The Making of our Balodi Family Halloween Game, Which Way, Witch?

This Halloween we, UltimateArcadeInc.com a.k.a. The Balodi Family, created their 2nd family produced Flash Web Game, Which Way, Witch?  This was a joint creation by Alan (Daddy), Tina (Mommy), Isabella Sara, and Gabrielle Alexa.  Everyone was involved in different ways.  Daddy created the character, all the graphics and the music, and programmed the game.

 

Mommy named the character, wrote the story and created the title.   

We had so much fun, Isabella and Gabrielle each created their own graphics using Daddy's drawing Pad.  Their creations were on the computer so Daddy was able to insert them into the game when he was ready.  This is such a wonderful experience to share in the fun! Try the game out!  It's not as easy as it looks, well if you're over the age of 8, it's harder LOL :)  Enjoy! 

PLAY NOW...Which Way, Witch?

Isabella Sara's art work Age 8

Gabrielle Alexa's art work Age 6

Disney's Tangled and Parenting in 2010

I will start off by saying, we all know it's challenging to be a parent..deciding what's best for our children is a daily decision making process...In our family, we most often do this by listening to our kids and asking them what feels comfortable to them and honoring their own "intuition," which more often than not trumps our intuition.

After seeing Disney's Tangled movie yesterday, ...I had so many thoughts I needed to work out...writing seemed like the best way to work through them.

First off, I can say I think I LOVED this movie...of course after being 36 years old and seeing many different Disney movies/all movies, I was of course able to handle the villians, scary scenes, etc...BUT watching it with my 4 1/2 and 6 1/2 year old, I was wondering why we had even thought this movie was appropriate for children.

I think as parents with little kids...Pixar, Dreamworks, and Disney movies that are advertised to us as Family Films...we are all wondering just what content is appropriate for these young ages...I mean, it's a bit confusing, I think we relate "animation" to children, even though the concepts are not meant for children at all.

I have always had a twinge of regret letting our girls watch some of these classics...I have enjoyed them immensely, but now that my oldest can describe her feelings and thoughts much better, I am understanding the effect they have on our little ones...

While the movie, Tangled, is lovely with gorgeous characters (I mean gorgeous...handsome and beautiful characters) and the music we love and adore...there are many underlying messages that may be scary including: kidnapping, stabbing, disobeying a parent, having a parent that supposedly loves you, lying, jail, and dying. Now I know these are all concepts we eventually learn about and death is part of life, but it's how it's portrayed...basically as an attempted murder. I know Disney's Tangled is PG, but how young should kids be to see all of these concepts?? I saw kids younger than Gabi at 4 1/2 in the theater...I heard kids crying, etc.

I was shocked to see some of the scenes in this movie...the only reason we didn't leave is because my kids were hiding at all the "scary" parts! Bella and Gabi won't even go to the movies without ear plugs for the noise and the stroller. They hide under the double stroller and shut the shade when their "intuition" tells them it's not comfortable. They hide under their blankets, etc. to block out anything that doesn't feel good to them. I can't say for sure, but I don't know any other kids who do this...but it's what they want when they go to the movie. My kids don't even watch the previews...they hide for those too. The previews are often aimed at a much older audience.

My next thought of course, is maybe if they are scared at all, we should not be going to the movies, however, with Alan being an animator and video game developer and us loving 3D movies and Disney seeming to be for kids, we have gone...and they enjoy many of the parts, but I'm grateful they trust themselves enough to "look away" at things that don't feel good to them.

I understand teaching the "good vs. evil" thing and it's important for everyone to learn about contrast, etc...but how young should they be??

We talk to our girls a LOT and they are asking all sorts of questions now, especially Bella at 6 1/2...so they don't blindly watch something and see something scary or different without questioning us and asking us why did it happen, what does it mean...

Anyway, now, like at each stage of parenting, we are deciding what feels good to our family, our children and us...and we'll have to decide what we do next but we are definitely taking a break from Disney and some animated films that now seem a bit scary...

We passionately believe in deliberate creation and the Law of Attraction, so if we are teaching our kids "what you focus on expands, and what you think about your bring about" we need to consider what they watch and read and spend time doing, so their thoughts are focusing on positive things...there are many positives in all of these movies, but late at night, it seems that their mind focuses on the negative more for some reason.

Well, as we learn we will share... :)

Our Trip to the Zoo!

