin witnessing the drawing. The winner to be announced the day after the Blogathon ends.

I know all of us give of ourselves in many ways throughout our lives. But this is a way for Bloggers to come together and make a difference as a group. Our hobby, making a difference! I think the Blogathon has got to be one of the best brainstorms anyone has come up with, since the invention of blogging! And for those who read here at Stumbling/Grace, even if you don’t blog, if you donate, you go into the drawing as well. Every other post will be a list of those who have sponsored Bug, right up to the day of the Blogathon, July 29th, starting at 6:00 AM.  Please, lets make a difference, and help to one day hopefully eradicate cancer from our lives and vocabulary.

As Bug blogs away 24 hours of her life, to help aid in the fight against cancer, I want her to know there are many people there cheering for her, and who have stood with her through sponsorship! Thank you Bug, for your sacrifice for this worthwhile charity, the fight against cancer!

Love Always,

3T

PS. Remember to drop by An Indian Summer on July 29th, starting at 6:00 AM to cheer Bug on! She will be posting every hour. Lets give her tons of comments to keep her going! Let me know in my comments that you have sponsored her, so I can add you to the list of Bug supporters.“>

I stole ALL of these quizzes from Dawn at So A Blonde Walks into a Blog. Thanks Dawn! A perfect post for idling a Sunday away. Anyway, if you feel like taking a quiz, or three, be sure to leave your answers in my comments, or if you post the quiz, let me know, so I can come see them!

Be sure to check out Dawn’s answers at So a Blonde Walks Into A Blog. She did about four more than I have here. They were fun as well, but my (imaginary) ADD kept me from completing all of them.

Hope everyone had a funtastic weekend!

Love,

3T

Your Blogging Type Is Thoughtful and Considerate

You’re a well liked, though underrated, blogger. You have a heart of gold, and are likely to blog for a cause. You’re a peaceful blogger - no drama for you! A good listener and friend, you tend to leave thoughtful comments for others.

OK, I somewhat agree with this one. Although I don’t mind a little drama every now and again.

You Communicate With Your Body

This isn’t as bad as it sounds, it just means that you’re a “touchy-feely” person. You need a lot of affection in your life. And for you, this means both giving and receiving little touches. Warm hearted, you bond with people easily. In fact, you often feel a little sad when you’re not in the company of others. A little moody, you tend to be controlled by your emotions. But a bit hug always comforts you!

I saw this one as pretty accurate. A hug helps everything a little bit!

Your Personality Is Like Ecstasy

You’re usually feeling the love for the world around you - you want to hug everyone. And while you’re usually content to sit back and view the world with wonder… Sometimes you’re world becomes very overwhelming and a little scary.

OK. Although I do not advocate drug usage, and have never in my life taken ecstasy, nor would I. The personality traits seem right on.

You Are Miami

Sexy and beautiful, you turn heads wherever you go. A little spicy and a little exotic, you’re fully aware of your unique appeal. Totally high energy, you keep the party going early into the morning. Famous Miami residents: Anna Kournikova, OJ Simpson, Enrique Iglesias

I had to have lied on one of the questions here. The end of a party for me usually hits well before Midnight. The words “high energy” would never be used to describe me either.

You Are an Orange Martini

Everyone’s favorite drunk, you’re fun, flirty, and charming. Unfortunately, you often spark jealousy - and unintentionally start bar fights. You should never: Drink and dial. You’ll just end up with multiple booty calls at your door! Your ideal party: Is huge and lively. You love to work a crowd. Your drinking soulmates: those with a Blueberry Martini personality Your drinking rivals: those with a Dirty Martini personality

Again, we may have a problem in the honesty department. I have never caused a bar fight in my life! Drunk dialing? Nope! Wouldn’t do it. Couldn’t do it. And, I actually really enjoy smaller more intimate gatherings, than large parties. Although a party is a party, and if small and intimate isn’t on the menu, I can do the larger parties, and enjoy myself.

Don’t forget to add your two cents! (Your results) And let me know how accurate they seem to you.

I was tagged yesterday for a Meme, by none other than the sexy and magnetic Rachel of Oh My God Yall. I of course try my best to always honor a tag. Although I have fallen short, I know, due to my bad memory, and my (imaginary) ADD.

Since I was lucky enough to get to spend an afternoon eating, gossping, laughing and shopping with this beautiful lady as well as the vivacious and gorgeous Jade, I wasn’t likely to “forget” the tag.

I’ll be sure to share the photos of our afternoon fun, as soon as I get them uploaded. In the meantime, here is the meme that I’m titling:

My Birthday....September 19th (Creative, huh?)

Directions :Instructions:
1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. In the Search box, type your birth month and day (but not year).
3. List three events that happened on your birthday.
4. List two important birthdays and one interesting death.
5. One holiday or observance (if any).

Events:

1893 - Women’s suffrage: In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote, beginning with the 1893 New Zealand general election.

