I SURVIVED!

OMG! The tools of torture were laid out before me...I wanted to scream and run when I saw this table...

They said the anesthesia would be the worst part of it...ummmm...NOT! NOT! NOT!

The almost an hour of pulling, more anesthesia, pulling some more, more anesthesia, and what felt like the ripping apart of my tooth from every nerve in my gum..was the worst part of it!!!!

If you never had a tooth pulled as a child...your going to LOVE having your first tooth pulled as an adult. NOT!NOT!NOT!

In all actuality I'm a super big baby when it comes to needles and dentists...I shook like a leaf the entire time which probably made it twice as hard for the good doctor..He did a really great job!!! His constant reminders that I was "doing great" no matter how much he was lying ..were very comforting! I do recall half way through asking him, "am I still alive"...he must have thought I was the biggest baby ever! Little does he know I have three children and 5 tattoo's and I was still deathly afraid of his little needle..ha ha..But I survived and although I was starving to death the whole day yesterday and didn't get to sleep till 3am..I made it to work today and I feel sooooooooo much better!

see back at work and the swelling is going down! Thank you Dr. Pierson and everyone at SDA!!!

Q :What just turned 14, is 6 feet tall & 216 lbs???

A : My baby boy Savali Tavita.

According to online "height predictors" my son will be 6'4" by the age of 18..

Martin Luther "ouch" King Day

My wisdom tooth will finally come out next monday...Just in time to celebrate MLKD!

At least I won't look like I've got a wad of chewing tobacco stuck between my gum and cheek anymore..

A Christmas Story...

I'm not sure how to go about telling this story or how much I should tell ( I don't want to embarrass anyone), but It's a story I wanted to share because the person involved really touched my heart and the heart of 4 really cool kids!

I guess I will start by telling you a bit about the 4 cool kids. For about 4-5 months now, I've had what might be considered 5 new foster kids/young adults. I consider them my "kids". 4 of them I met through my church, NCLC and the other is my my oldest daughters best friend.They were youths in the church who were having family issues at home or for one reason or another were staying with other church members and somehow ended up migrating and staying with me.

I wont go into details on their family issues, but I will say they ranged from alcoholic parents, physical abuse and just general family issues such as dealing with step parents or in this case, not being able to deal with the step-parents.

When I first met these kids, I only knew them through church and I was hooked on them from day one. They were all so hard working, dedicated kids. They would show up at church every weekend to bush cut, clean..do just about anything that needed to be done. No complaints, no questions asked. Whatever the pastor needed them to do..they were there to help. Which to me was impressive since getting my oldest daughter (who is the same age) just to do the dishes was a task in itself! ha ha..

The more I got to know these kids, the more they grew on me..and eventually, they all came to live with me..Jude and Ryan pretty much 24/7, Garett and Iunis stay with me on weekends and holidays or weekdays when things are just unbearable at home, and Triny is with me most week days and weekends, but she does go home to help her mom out cleaning their house occasionally.
All the kids had been really helping out around the house (my house) cooking, cleaning, doing laundry..whatever they can do to pitch in and help ease my load..and I really appreciate it! I really wanted to do something special for them for Christmas. Just before Christmas I had a conversation with one of the boys and I asked him what he wanted for Christmas. His response to me took me by surprise and really touched my heart. He said, "Ms. you already have given us more than we could ask for, I don't need anything else."

A few days later my oldest daughter and I were talking and I asked her what she thought I should get them for Christmas. She said she had also been talking to the boys to get an idea of what they wanted and one of them told her he had never received a Christmas gift ever. I soon came to find out that story was true for most of them..

To make a long story short (ok, it's a bit too late for that..ha ha) I decided I would do my best to get them a gift I knew ALL of them would love! I'll be honest, times have been really tough for me lately. With a household that went from 4 to 10 in a matter of months and with only myself being employed it's definitely been a challenge. But I wanted so bad to get them a good Christmas gift. I eventually decided that I would try to get Ryan, Iunis and Triny and Tia cell phones, Garett a CD player and Jude an Ipod or MP4 player.

As luck would have it, I won a nice portable CD player at my company Christmas Party. My prayer had been answered for Garett.

I then set out to get the cell phones. I had seen in the paper an add for some pretty nice phones that ran about $90 each. Quite a bit of $$ when your looking for 4. But I recall one of the boys talking to my daughter about that particular phone and I knew they would LOVE to have one.

As soon as I received my Christmas bonus, I began calling the phone company to see if the phones were available and where and when I could get 4 . For some reason, two days of trying to get through was proving very unfruitful and I kept getting answering machine after answering machine. It was a couple days before Christmas so I figured that everyone must be busy and I worried that I might just be out of luck. Then I remembered a fellow blogger who works for the phone company...BRAD!

After a bit of phone tag, I got through to him and told him I was looking for some phones for Christmas. Four Katana's to be exact. He asked me who they were for and I explained to him about my church "kids". He immediately flew into action, made some phone calls and before I knew it he had 4 Katana phones ready for me at a SUPER great price and on top of that he threw in a bunch of phone cards to get the kids started off with their new phones. When I went down to pick up the phones and Brad told me about the discount and everything, I swear I wanted to cry!!!! He didn't know it, but the discount he gave me would allow me to buy the gift my youngest daughter Mirika had wanted for Christmas, and without that discount, I would not have been able to get for her.

