Thursday, May 31, 2007

Beyond Proud...


...it's moments like this that make me realize just how blessed I am that she's my daughter.
GOOD JOB RUBY! MOMMA'S SO PROUD OF YOU!!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BABY!!!

Monday, May 28, 2007

My Favorite Pastime...


...man am I lucky.

My Girl...


...yes, she's sound asleep,
yes, she's in MY bed,
and YES, she's COMPLETELY ASS BACKWARDS!

God bless my girl, she can sleep in any position, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME!
hehehe
To coin one of Ruby's favorite sayings:

"Just like Momma!"
*big smile*

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

The Alphabet Song...

...as sung 'VERBATIM' by my daughter, Ruby Cate.
(no lie, I am still laughing as I type this!)


*imagine the ABC song in your head please, makes for a better read*

"A B C D E F G
H I J A
(burp)
A K A A E
M O O P Q
SING A ME...

...YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!"

American Idol, HERE WE COME!

hehehehe


Sunday, May 13, 2007

Two Very Happy Girls...


...totally & completely in love with each other!

A Good Day...


... and a very blessed Momma.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Ruby's Book Club...

...only has 3 rules*:


1. Book will be chosen by Ruby and/or Bear at all times.



2. Books can and should be read multiple times before switching titles with no complaints from reader and or fellow book club members.

and finally,
3. Everyone MUST BE WEARING A BOW**, NO EXCEPTIONS.

*Ruby's Book Club reserves the right to change any/all of these rules at any time without notice to suit the needs of it's founder & her fuzzy silent friend.

**No bows were harmed during the making of this post.

Peaceful...

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Mother's Day...

...a little early!


Thank you to my wonderfully sweet & thoughtful friend Sherry
for these GORGEOUS flowers, that,
not only brightened up my WHOLE HOUSE upon their arrival,
but made me realize just how lucky I am
to have her as my friend!

*hugs*


Finally...

...all of APRIL as seen through photos.
I've been DYING to post these for what felt like FOREVER without much success,
but thanks to a little gift from my beloved fuzzy friend Ebenezer,
It's now time to show you all what you've missed...


'Sleeping Beauty'


'Easter Egg Color Time'


'Cutest Easter Bunny Ever'
'She has her Momma's ears'
'Nonna Maria's Ricotta Cake'
Only make this ONCE a year, every Easter...
...man is it DELICIOUS!
'Nonno & Me minus one mustache'

'My "Uncle Amum" aka: Adam'

Gimmie a B! Gimmie an I! Gimmie a G!
Gimmie a G! Gimmie an I! Gimmie a R! Gimmie an L!
Gimmie a B! Gimmie an E! Gimmie a D!
What does it spell?
BIG GIRL BED!


'Sharing secrets with Bear'
(which basically means we're up to NO GOOD!)

'Mirror Mirror On The Floor'

One Year Ago Today...


...I said my final goodbye's to my beloved friend Ebenezer.
I just can't believe it's already been a whole year.
I miss him.
SO MUCH, I miss him.
*tears*

(I don't know if this is a gift from my boy or not, but you'll all please notice that his picture is here, posted, without a blogger hitch. Coincidence? Or the power of love?
I'm going with love...
Thanks buddy, I miss you!)

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

'MAD!' & A Tale Of Two Fingers...

So I'm in the kitchen cleaning up from breakfast & Ruby is in her room playing with her toys.
Pretty normal morning... until:

*crying* 'Momma Help Please!'
I run in to find her little hand wedged into a 'shape sorter' that she adores & KNOWS how to use, but apparently this time had forgotten which end was 'up' so to speak.

"Awww baby, c'mere, give Momma a hug... you're all right my love."
"I sad Momma, I so sad..."
"I know baby luv, you'll be ok, your fingers are ok... Momma helped you, see?"
*looking down at fingers in question*
"I MAD Momma!"

Slightly stunned, I take a minute to digest what my child has just told me.
See, Ruby's always been able to use adjectives to describe her feelings to me. Always.
Things like 'happy' or 'tired' or 'sad' or 'hungry' or 'cold' or 'hot' etc...
But MAD?

That shit's new...
that came from way out in left field,
hitting this Momma square in the face!

"Baby, do you mean you're sad? It made you sad to get your fingers stuck?"