So we took our kiddies to the zoo...paid to get in to visit the animals and see all the holiday decorations just like everyone else...Then the next morning, my 5 1/2 year old self proclaimed vegetarian says to me, "Momma, do people eat meat at the zoo?" and I said, "Well, yes, they do, they serve, chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs..." she gasped, "THEY DO! SO THEY SHOW YOU THE ANIMALS AND THEN YOU EAT THEM? THAT'S CRAZY!" I was so shocked by her question and the fact that she was analyzing our visit. My husband didn't think too much, he just enjoyed his churros...but she was still thinking the next day why would people pay to get in somewhere see animals, then eat animals! All kids grow up watching animals personified whether it be Madagascar or Disney characters, etc...so she has a very strong feeling towards not eating Alex, or Mickey, or Minnie, or Olivia! I'm telling you, I have never loved eating any types of meat, but she said to us last year as we scarfed down a huge delicious Italian Beef from our favorite restaurant, Portillo's, "Daddy, is that a DEAD animal in your mouth?" he replied as best as he could, "No baby, that's just Italian Beef!" HAHAHAHA Anyway, made us think a bit and we haven't eaten meat or chicken in almost 6 months!!

STUFF!!! WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL OUR STUFF??

During these rough economic times...in the last week, we have decided something huge...we are temporarily uprooting our entire family to go back to Chicago (where we are from) and reunite with our best friends! We plan to live with them for a bit too! So now I am looking around our home at all our stuff and wonder what will we do with all our stuff. It reminded me of a wonderful book I read recently, "An Hour To Live, an Hour to Love," by Richard Carlson and his beautiful wife, Kristine Carlson. He also wrote, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff." On page 10 he writes this, "If I had an hour to live, I wouldn't be calling the lawyer who will be handling all my "stuff" after I'm gone. I never really did care for all this stuff anyway. It always seemed like a burden to me, as if I were tripping over it all. There always seemed to be too much of it to deal with. I had to buy it, clean it, store it, keep it, insure it, keep track of it, find places for it, move it around, replace and update it, and now, in the end, decide who gets it next. Who cares?"

Richard and his wife share with us to enjoy and appreciate each day which is a gift. Richard passed away at the age of 45 of a pulmonary embolism. He leaves us with so many valuable lessons...we are so grateful for this book and all his work.

It's making me think about all of our "stuff" and all of our attachments to our stuff. So we are leaving town without most of our stuff and going to see how we manage. It feels like a wonderful lesson in detachment for our family.

These times are teaching us how much we really need and what's really important in life.

GOODBYE, PAP! Translation in our family = Pacifier

Some people call it a binky, papi, fire, paci, etc...In our family, it was affectionately known as, PAP! This PAP became a part of our family since Isabella learned to talk and named her pacifier this...We've had to keep "track" of this friend for 4 1/2 years now. It's been part of our inventory system and I needed to have one on hand whenever she asked for it. When she was a baby, we attached it to her with a clip on...when she was older I just made sure we had them upstairs, downstairs, in the fridge, in the cooler when we went out and sometimes in my purse. As she got older, people would comment and say she was too old and it's time, but I truly wanted her to decide when she was ready. About 6 months ago, we took Gabi off her baby pap because her teeth were not coming in as she liked to hold her pacifier with her gums, on the left side of her mouth like Popeye! I knew in my heart it was affecting her and her teeth/health, so we took it away cold turkey...she didn't even cry one little bit. Isabella still used her friend and loved it! Mostly when she was tired or hurt and at night.

Then, I found out that pacifiers, like other bottles, nipples, plastics, contained a chemical called BPA...bisphenol A...not safe for anyone. You can decide for yourself and read about it here and other chemicals to avoid: http://healthychild.org/5steps/5_steps_5/?gclid=CMmTlZnxgZcCFQhJagodEjs0Yw#safety_checklist

So I went online and ordered BPA and phatlate free pacifiers for Isabella.

Ok, so about 3 weeks ago, Gabi decided that she loved Isabella's pacifier with a duck on it...the pink one. She quickly named it, "my duck duck my." After we laughed, we knew it wasn't a new chinese dinner, and we decoded what she was calling it, it was stuck to her like glue! All of a sudden, all day, she was like "where's my duck duck my." Ok, so maybe it's the chemical free plastic, but both Isabella and Gabi broke through the plastic and I ended up throwing almost all the pacifiers out. Isabella even helped me...later that night, we fished one out, yes from the trash and sterilized one that was not "truly" broken yet because she couldn't sleep. Again, we cold turkey stopped Gabi's use, but Bella was a harder habit to break.

