Will the Real Celebrity Please Stand Up?

I don't watch celebrity awards shows too much anymore.  In my younger years, I wouldn't miss I minute of them.  As I've gotten older, became part of the workforce and realized just how hard it is to earn money, the harder it is for me to grasp why celebrities are paid such ridiculous salaries and then celebrate themselves with awards.  Don't get me wrong, I realize for most actors, they had to work very hard to get where they are and they do have hectic schedules, but does their salary truly measure up equally to the work performed?  I just can't help compare them to the American Soldier.  Our military, especially those deployed, work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, often for weeks without showers and a good warm meal.  They don't have fancy trailers to retreat to and catered meals at the work site.  They are thousands of miles away from their families for months, sometimes over a year at a time.  For many, they have children they don't get to see born, celebrate birthdays with, walk them to school on their first day, etc.  For every soldier, there's a family member at home, holding down the fort, worrying if they'll ever see their loved one again.  They don't have the privilege of on-set nannies to care for their children while they work.  The hardest part to grasp out of all of this, is that their salary in a year easily equals a one day shopping trip of the high paid actor.  Actors get praised by the public and their peers in articles, news programs and awards shows.  Our military faces harsh criticism by some and return home sometimes to protests.   How does this seem remotely fair? 

It's easy to think about our military in times of national crisis, but the true sacrifices they make year round are hardly noticed by most of the population.  Whether you agree or not with the orders they've been given by our government, they themselves deserve praise by every citizen in the United States.  They have chosen to work hard, physically and emotionally draining and extremely dangerous jobs to protect the freedom of this country.

Although I've always appreciated the incredible sacrifice of the American Soldier, never did it hit so close to home as it did on May 28, 2007.  That particular year, May 28th was Memorial Day.  My husband's friend since childhood, Staff Sgt. Thomas McFall, was killed in Iraq when an explosive detonated nearby during a dismounted patrol in Baghdad.  He left behind a wife and 3 children.  At his service, I sat behind his wife as she held their toddler daughter and their two sons sat by her side.  I couldn't begin to imagine what the road ahead of her would look like.  They were a military family, made little money and now had a short period of time to vacate their home on the military base, find a new home and figure out how to raise their kids as a single mother.  That family and the thousands like her and every member of the military are TRUE CELEBRITIES in my eyes!

I wish Hollywood celebrated our military. What an incredible event it would be to see our American Soldiers as the presenters and seat fillers at the Emmy Award Ceremony 2013.  I would love to see our service women and military wives dressed by the top designers and draped with millions of dollars in borrowed jewels.  If this happened, I for sure, would watch every second of the Emmys.  I'd be willing to bet that it would have the highest viewer ratings in the history of Emmy broadcasts.

In Memory of Staff Sgt. Thomas McFall

Something To Remember

Part of being a "Perfectionist" is having everything neatly sorted and labeled.  Friends and family have often teased me about my obsession with the label maker.  Just about every room in my house (with the exception of the garage and my husband's workshop, which I gave him full reign of long ago) have totes with labels on them.  From the time my girls were born, their play area was neatly organized and they learned very early on how to put their toys away.  Every kind of toy they had, had a bin it went in and not only was it labeled with the type of toy that went in it, but it also had a picture on the bin of the toy so the girls knew where to put things away.  Now that I think about it, "Neurotic" might be a better name for me.  I am probably the only parent on this earth that would know if one block out of 50 was missing!  I'm also the opposite of a hoarder, I've been known to throw out import documents, so when I do save things, you can be certain that they're special and neatly filed in a labeled tote.

I love to sew, quilt and create things.  Our guest bedroom has had to double as my sewing/crafting area for the past 12 years we've lived in this house.  A couple of weeks ago, with my daughters now teenagers, I wondered why we still had a "Play Room" in our house.  The girls went through the room and categorized everything into three piles: keep, donate, throw away.  I guarantee you that if they chose to keep an item, it was nicely placed in a labeled tote in each of their closets in their rooms.  Their play room then became my paradise (and now when my parents or other guests stay the night, they actually get a roomier guest room).