*looking up at me as if I've clearly lost the ability to understand her words*
"No Momma,Ruby MAD not sad!"
*throwing evil shape sorter across the room*

"Baby, that's not very nice...
I'm sorry that you're upset but we don't throw our toys, ok?"
"Momma, I not ok! No more toy! Ruby put away..."
*grabbing bear for a nose to nose makeout session, she walks out of the bedroom leaving me to sort through the chaos that was the evil finger eating shape sorter*

Man, I didn't expect to hear that word out of her mouth... not that it's a bad word or anything but I typically don't use 'mad' when speaking, even when I'm angry. I say Momma's upset or Momma's sad or even Momma's angry... but mad?

So as if that wasn't enough to have to process before even finishing my first cup of tea,
she re enters the room with this beautiful nugget of info:

*holding up the 'closet door incident' fingers from last week*
"Momma?"
"Yes Ruby..."
"My fingers?"

*sadly like clockwork I fall into step with my role
in her play lovingly coined around this house as: A Tale of Two Fingers*

"Awww sweetie, what happened to your fingers?"
"Fingers shut it in a door."
"Awwww baby, and whose fault was that?"
"Momma's fault."
*smile on her face*
"Oh my sweet, and what did Momma say when that happened?"
"I SO sorry, soooooo soooooooo sorry, Momma"
"Yes baby, Momma was so so sorry. And then what did Momma say?"
"Not do again."
"That's right luvie, I'll never do it again, because I love you."
"WuVoo Momma!"
*hugs & kisses*


And then,
as if satisfied with her role in pointing out the error of my ways,
she turns & leaves.

No lie, my kid has told that 'fingers in a door' story to ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN!

Neighbors we know.
Neighbors we don't know.
Strangers at Target.
Strangers at the grocery store.
Each & every one of her stuffed animals is privy to an individual tale
of the dangers of Momma's & closet doors... etc.

You get the idea.

And the worst of it is,
it's with a gleam in her eye that she points out who's at fault. LOL

That's my girl.

*smiling*
(I'm so in trouble when she's a teenager... I feel the grey hairs starting already!)


Sunday, April 29, 2007

The Real Deal...

As my friend Kristen & I stood in line waiting for the John Edward's show,
we both were amazed at the scale of his fans, even in a smaller venue such as
Boston's Radisson Hotel.

While waiting in line I met a wonderful woman... care to guess her name?
No?
Ok... I'll tell you.
Her name was Amy Elizabeth, and she was a Leo.
Weird?
Yes, but in a fantastic way.
Amy had lost her Mom years ago & was hoping to connect with her.
Secretly, I started hoping for her too.
She sat with me & Kristen, in fact I had her sit in between us just in case we got called on, we'd all stand up as a group & maybe that would hold a better chance for her to potentially get read.
It was a shot, it couldn't hurt.


The event was being held in one of their ballrooms,
a room that held potentially up to 500 people but if I were to guess,
there were maybe slightly less than that once we all found our way inside
& found our seats.

They had a table set up with tons of pitchers of ice water & plastic cups.
The line was long & hot, slowly moving everyone through stairways and
narrow hallways that, if you were claustrophobic, must have sucked,
and finally one cluster at a time, we squished like sardine's
into little elevators that took us
all up to the 6th floor.

They took half of our tickets & returned the stubs in the event that anyone needed to leave the room to use the bathroom, you would need that stub to get back in, no exceptions.

Done.
Stub in pocket.
Thank you very much!

I made my way into the room, found an end seat along the right hand side
next to the water table & about half way back from the front.
A perfect spot.

They had two employees of the John Edward's team with mic's testing to be sure the sound was correct & making sure everyone had found a seat & was ready to begin.

We had, and we were.

Of the two, there was a man & a woman, although I suspect the possessing more feminine qualities than the woman.
If I were a gambling woman, I'd bet the bank that this boy was gay...
Fabulously, wonderfully, outrageously gay, because I love gay men and they always have a way of making me smile just a little bigger & laugh just a little louder.
He did both.

He got up on stage & warmed us up & then explained to us the rules.
"When talking into the mic..." he said "Don't .... *..... *.....* this because ....* .....* hard ....* .... hear you."
(moving the mic around from left to right to prove his point,
we only heard half of what he said.)
"You need to keep the mic right here at your mouth so that John can hear what it is you're asking him, ok?"
Yes, ok.

Next, the rest of the rules were to follow;
"No flash photography, so if any of you need to take a picture, you can take one now!"
(he posed with a sparkling smile & a whirl)
We all laughed.

" There will be no audio and/or video recording,
and No this event is not being recorded for T.V., do you see any cameras set up? Trust me, John's camera crew isn't that little OR that fast. *laughing* And I'm pretty sure there aren't any hidden cameras, at least I hope there aren't!"
More laughter.