Well, last night was a new experience for me...I had to throw away our last and final PAP! It was so hard on her and me...I let her sleep in our room, I just laid with her, held her, pet her, played with her hair...I told her it's ok to be sad and she can cry if she feels like it (not sure this wasn't a mistake, out came the tears) I told her that we were grateful for all the times Pap made us feel better and took away our pain and made her feel safe. We loved Pap and would always remember him/her. We appreciated that instead I bought her a Barbie she wanted and she said, "Mom, I'd trade all my toys if I can have my pap back." She was going through withdrawal. I cried with her (silently) and sung to her...Maybe she was crying from my singing or the pap, we'll never know, but she did finally fall asleep...she is still sleeping...it was a late night, but as I sit next to her my hope and my dream is that I can comfort her anytime she needs me to and always help her move forward to the next phase in life. :) Did I mention it's 10:44am! She is a great sleeper!!!!! And she slept all night without her friend, PAP!

UPDATE!!
TODAY WAS HARD! Hard for me, Hard for Isabella! So we decided to make "PAP" a Goodbye We LOVE You cake! it came out adorable and most of all, distracted Bella from her sadness and fear of not having the pap.
ONE MORE UPDATE!!
TONIGHT WAS HARDER! Isabella finally went to sleep sometime before 1am, crying, asking for her Pap, saying, "Mommy, I'm so sad, what should I do?" breaking my heart...and keeping me up :) Then finally she fell asleep and I thought we're in the clear. No such luck, she woke up at 4am saying the exact same thing and asking for her friend and is still currently up for the day...I assume she'll nap later, maybe, but now I get to stay up! Boy, I miss PAP.

P.S. For anyone who is still using a Pap or starts to use one you need to search online for BPA FREE pacifiers, bottles, etc., this is a brand you can look for...
Evenflo Mimi Soft Touch pacifiers are BPA free and come in a two pack.

Halloween & Trick or Treating Indoors!

This Halloween, our girls are almost, 4 1/2 (Isabella aka Barbie The Island Princess) and 2 1/2 (Gabrielle aka Tinkerbell), and had no desire to "celebrate" Halloween with the traditional trick or treating. We work very hard to actually listen to our girls, instead of following a protocol for what Halloween traditions should be. Isabella was too scared of Halloween to see any costumes, so we stayed inside this year and celebrated at home and gymnastics class. We decorated with pumpkins and nothing scary at home, we went to the pumpkin patch and jumped around, we baked Ghost sugar cookies with Bubie and Grammy, and then decided not to hand out candy or open the door to other trick or treaters who we wouldn't know what to expect for their costumes. Instead, we let the girls dress up and trick or treat from room to room inside our home. The most important thing for us was that they were happy, healthy, and had fun with no anxiety or discomfort! It was a blast...we had so much fun and it was just another wonderful experience we could all have together. I am a huge fan of getting our girls to communicate...Isabella is amazing at telling us what she is comfortable with or not...Gabi will soon learn too once she is fully talking! :) I am grateful that we can share traditions new and old, but in a way that feels good for everyone! While we may not always understand why a 4 year old is scared, it's just important that we respect her feelings and listen to her words.

No MORE Pooping in the Pantry!

Just 1 month shy of our daughter, Isabella Sara turning 4 1/2, she was finally ready to POOP IN THE TOILET! I just said the same things I always said to encourage her, like, "today's the day, are you ready??" She responded with, "no not today, I'll tell you when I'm ready, Please hurry get me a pull up!" Or, Mom, I'll be ready soon...I would say, when is soon, she said you know soon! Then she would proceed to hide somewhere, like a corner, or our pantry in the kitchen and say this, "MOm stop talking please, i can't concentrate! hmmm, i said, if you are saying things like concentrate, shouldn't you be ready to poop on the toilet????" Everyone asked if she was pooping in the toilet yet, I did even resort to bribery...we'd say, Bella, we'll get you a Barbie Jeep, and she would say, no thank you, I'm not ready...I have to admit, I didn't even bribe with candy like many moms and a lot of parenting books suggest...I just thought, when she's ready, she'll do it.

So this weekend, I was changing her pullup with poopies and she was so big, I just thought I'd suggest one more time..I said, "Bella, I just know you're ready to poop in toilet, I know it's scary, but you are so brave and I really believe you're ready...what do you think??" She said, "really Mom, you think so?" And the next day we took off her pullup and she did it! She was finally READY...I asked her, "so are you going to want the Barbie Jeep, she said, "No Mom, I just pooped in the toilet, let's not talk about it." Case closed...she has pooped in it since, but let's me know she is a bit scared though each time still. I can tell you this, they don't do anything until they are ready! So why worry? Just be patient...they all learn.