I took the phones home and wrapped them up in all different sized boxes to throw the kids off of what could be inside. I could tell they were all so excited that they would be getting a gift this Christmas. I was hard for me to wait for Christmas Eve to come so I could let them open their gifts....I think I was twice as excited as they were!

Christmas Eve eventually came and that night before we went to church we all sat around the Christmas tree. Ulu gave a speech to the kids about how much they meant to us and have been a blessing in our lives and how much we cared about them..Then one by one I passed out their boxes. The looks on their faces as they opened up their gifts is something that I just can't put into words....

I did however, take some pictures and a picture is worth a thousand words..

Ryan with his cleverly disquised cell phone...he has no idea..
Trini and Tia began texting immediately..
Iunis was super happy! He really, really, really wanted his own cell phone.
Garett opens up his CD player...
These boys have never been so quiet before..ha ha..if I knew, I would have given the phones to them sooner..ha ha

Garett opens his COBY MP player. He said he loved it, but I think maybe he wanted a phone.. :)

Tia loves her new pink Katana!

The boys are all smiles as they play with their gadgets.

So with that, I just want to say a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Brad for helping to make 4 very cool kids super-d-duper Happy on Christmas! Oh, and of course for helping to make my daughter Mirika (who was not with me Christmas Eve) but who got to open the Nintendo DS Lite she really wanted Christmas Morning...You rock!

You will have to order the PORK..

Cause there ain't no CHICKEN here!

I'm taking Deece up on her challenge...

I have three licenses in my wallet..why? Because I find it so amusing that
whatever you tell the people at BMV regarding the information on your license, they
do not question you at all. As you can see in one license I stated I had Blue eyes and Brown hair, in another I have Green eyes and Auburn hair..and just to be funny, on my current license I stated that my hair color was "Mocha" and they actually typed that right on there...he he he!

My nose looks HUGE and they chopped of half of my head and my Mocha hair..he he
Back in the day when I had BLUE eyes..
Whoaaa! Funky hair day..he he..


My license is up for renewal this month and I'm thinking of going with Turquoise eyes and Chocolate mousse hair.

PS : Did you really think I would let ya'll see my weight???

Bogarted/Doinked/Gaffled/Ganked from Kirida.com

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Went to church regularly. Joined a Bible study group.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yes...I did and No, I won't.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but a lot of pregnant people about to give birth.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes..My grandfather Glen Dale.

5. What countries did you visit?
Guam..ha ha..does that count?

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Financial Stability.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Jan 23rd, Sept. 1st, Oct 7th, Nov 7th & December 9th...We all turned a year older.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Staying Alive and Healthy and being able to support ALL my kids without having to put any of them up for adoption, up for sale or sell them into slavery..ha ha ha..just kidding!

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not loosing as much weight as I wanted too in the Body Success Challenge.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
I didn't really buy anything for myself last year.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Savali & Mirika for being on the A honor roll consistently throughout the year and making me proud!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Don't need to mention that here..but you know who you are.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Food..with 10 mouths to feed..it went to food, food, food!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Giving all the kids exactly what they wanted for Christmas (thanks in large part to the help of Brad Ruzalla)

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
"Does she love me, does she love me not"..the theme of reality trash tv's Real Chance at Love..

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner.
c) richer or poorer? Poorer...definitely!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
conserving power.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Eating out.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Opened presents with the Kids Christmas Eve, Had a family party at my house Christmas day..the rest was just to wild and crazy to write about....

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Was already there..

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Real Chance of Love...ha ha ha...Go CORNFED!

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don’t hate anyone.

24. What was the best book you read?
The Unnatural History of the Sea..the only book I read.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Mixed Plate the re-mix (Ulu, Jude & G-red)

26. What did you want and get?
My Family Healthy and Happy

27. What did you want and not get?
A New camera : ( and a cuttlebug.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Music & Lyrics...was that last year?

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I had a birthday weekend..that consisted of several dinners/lunches/outings and lots of good food, Friends and family..I turned 37..agh!.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Hmmmm...Financial security

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
OMG! Terrible...whatever I can find in the closet that had the least amount of wrinkles..matching or not.

32. What kept you sane?
My kids!

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Budah from I Love New York2....ha ha ha

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
?? Presidential Election I guess.

35. Who did you miss?
Dad & Gramps.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Jude, Ryan, G-red, Iunis & Triny..My other kids!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
While something may seem so insignificant or small to you..it may mean the world to someone else...so whatever you may have..no matter how small or insignificant it may seem..share it with those less fortunate!

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
The Brady Bunch..but tweaked a bit..

"That this group would somehow form a family.
That's the way we all became the Hunter-Henry Bunch."
.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year Everyone! I have many Christmas stories to tell and pictures to share, but can't find the cord for the camera at the moment and super busy with year end stufsies. Will post more as soon as I can. Just wanted to make sure and wish Everyone a super fun and safe New Year!