1981 - Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel reunite for a free concert in New York’s Central Park.

1985 - Frank Zappa and other musicians testify at Congressional hearings on obscenity in rock music.

Births:

1949 - Twiggy Lawson, English model (She was my idol as a young 10 year old girl. I was tall, lanky and bony. I also wanted to grow up to be a model. (Oh shut up! I was only 10 afterall.)


1958 - Lita Ford, English singer

Deaths:

1692 - Giles Corey, American farmer killed in the Salem Witch Trials

1881 - James Garfield, 20th President of the United States

Holiday:

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

And now for the hard part. Tagging three unsuspecting victims bloggers. OK. How about Jane, from Jane loves Tarzan. And.....Snuffy from Snuffelufagus. And last but not least Bug from An Indian Summer. OK, ladies, I hope you’ll play along!

I have the kids and the hubby here today, so my blogging time remains at a minimum. I hope everyone has a fabulous Thursday!

Hugs & Kisses

3T

Introduction to a guest post-
When you “out” your blog, to those who are part of your day-to-day life, or those within your own family, you run into potential problems. Such as those who read specifically for gossip to use for evil motives. Regardless of how it is presented to others, when you take a post from a year or more back and use it to strike out and hurt others, basically by taking it out of context, it’s wrong.

Periodically either Kevin or I will post a blog on the pitfalls of an outed blog. Yes, it can be used for good. Families who live across the country or in other states have a way of keeping abreast of your life. This can be a wonderful thing, and enhance family relations. Or, it can be used as a weapon. We have seen within our personal experience a little of both.

I have no intentions of allowing this kind of conduct to inhibit what I write. What I write is what I feel on any given day. Some of my very early posts were far more scattered, my direction for this blog unclear. Possibly they still are. My blog is a collection of me, my life, my family and those I interact with, as well as people I meet who enjoy this hobby. In the beginning, blogging was a way for me to flex my sense of creativity, purely for my own entertainment. It seems some people choose to distort my blog for ulterior motives. It’s irrelevant whether such conduct comes out of spite, jealousy, anger, or as Kevin mentions in this post, a perceived slight. As all of us who blog are familiar with the many pitfalls to an outed blog. This is one.


Guest Post by Kevin

While my bride composes her thoughts and all our wonderful memories from Hawaii, she asked me if I had anything on my mind that would make a good post. I’m not sure how good this will be, and I rely on you, her wonderful readers, to let us both know.
But I’ve been thinking a lot about instigators lately.
You know who they are and what they are. You find them in your family, your workplace, and your social set. They are the termites of human relationships, always looking for ways to eat away at your existing relationships while posing as your friend.
In your presence, instigators will appear all full of love for you, perhaps overly so. They fawn all over you. But when they are not in your presence, they quickly begin spinning with their mischief. They will love to gossip, about confidences you have given them, or things they have discovered about you. They will dig deep into your past, read pages and pages of your past posts in your blogs, with all the zeal and single-mindedness that Kenneth Starr brought to bear for four miserable years during the Clinton administration, focused solely on bringing you down in little and big ways.
They usually don’t need much motivation. Sometimes, just a small perceived slight is all they need to get their evil juices flowing. Sometimes, they need no real inspiration per se. It’s like that well-told story of the scorpion who asked some kind of mammal to ferry him across the river and when they got to the middle of the stream, the scorpion stung the poor animal. When the animal asked, why did you sting me, the scorpion replied, “Because that’s who I am.”
Instigators are never so truthful. They remain cunning until or unless they are caught. But they almost never are. As my wife once said about conniving people, they are like snot: You can’t pin them down because they are too slippery.
Hence, they will go to relatives or friends and point out things you have done, twisting them to make it appear as if you have betrayed them in some way. The wounded relative or friend will never tell you about it, often because the instigator has befriended them and the wounded person does not want to betray them. So the hurt festers, and the instigator can feel satisfied about accomplishing a mission of no value to anyone.
My bride and I know how to handle instigators: We cut them off, and leave them no room to move. Without the juice of gossip, they wither and die.
But be warned: instigators are clever. They do their evil work in darkness, and it often is hard to catch them in the act.
The funny thing is, well-grounded souls need not worry too much: If your relationships are truly solid, instigators’ attacks will be repelled like an arrow hitting steel.
I hope these words will inspire some dialogue about instigators. Share with 3T and me your experiences with instigators and how you dealt with them. It might help someone out there who is simply flustered by the acts of these pitiful creatures.

We have winners! To my “Lunch with an Old Flame” Poll. Kevin and I decided that we would chose one from the “go to lunch” group, and one from “don’t go to lunch”. This was extremely hard for us to make a decision on, since we could relate in one way or another to all of the comments left.

Knowing that when you’re dealing with relationships, there is not always a right or wrong answer, everything is not black or white. What works well for one couple, would not for another. So our choices were based on (of course) what we as a couple identified with.