We are in mourning :( We lost a member of our family...

Jasmin Balodi
a.k.a. Pookie & Jazzi :(
November 23, 2002 - September 11, 2008

Sadly, we had to make the hardest decision of our lives, last Thursday, September 11th (hard day as it was) we had to decide to end Jasmin's life. She was only 5. I can barely write it here without crying all over my keyboard. It is a million times more painful than I ever imagined it could be. Alan wanted to bring Vince with...a wonderful friend and someone who took care of Jasmin if we left town and loved her dearly. The vets explained what we would be doing and the fact that without very expensive exploratory surgery that may not increase her quality of life, we had to make a decision to end her suffering. After all, she couldn't breathe without a chest tube. It was amazing though, when we arrived and were walking in, Jazzi came out, she was being taken to the restroom, and ran right up to us! She recognized us and couldn't wait to say hi. We had to be careful not to pull out her chest tube and IV...After long discussions with her doctors, we were told we would have a chance to say goodbye to our precious puppy and then they would inject something to make her sleepy...then they would inject something that stops her heart. Ok, I know the details are quite vivid, but this experience is worth describing as we have to now live with it. We sat there and my tears dropped onto her face. I could not walk away, couldn't bare to leave her there without us. We didn't even put her in a kennel if we went out of town...she was always at home. I know in time, we will focus on only the positive wonderful memories we shared, after an event like this, unfortunately we are remembering the last moments only with her for now. I held her and she was getting cold...I knew her spirit left and I knew she would be happy and was running somewhere, but I will never forget holding her in that moment and wondering did we make a mistake, were we so wrong for what we just did...In the end it was about her health and well-being, but it seemed so wrong...We are lost without her. We had to put her things in the garage...I have been hearing her walk and her footsteps and have been looking for her at night. I haven't slept through the night since it occurred. In time, we will go on, but for now the pain is so raw and real. We will love her forever and miss her terribly.

Mine and Alan's 1st Baby...Jasmin

For the last 2 weeks we have been helping our 1st baby, our Golden Retriever, Jasmin, to recover from a health crisis...she is currently in intensive care in Ventura, CA at VMSG, and in the ICU...it's pretty bad, Monday night we almost lost her...2 weeks ago she ended up having a reaction with her liver to the medicine she was on Ramidyl (tylenol for dogs) for her bad knee-torn ligament...she was on it for no problems for 3 weeks, then she got liver disease?? My aunt, a veterinarian, took care of her (huge expense that we charged on our credit cards), and was totally improving, then Monday of this week, she couldn't breathe. We rushed her to the animal hospital where my aunt works Caring Hands in Thousand Oaks, CA and her and my uncle tried to save her and she had a collapsed lung and air filling in her lungs...She is currently breathing via a chest tube and a Plerovac with a 70-80% chance of healing on her own from a bubble that burst in her lungs. We will have to decide tomorrow or Friday to keep going (which we can't afford, she is now racking up charges on my mom's credit card) or to put her down...we have been beside ourselves...she's only 5 :( We have been working on sending her good thoughts and healthy energy...We don't believe it only comes down to money at this point, it comes down to as my mom said, her quality of life. Will she be happy, breathe ok, how will she feel, it's so hard waiting, but we are giving her time to hopefully seal up this air hole and heal on her own. We love her very much and are praying for her to heal and be with us for many years to come. She is a big part of our family.