Ok, so once the seminar starts,
there will be no leaving the room to use the bathroom
so if you have to go I suggest you go now..."
A dozen or so of us get up & do exactly that.
(myself included)

The seminar is scheduled to run from 2pm till 4:30 pm.
He actually ran from 2 till a little after 5pm.
Amazing.

He came out onto the stage, everyone clapped & there was a smile across every face in there.
Well, the faces I could see anyway.
I would imagine that it's always exciting to see someone like him in person, whether it's your first time (like me) or your fifth.

He began with saying hi to all of us & explaining a few things that always happen at every show.
Everyone, whether they think they will or not, develops 'Psychic Amnesia', which means that when/if he calls on us to remember something... we won't.
Something that, to everyone else in the room seems like 'OMG DUH, IF THAT WAS ME OF COURSE I'D KNOW IT WAS ME', but to whoever it's meant for, it just sits in the air, waiting to be claimed.

Also, if he talks about someone 'above' us, don't look up, they're not literally floating over your heads, he simply means 'older' than us.
A contemporary to our side, is a sibling or cousin or friend, someone of the same age.
Someone who is 'below' us, would be someone younger, a child, a child of a friend, a younger someone... and again, no they are not below us so don't check under your chairs.
*Laughter*
Believe me, it's happened before, he says.

He starts talking a little about what he does and how he starts & everyone seems to be getting very excited at the prospect of witnessing him first hand at his amazing gift.

He stands completely still & is just quietly breathing for a minute or two... then he looks up & says;
"I'm being pulled over here" he points to the opposite side of the room from me, nearly in the identical location as me.
He had a man coming through who died from blunt force trauma suddenly.
It wasn't expected.
He's trying to reach his wife.
She was the mother of his two children & pregnant with their third, when he suddenly passed.
She was there with her mom & a few family members.
It took her a while to make the connection,
(psychic amnesia)
but once she did, the tears started flowing.
Poor thing, it was amazing to see this connection take place for her but it was sad too.
It makes you realize that she hasn't had any connection with her husband in nearly four years.
Her baby is 3 & a half.
John said that he wants her to know he's watching her always.
He's proud of how she's raising their kids, and his last one, a daughter, is a spitfire!
To be careful, because she came complete with a bag of tricks & is planning on keeping mom on her TOES!
Also, he said, he asked her PLEASE not to let anyone do that whole "Aww poor thing, she never knew her father" to her.
It's negative energy when people do that & this poor little girl is going to be bombarded with negativity every time someone mentions Dad & he does not want that for her.
He asked that when someone attempts that 'Awww' moment, to simply smile & say, "She's doing great!"
She had tears streaming down her cheeks.
Most of us were tearing up.
You couldn't not.

Next he is being called to the back of my section, to a man.
He lost his parents.
They both stood up, he started to read the man at first &
then shifts his attention suddenly to the woman.
"I have someone who is coming through who dies from an accidental gunshot"
She is visibly starting to choke up.
"He telling me to tell you he's so sorry. He didn't mean to do it, it was an accident."
She had seen her child's father accidentally shoot & kill himself in front of their 1 year old.
She went on to marry & have two other children, but that 1 year old, is now 15.
She begins to cry.
"I'm mad at him!" she says.
John smiles at her & says, "No you're not, he knows you're not."
She begins sobbing.
"No, I'm not..." she says through tears. "I just wish our son could've known him, I miss him"

And so, the seminar was well underway, each family making a connection before our eyes to the point that everyone, including my skeptical friend Kristen, was admitting to having the hairs on her neck stand up a few times from things John hit on that you can't pull out of thin air. "He's the real deal." she said to me.

Towards the end, he calls toward the back of my section again & says the following:
"Ok guys, this is really graphic, and I apologize but I gotta give it as I get it ok?"
We were all in agreement that it was ok.
"Someone passes by way of a murder, and is found dismembered & in a freezer."
NOT a common thing.
Not like lung cancer.
Not like a heart attack.
Not like a car accident.
This was VERY SPECIFIC.
This was one of those "OMG IF THAT WERE ME I'D KNOW IMMEDIATELY!" moments.
Two words:
Psychic Amnesia.

Nobody stood up.
Nobody claimed this.
Nobody knew what he was getting at.

John says:
"This is one of those moments where, I look like I'm standing here patiently waiting but inside I'm thinking 'MY GOD, WHO IS THAT OUT OF IT THAT THEY CAN'T CONNECT A BODY IN PIECES IN A FREEZER?!?' kind of thing..."
Nervous laughter breaks out around the room.

More silence...

...until suddenly,
a man raised his hand & a mic was brought to him.