I want to thank each of you that gave me your perspective on this hypothetical situation! You helped stimulate much conversation on the topic! I need to remind everyone who wants credits to leave your exact username for Blog Explosion. I started distributing credits based on the name you left in my comment box, and a good deal of them didn’t work.

Kevin and I after taking turns reading and re-reading outloud the many comments were able to whittle down a list that stood out for the two of us. This alone was nearly impossible, and I admit to allowing him a major choice in the decision.

The list of answers that made our “cut” were:

DB
ABlondeBlogger
Jill
DebLA
mongakim
Jade
Jay
Bug
Faye
Lesbianca
TechWench

With honorable mention going to Bonnie! I completely related to her mood affecting her response! And the hotness factor as well! (hehehehe....)

Another honorable mention to Ma, as she always touches my heart with her thoughtful and spirit-filled responses!

Kevin worked hard at shaving down the list, but it was difficult to do with so many well thought out points. We wanted the list to be representative of a wide range of answers, although I haven’t done the count on how many of each position made our personal list.

The winner for “Don’t go to lunch with an old flame” was Bug. Her perspective of wanting to just insulate and protect their relationship struck both Kevin and myself as appropriate and logical!

Here was Bug‘s comment:

I thought long and hard about this one. I have a very paranoid personality to begin with, and am possessive to boot. I’d ask The Hotness if I could go along under the pretense of “I’d like to get to know more of your friends.” But in all honesty I’d be going just to give out the “he’s taken” vibes and keep tabs on the situation. Because there’s always the possibility that Lil’ Miss Flame has for whatever reason gone down memory lane and decided that she wants The Hotness back. I don’t roll that way

I also put y’alls question to The Hotness to get his perspective on it as well. His answer was that he would tell me to go have a good time but would, in his mind, expect me to invite him along. He said that if I did invite him to come he would prolly say no anyway. However, if I didn’t invite him along he’d think it was kind of suspicious. Which is true, I drag him everywhere with me so if I suddenly stopped it would look a little weird.

I know we both may sound like paranoid freaks with a very untrusting relationship but we just like to keep each other safe. We’ve both been hurt so many times by external people in our lives that it’s hard to not wonder what other people are up to when they come knockin on our doors. I think for us it’s more of a joint preservation of our relationship than a worry about cheating or lying. *chuckle*

We both related to her feelings on this issue.

The winner to “Go to lunch with an old flame” was Jay of Kill the Goat. Again, both Kevin and I related to her feelings on this issue and the way in which she personalized it touched our hearts. She caught us with the term “full disclosure” which to us, has become the hallmark of our relationship. Or always the goal.

Jay‘s comment:

Oh you just HAD to throw the word Hawaii in there, didn’t you

When Jason and I got married, we wrote our own vows. The first line of mine was “Jason, I love you.” I still cannot think of better words. Love is a lot of things, but to me, it isn’t limiting. It isn’t “I love you if...” or “I love you as long as...” or “I love you until...”. When I say I love him, it means I love even when he plays air guitar along to the radio in the car, and even when he forgets to bring home his lunch bag, and even if he wants to see his old flames.

Long before I decided to love him (and believe me, it took a while), I knew I could trust him. Not because of his behaviour, but because of his reaction to mine. When I got to loving him, it meant everything. It meant that I knew that he would never do anything to hurt me. It also meant that we’d have full disclosure:

I know of all his ex-flames. I also know the very good reasons why he dumped them.

Above all, I know that in his eyes, there is nothing better, nothing on this entire planet even remotely comparing to me. Nothing. No one. Just me.

So if Jason was going out to lunch with an ex, I would be happy for him. Happy that he could reconnect with someone from his past, but happier still because besides breakfast and supper, lunch is his favouritest meal of the day! I’d probably tease him about what he’s having - he loves cheesesteak for lunch but is paranoid to order it without me because he always accidentally says cheesecake. And I’d watch him get excited about the beer on draft. That boy loves a beer with lunch. To him, there is no greater extravagance in the world.

Then I’d kiss him on the cheek, tell him to drive safely, and be extremely comfortable in the fact that he’ll be coming back home to ME.

All of the comments were fantastic! This was almost impossible for me to judge. Also knowing a lot of you “personally” made it difficult. Kevin had a much better eye for just picking based on the comment. I want to thank everyone for putting time and thought into their comments. You were directly responsible for hours of conversation between the hubby and me on this topic. PLEASE give me your correct usernames for Blog Explosion so I can give you some credits.

To the two winners, I have opted for letting them choose between 100 BE credits or a $25.00 Amazon gift card. Ladies, let me know which you would prefer, and I’ll get it off to you!

The reason this topic came up to begin with, is that I had “ran into” an old flame through Classmates.com and we had exchanged a few emails on some details of the last twenty-plus years of our life. The irony being after graduating from High School in Washington State, we both ended up living in Arizona. Lunch seemed like a fun idea!

What I ended up doing, I’ll share in the next post!

Thank you to all of you who took time out to comment!