My Best Friend, Karla, My Twin

This pic (Karla, Tina, Imari - Karla's Daughter)
I got the best surprise of my life last Wed at 11pm...my best friend in the entire world's brother, Abe, asked if he could stop by for a minute on his way to a business meeting. (He was driving up the night before the meeting to stay over for the morning meeting.) I said ok, but was a bit annoyed and tired at this hour. I had just got the girls to bed, Isabella was still up in her bed, but I was relaxing and only had my feet up for 2 minutes, when Abe said I'll be there in 5 minutes! I said, FINE!! He came by, Alan let him in, he came up to get me then forced us to come out to his car...I was complaining all the way, "why do we have to come out..." Well, he asked me to open the front passenger door and out jumped Karla and Imari all the way from Chicago! I was so stunned, I didn't know what to do. I'm happy I didn't faint or pee, but I was so happy I couldn't even breathe or speak for few minutes! I immediately said, "I normally don't love surprises, but I LOVE this one!" I didn't even totally realize how much I needed to see Karla at that time. She is an amazing wonderful influence in my life, she is part of my heart and I adore her and really needed to see her and there she was. I told Alan to immediately go get Isabella and she was shocked too! I said, "Mommy had no idea they were coming, it was all a big surpirse." Anyway, we had such an amazing time...almost a week together. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. We hugged and kissed every chance we got...we were like a "couple" but we didn't care! We are so in love as friends! I feel renewed and will continue put my intentions on the fact that Karla must live here! She wants to move here just as badly as well all want them here. Karla and I have been best friends since high school/beauty school. We have had our moments like any friendship has ups and downs, but we had a really big falling/fight out right before Alan's and my wedding. We "broke" up for 3 months...it was a misunderstanding and a fight that took place 2300 miles apart from each other, but nonetheless, it seemed that our friendship could be over forever. After 3 long months, Karla called me and I don't exactly remember the details, but we made up and I can say looking back, whatever it was we thought we were so upset about, it would have been a shame to lose such an amazing friendship. We are mommies now and wives and still best friends and we have an energy around us when we're together that can take over the world! I am so so grateful everyday for our friendship and sisterhood with this woman who is like my fraternal twin...we are the same in so many ways yet a bit different too! Also, I thought of how I felt about Abe, I was so tired from my day, and never, which I am not proud of, thought that something amazing could be happening, I was just thinking why is he here! He is so annoying!!! I am so grateful that he brought Karla and Imari and Giancarlo to us! I am sad that didn't seem more appreciative at the time but I was so confused as to why he was so pushy! :)
We had so much fun, we stayed up late every night we were together, even Giancarlo and Isabella stayed up late. We wanted to take in every second we had together. Our girls, Isabella and Gabrielle were in heaven and has so much fun with Aunty Karla and Imari (Gabi called her, "I") and Giancarlo. Alan came almost everywhere with us...he is amazing! When they showed up we said there are very few people you would be willing to stop the world for, blow up mattresses and open your home fully to! Friends like this are hard to come by. I can't wait to see them all again really soon. I am proud that we have kept this relationship going for 18 years now and the last 14 years have been via long distance. We talk almost everyday and always always think of each other!

Our 1st attempt at Yoga for my daughters!

So 2 days ago I Googled a place to take my girls to try their first Yoga class. I found an amazing place in Tarzana, CA called, CosmiKids! It sure sounded like the most wonderful environment where our girls could learn about some of the amazing spiritual experiences of Yoga, etc. It is a place where they will be nurtured, and respected and it sounded like a dream...that was until we showed up and Isabella saw an actual costumed bear from the Angel Bear Yoga class! We stood outside and she was screaming and crying as if she had been hurt or something horrible. I immediately got a sinking feeling in my tummy, wondering if I just scarred her or something by taking her to this wonderful place and scaring the you know what out of her! Luckily, Alan/Daddy was with us planning on working on his laptop from the car, and he took her in the car with him. It was not what I expected, but I know there must be a reason that this day didn't work out. We look forward to trying again in the future, but were really surprised to say the least. I tried very hard to tell her that Mommy really didn't know there would be a bear and if I knew we wouldn't have gone there. Isabella said, "Mommy you know I don't like costumes, here or at Disneyland or anywhere, and I'm not trick or treating either!"

A "Love Time Out"

Lately, every time I am thinking something or explaining it to my husband, I have a hard time selling him on my ideas, because he doesn't read about disciplining the kids and I just get these messages from my heart. I don't have proof...well, lately, I somehow find something written that seems similar to what I am saying and thinking...I have been trying to explain this concept to my husband and to myself about discipline...that our kids need discipline if they are hurting another or being mean. If they are being sad, or crying or feeling left out or angry on their own, and they have a "tantrum" they need LOVE. I have said, it's hard to give love when they are screaming and yelling and inconsolable, but this is when they need it most. I believe when they cry and yell and act irrational...

!!!!! WAIT, I have to pause, Isabella is right now having a tantrum!!!! How ironic, I am typing about it and it's happening!!! Ok, I'm back...