Being the "Neurotic Perfectionist" I am, I have kept a drawer of items I needed to file with my sewing/crafting stuff.  Today, as I finally got the chance to clean out that drawer, I found a special "card" my parents gave me when I turned 40.  I need to back up 15 years, ever since my parents became "Mamaw" and "Guga," they would make special cards for each of their four granddaughters on their birthdays.  This sheet of paper always included pictures from throughout their lives and a special poem that "Guga" writes for each girl.  My sister and I only get these cards on "special birthdays."  My 40th qualified as a special birthday.  NOW, is the TRUE treasure of this blog, I want to share the card they made me for my 40th.
These pictures don't do it justice, but it's the poem that I'm most excited about sharing.

 It's been forty years since our Shawna was born,  
Her pictures show she was a cutey.
At each stage of her life she kept her good looks,
Better yet kept her great inner beauty.

In first grade she attended Magnolia School,
Was quite shy in her cute little way.
In fourth grade at Valencia a switch must have flipped,
She was hard to suppress, we must say.

At Pioneer she was a popular girl,
A good student and leader worth praising.
Then high school the usual highs and the lows,
But her trust in her God was amazing.

Shawna worked hard through her college years,
Went to school, held down jobs, served the Lord.
And "All things work out for the good," it is said,
Meeting John on the job, her reward.

First Kiley, then Makenna were born to the Moores,
They both are a grandparents treat.
And also the dogs and cats filled the house,
Goat and horse and much more up the street.

A constant for Shawna through most of her life,
Has been Stacia a friend link no other.
Through the ups and the downs, the thicks and thins,
They have always supported each other.

Shawna is faithful to serve where she can,
Guatemala and Kenya she blessed.
She'll continue to give and support those in need,
May the next forty years be her best.

I'm so thankful for this treasure, which is not in a labeled tote in a closet, but hanging on my magnetic board above my sewing area.

Was That Last Year?

Here I am, nearly a year since my last post, with a laundry list of reasons I haven't blogged during this time. These include: Makenna (now 13) has water polo practice nearly every day of the week with tournaments nearly every weekend, Kiley (now 15) still has the horse that we must attend to everyday, I've been fighting to get my health back after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, my best friend/sister/a literal piece of me is battling stage 4 cancer and I've been at her side for almost every treatment and surgery. We've done a few "bucket list" trips, including Las Vegas, New York City and Seattle to visit her family. Then you add in Jr. Olympics for Makenna, Kiley attending the second best rated high school in Southern California and my life is a bit CHAOTIC! The biggest reason I've neglected my blog though, is that it's not on my list of top priorities. I have this disease I've aptly named "Perfectionism." If I can't give my best to something, then I don't do it. As much as I say I shouldn't care of what people think of my blog, I really do. If I can't write the perfect summary of what's happening in my life or what's on my mind, then I just don't write....which is bad since this blog is really about my family and me and something that we can all look back on and remember. Perhaps someday my great, great grandchildren will get a glimpse of who I am through the things that I've written. However, I'm sure technology will be way beyond blogging by the time they are born! I have been writing privately though, more like journaling my journey with my above mentioned sister-friend. I call her that because she's more than a friend, we're close like sisters. We grew up together, in fact, I even had my own bedroom in her house growing up! She's been beside me through the trauma, the joys, the bumps in the road and the many exciting things life has brought our way. That journal is for us only, therefore, you won't ever find it on my blog. I may share, publicly, some of our adventures together, but the deep stuff is for the private journal only. In order to conquer my disease of "Perfectionism," and to get me writing again, I've decided my blogging will now become short paragraphs of little thoughts or moments I want to share. Sometimes I might not write anything at all and just post a picture. Please join me as I make an attempt at this new blogging journey. For those of you that followed my other blog, http://fortheloveofmygirls.blogspot.com/, I haven't posted on that for 2.5 years. I decided long ago to simplify my life and just keep one blog. I am, however, not taking that blog down as it is what it's called, "For the Love of my Girls" and I want them to be able to have access to it if they ever want to laugh at the words of wisdom I tried to leave for them. Until next time, I'm leaving you with a few pictures of events from the last year.

 Candid moment between Kiley & Dot

 Kiley Riding Dot

 Makenna at Jr. Olympics

 Her Team Placed 6th in the Nation!

 Stacia & I in NYC at the WTC Memorial