Part 2

A very happy me....above

Dobber (above)

Doodle (above)

Jessica (my daughter) and Madelyn (Doodles daughter)

Marley (Doodle's daughter) Above

Madelyn (Doodle's daughter) and Taylor (my son)

pictured below.....look at the pic of Taylor and

Dobber at 8-9 years old on the bicycle....almost

identical.

Dobber at 8-9 yrs old (above)

I must say that I am amazed at the similarities that we share.....especially Dobber and I. We also have the same arms and hands which kind of freaked me out. I mean not close in comparison but THE SAME. His arms are just a little more hairy than mine. ROFL
Dobber and I also have some of the same weird habits, we're both gum chewers. I think we both had gum in our mouths the whole visit. We also have nervous habits...almost identical habits in each of us. We're paper rollers at restaurants....if you don't know what that is then consider yourself calm. LOL We talk with our hands and we both look around a lot.

Doodle and I are alike in our tempers and peeves. We're both tight wads and picky. We like schedules. Dobber is spontaneous which is totally opposite from Doodle and I. I think we all have the same brains. All 4 of us are quite smart. The 3 are smarter than I am but I don't consider myself stupid.

It will probably surprise them since they saw the quite side of me BUT I am a talker. I love to talk for hours. Doodle is extroverted and Dobber and I are a bit more reserved. I am probably more reserved than Dobber.....well, that is until we get to know each other very well.

Dobber had a picture of him riding a bike when he was around 8-9......the picture is identical to my sons picture.....another thing that really freaked me out. You can see for yourself in the pictures.

I have to compare stories and personalities with Kathy.....I am welcoming that!

Enjoy the pics....I know I cherish them! I wish our father wanted the chance to know each of us kids.....I don't think he knew just how awesome all of his kids and grandkids are.

My Short Life....My Long Story

My life began very complicated. I have always wondered who I am and why my life wasn't exactly *normal*....whatever normal means. I guess that explains why I am very particular about the way things are done....I don't like mistakes and I believe in accepting responsibilty for all of your actions.

On April 16, 2009 my life changed for what I now hope is FOREVER.....I knew the lovely brick wall that I've built for 32 years had to be removed. I was ready for a remodeling job, it's more like a demolotion ........I was ready to face my fears, find the truth and more than ever know WHO I AM? I planned on going to meet my biological dad and hope for some answers. At 11 pm.....I googled his name and to my surprise learned he had just passed away in March. My heart immediately sank ....all feelings of hope, answers, and anything else that I wanted were instantly gone. I reluctantly clicked on the link to the obit, not expecting to see anything that I didn't already know.

To my surprise there were 2 boys listed as children. My name wasn't listed but I didn't expect it to be. I had never heard of these boys. The whole night I researched these 2 names....I always knew that I had an older sister and I started looking very hard for her too. It seemed I could find nothing on any of them except 1.

I asked myself 100 questions...well, really more like 10,000.

Do they know about me?

Did our father raise them?

How old are they?

What do they look like?

Are we alike personality wise?

Do we like the same things?

Are they married? Children?

The list went on and on.....the final question I had to ask myself was, "Should I call them?"....."What do I say?"......"What if they don't believe me?"....."What if they don't want to know me?" Anyway, you get the picture.

Friday afternoon I made the call to the only sibling out of 3 that I could find a phone number for.

A very nice lady answered the phone....I was expecting the worst scenerio but she was gracious to answer my questions and give the message to her husband who would be my brother.

Friday night....a few hours later, my life changed. I spoke to a BROTHER. His name is Gerald aka Doodle. I was happy, giddy, and relieved to know after our conversation that I wasn't alone. He has a brother named Bruce aka Dobber. Over the past 3 weeks, I've got to know Doodle and Dobber over emails and phone calls. I was able to get contact info on my sister, Kathy. April 16-17 was one of the best days of my life.....full of ANSWERS! I had been wondering the answers for the past 32 years....The quest was over. In those 24 hours I made contact with 2 brothers and 1 sister....had very nice conversations on the phone, exchanged pics, and began the *getting to know you* process. We all have some of the same characteristics. ....none of us are alike but we're all very close in comparison.

Over the past 3 weeks, we finally settled on a date to meet. My brothers were taking vacations to the mountains and had to come into T-town to get there. They came a day early so we could meet and spend some time together. I haven't been able to meet my sister Kathy yet but I will make sure that happens soon.

May 6,2009 has marked a new era of my life.....the puzzle is *almost* complete. I say almost because I have to meet Kathy and there are some indications that there may be a couple of more siblings. I don't know if they want to be found but it's worth a try. I think we all deserve to know our siblings during our life. It's intresting to see what genes and traits were passed down and see our similarities.

The broken puzzle which took 32 years to put together is nearly complete.