So I was saying that when they get crazy they need love, they need us to teach them how to calm down, breathe, and relax and explain what they are feeling. I have been sitting with Isabella during her "tantrums" and hugging her, talking to her, or just petting her legs, til she calms down. I have called this a "LOVE TIME OUT" I tell her that her heart needs love and when she freaks out like this it is not good for her body. She shakes, yells, screams, cries, etc. She can't calm down. I have always felt it's my job to help her learn. I tell her to breathe, take a few breaths, I call them Yoga Breaths, and try to calm down. Try to tell me what's upsetting her and see how we can create a solution together. I am grateful that I can be home with my girls and have the time to teach them and learn from them. It does take an enormous amount of time and patience. Sometimes, it doesn't help but I sing to her to distract her...not something beautiful, I sing a hit from the 70's...it goes like this...AAHH FREAKOUT, YEAH, SHE'S A SUPERFREAK, SHE'S SUPERFREAKY....I know this is not appreciated, but sometimes it makes her laugh.

Anyway, today, and everyday I am expanding my world of knowledge and found this article talking about this very thing: http://www.inspiredparentingmagazine.com/articles/shomphe_lori/article1.html
It may not be for everyone, but it was great for me to hear that someone else has found this method to be beneficial for their family.

She's only 4, right? She didn't hear what we said....yeah right!

When I first started showing Isabella, our oldest, our most favorite Disney movies and classics, we had a blast...We enjoyed them so much and since Alan is so into animation and character design, we all love having these movies on. The music and characters are amazing! Then, Isabella started talking...she also, ironically, started listening, repeating, and soon after asking questions. Up until now, I guess I was watching these movies "unconsciously" and not noticing their language or actions. Once I began seeing it through the eyes of my 4 year old, I started really hearing it and hearing her "take" on it. First, they have some really mean characters. Not just scary, but mean. They use words that I have vowed to "watch" and try not to use in our lives ie. idiot, stupid, hate, etc. Also, they have running themes that I'm not sure anyone really thinks about unless you are writing a paper on the film. Well, Isabella started to notice a running theme and asked me one day, "Mommy, why don't many of the Disney Princesses have mommies??" She also noticed this in Shirley Temple movies. I was really shocked that she noticed and also wasn't sure what to tell her, were they working, dead, not home, shopping??? I didn't know what to say at that moment...

Now, once my brother asked me when I began monitoring and moderating people's speech in front of my girls, "When did you become such a priest?" meaning he has heard me use this same language, but now all of a sudden it seemed unacceptable...I said, the day I got pregnant and then gave birth! I felt I would love to have them surrounded by only love and teach them a way to speak that would make them feel good. I know I can't moderate everything, but at least I could ask this of our families...It's amazing, I mean our children are truly more aware than some of us even at 4 and I was pleased to see she was actually thinking and not just in a tv "coma", however, it has made me much more conscious of what we do let them watch. So I have added tv to our list of "things to be more aware of" and now we try to let her watch things that would inspire her, educate her and best of all make her and her sister feel great! (at least when possible)

Magical Awakening!

This summer Alan and I and Ultimate Arcade.com, produced, created, and launched our very first Spiritual Flash Game, Magical Awakening! It stars a character named, Randall, which is named after one of our very best, most amazing, special, spiritual, funny, and loving friends, Randy Olsen. It's a game about the distractions in our lives and how hard it is in today's society to find even 30 seconds to sit still and think, meditate, relax, and appreciate. It's really fun and we're very proud of it.

Groceries in 2008, almost an Olympic event!

Ok, so I wrote a list, for almost the first time in my life, we are trying to "be on a budget" and wanted to keep our cost down while shopping and only buy what we really, really need...first, it took 2 hours for Alan (my hubby) and I to shop at Whole Foods! We had fun though, ate pizza there and ran into Uncle Steve. Choosing what to buy, healthy food, healthy products without chemicals, etc. is not an easy task. I envy Alan as he plays on his iPhone patiently waiting for me to read a million items...Reading the labels, deciding on new brands, watching prices, this is exhausting. I just had no idea how much work it would be to be the one in charge of what products and foods my family uses. I spend time reading that my food and household products are missing tons of ingredients that they say are dangerous, but, let me get this straight, less ingredients, more MONEY! I have never learned, and I did get a college degree, what exactly is a GMO! But I'm glad my girl's ducky crackers don't have it! (I think!)

Who am I?

I first heard this while watching, The Breakfast Club when I was younger..."Who am I? Who am I? I’m the Walrus..."

Using this blog, I intend to figure out who I am by journaling my thoughts and emotions. I have been trying for most of my life to figure people out, analyze situations, and hope for people to change, instead I now turn inward to work on changing myself. I know now that I create my destiny...