He says:
"I don't know if this is a connection but, I got a cousin in jail right now who did that."
"Who did what?" John asks.
"Who murdered someone." he says.
John says, "Did he murder them in that way?"
"What?" the guy asks.
"Was the person he murdered found in pieces in a freezer?" John asks slightly horrified that he had to repeat such a thing again...
"Yeah." the man says.

The whole room is silent.
"Ok then," John says. "Welcome to your reading..."

It was his father coming through & using that very specific detail
as his way to connect to his son.
Something that he figured was far too unique NOT to recognize and would be a slam dunk.
It was, even though it may have taken a little longer than expected.

The reading continued... the man, although slightly embarrassed that he A. didn't pick up on such a thing right away, and B. is related to a murderer,
was really glad to have heard from his father.

Then John is being pulled up to the front of the room, opposite side as us, and hits the nail on the head with one family whose mother Helen came through.
Helen was a force to recon with.
This reading was the longest of the night, lasting nearly 30 minutes.
Helen had alot to say, her family in attendance was HUGE
(nearly a dozen people or so)
and everyone connected with EVERY THING JOHN SAID!
Things he described in their house (in the basement)
a cuckoo clock that no longer worked (in the basement)
stopped at a specific time that should mean something to them.
It did.
It was the time of their Mother's passing.
Amaxing.
Then there was a huge sticker of scooby doo stuck to a glass storm door
(shocker, in the basement)
Things that can't be random, were far too unique to this particular family to be coincidence,
also... all in their basement.

I think I speak for everyone when I started to jokingly think inside my head that it's a wonder that dismembered frozen body wasn't also found, in their basement.
I know, not funny, but it's how my mind works... what can I say.

All in all I was truly blown away at the gift this man was given years ago.
I even got to ask a question, I raised my hand, a mic was brought to me, I stood up & looked one very handsome John Edward face to face & I asked him how old was he when he knew he could do this, and does he ever get to turn it 'off' so to speak or is he always hearing things?

He told a story of being 15 & going to a psychic with his family.
He was disinterested but went upon insistence of his aunt.
He watched tv while one by one his family members were getting incredible readings.
He wasn't interested.
While he sat there, in his mind he kept thinking to himself, "If you're so psychic, then come ask me a question."
In the midst of the reading taking place as he was thinking that, the psychic woman pops her head out of the room & says "John, did you want to ask me something?"

He was shocked but didn't show it.
"No." he said.
"You sure?" she asked.
"Yep, I'm sure." he said.
He continued to watch tv until the readings of his family were finished & his aunt, came out & INSISTED he go in & be read.
He didn't want to.
His aunt wouldn't take no for an answer.
He was read... he was skeptical...
The psychic said he was gifted.
He didn't believe her.

He immersed himself in books having anything to do with this business of the supernatural.
Reading page after page of what was 'normal' to him, asking his friends at school if it was normal for them too? Didn't they have things like this happen to them? Couldn't they do this & that?
They couldn't.

He knew then that he was different.
He started to take his gift seriously.
22 years later, he's here with us reading our families.
He's happy.

"And do I ever get to turn it off?" he asks "No, not so much turn it off but shut down for periods of time here & there..." but he's always being a medium even when he doesn't think he is. He can't help it, he said, it's just who he is now.

After me, another woman had a question.
She wanted to know if someone dies at a certain age, is that the age of their spirit on the other side? Like, if she has a child who dies at 2, is that spirit forever a 2 year old?
John said that, once passed he believes a spiritual energy is the age that they were at their happiest, an age they were most comfortable at. His mother, for instance, died later in life, but when she comes through to him, she's in her 20's. He didn't know it was her at first because he was expecting to see the woman whom he'd last seen before she passed.

If that's the case, when I come through some day, I'm pretty sure I'll come through in my 30's, because I don't think I've ever been happier than I am right now.
*smile*

After taking a few more questions, he said he'd like to thank us all for spending our Saturday afternoon with him and he'd like us to all take away one thing from today's events:

Communicate, Appreciate & Validate our loved ones here in the physical world,
before a medium like him has to do it for us.

In a word, he was;

Amazing.

Thank you John Edward for such a fantastic afternoon of enlightenment.
It is one experience I won't soon forget.


Saturday, April 28, 2007

Guest Post by Auntie Jen

Hello Everyone, this is Ruby's Auntie Jen, trying to post some pictures for Amy. We took these when my son Mikhail and I went to visit Amy, Ruby and Bear. Doesn't Miss Ruby look like a superstar in her shades? Up close and personal with Miss Ruby.


Hopefully Amy will be able to post pictures soon, but these should keep the masses happy for now!! ;-)