Here are pics of my newfound family. I will never loose contact with my brothers or my sister, NEVER AGAIN! I will never forget May 6-7, 2009. It's etched into my mind like giving birth to my children. I have to meet my sister for the puzzle to be complete.

All in all...I have 2 brothers....ages 46 and 44.

1 sister ......age 52

1 sister in law...I think she's 35

2 nephews.....16 yrs and 21 yrs old

3 nieces.....18 yrs old, 6 yrs old, and 3 yrs, old

Here are pics from yesterday.....whew! I was nervous and pretty quite...I just sat back to take it all in....very overwhelming in the emotions department.

It was all great....a wonderful 18 hours well spent. As I drove home this morning tears poured from my eyes. It was tears of joy...Life is good.....God is good..... I couldn't help but to thank God for making the puzzle fit together. I hope that they were as impressed with me as I was them.

Hopefully more fun times ahead! Now for building some memories together and meeting my sister. The rest will take care of itself.

Thanks for reading my story...my life....my memories!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!

I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for tomorrow. I can't wait to tell you on Thursday what the big life changing event is. I can tell you that it is something that I have dreamed and prayed about for a long time.
I am nervous, anxious, and excited all at the same time. LOL
Anywho, Check back Thursday for PICS GALORE and a fantastic story!

Have a WONDERFUL day!

Long Time No Post

It's been almost forever since I last posted. So much going on here.....I will just say my life has been forever changed and finally complete *well almost*.
I'm not going into details just yet but boy do I have an inspiring story to tell. It's really amazing!

I haven't scrapped in awhile.....my mind has been focused on other things right now. You'll see where my life has been once the story is told. I see an album of my *new* pictures coming very soon. I would have never thought in a million years that my life would take the road that it has.
WOW! Very good....God is good...Life is good!

Hope you're having a wonderful week!

Blue Angels

Lots to catch up on here.....I've really neglected the ole' blog lately.

I took a full time job about a week and a half ago. I absolutely LOVE it......everyone is so friendly. I can't wait to learn all the ins and outs with this place...get my job down pat, and stay for the years to come. I really don't think the economy will hurt this place.

We went to see the Blue Angels over the weekend.....several other big names were there but I must commend the Blue Angels and the Golden Knights parachuters. They were the favorites in the crowd.

I got to talk to a few of the Blue Angels over their stay here. I must commend them and their skills. Very professional and very nice! They totally hooked up several of us girls with posters and VIP tickets. Very nice! I really hope our city welcomes them again. After seeing the airshow, it really makes you proud to live in the USA. The sound of these jets rushing past you, rattling the ground to the point that you can feel it in your chest...Brought a tear to my eye! God Bless America!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

St. Patty's Day......Spring is in the air

I really love this time of year. The nights are still cool and the days are starting to warm up without being too hot.

Now that I've been home for 1 week now, I've become very bored. I really need a job to keep me going. I feel motivated when I have to be accountable to a schedule. I'm about to go stir crazy. I am a procrastinator and schedules really work well for me.
Maybe something will open up pretty soon. If not, then I will become the next "Desperate Housewife". LOL

I have a ton of pictures to post.....I will get those up tomorrow while the kids are at school.

Hope you're wearing GREEN . If you forgot then I hope you didn't get pinched too hard! LOL

Have a great day!

A break from work

Today, I was informed that our company was closing at 6pm for good......really no prior warning other than a gut feeling. Funny how a company is there one day and completely closed the next. I guess I am still shocked that a place that I spent 65 hours a week is now gone forever. I am totally looking forward to a break from work. I was offered another job that I am considering but not ready for the commitment just yet. I need to be a Stay at home mom for awhile to make up the time away from my kids. I am a tad bit angry but I'm more angry at myself. I have some serious making up to do. * I know I can't take back anything*

I have learned a few lessons about work::
1. NEVER put a job ahead of your kids.
2. NEVER commit to so many hours a week.
3. Money IS NOT everything.
4. You're never guaranteed another paycheck
5. Your work and character is valued very little, only thing that is important is the bottom dollar for the boss. Respect isn't earned or awarded with most people.
6. If you live wrong and do corrupt things, IT WILL catch up with you. (not talking about me)
7. No one is looking out for the well being of anyone other than themselves.

I could go on and on with the things that I have learned but these are the things that I think are important.

I can't go back and fix the 2.5 years that I lost with my kids. I CAN however, learn from it and not make the same mistake twice.

With this post, I am forgetting about work, job hunting, and the daily stress of numbers, profits, and losses. I will survive and I am thankful that hubby has a great job that isn't threatened by the economy. I really loved just getting out and making my own living, something that I really haven't done in the past. Anywho, Scrapbooking here I come!

Have a wonderful week.....mine looks like a lot of R&R. WOO HOO!