There always has to be some amount of good in life's trials. However, at times, you have to spend a long time searching for it. I have decided one of life's greatest tests is to remain seated when those that have murdered someone you love, show no remorse, and in fact, smile and wink at you! I don't know how my brother was able to remain seated and not reach over and choke the kid! That would be the good (he didn't kill the kid and end up in jail.... see searching DEEPLY, you find the good) Interestingly enough, even though he didn't meet ANY of the 5 requirements -the judge dropped the kid to be tried as a juvenile. ARG The good here would be..... well, I am still searching for that one, Ill get back to you.
Murderer number one (1 of 6) had his trial. He was sentenced to a high security non residential facility. He has to stay until they can "fix" him. The good thing is.... it is a nasty place they are sending him! WHAT? That isn't a good thing? ;)
Next Trial Dec 7-
someday I will be back to posting and commenting
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
My Nephew -Trial of Murderer Number 1
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
What good could possibly come from tragedy?
Many of you have sent emails wondering where I have been. Thank you for those emails... . And no Gwen, I wont have my last blog entry with a woman sitting on a toilet!
I have written and rewritten this entry many times over the last few weeks. Each time the tears begin to freely flow down my cheeks.
On May 30th, my nephew was murdered. Chris was 14 years old. He was riding his bike home . He was almost home.... almost as in one block away. It was the middle of the day on a Saturday. Six gang members surrounded him and beat him to death. It has been devastating...... I have decided murder is so very hard to begin to heal from. Every time you feel some healing... more news breaks, and the wound that had began to heal, is painfully ripped open.
There is a LOT MORE I want to say about this. But, I realize that this is a public forum and trials are forth coming. For that reason, I cant say anything more about the details.. Its been big in the news, hitting GMA, CNN, and dominated the local news for a while.
There is one thing I want to talk about before talking about the good that has come. The juvenile system is a mess. Let me explain, one of the kids that was involved in murdering Chris... he had beat a kid up weeks before. He went through the system. Wanna know what his punishment was? He had to write a book report!! AND NO ONE EVEN cared if he did that. No wonder he had no fear of beating up another kid, no wonder we have jails full of kids. HERE is that story. Want to know the kicker.... cause this kid is a juvenile, his previous beating cant be brought up when we go to trial. This has to change.
So.. what good comes from tragedy?
First- They are building a life center named after Chris. It is a place where teens can go and hang out in a structured environment, It is based on christian faith. There is also link to the Good Morning America Clip that tells of Chris' story and explains the life center purpose. http://annapolis.life-station.org/page/story-of-christopher-jones
My brother is an officer of the law, I can never say enough good about the men that helped us through this. We had police escorts to the vigil, to the viewing, and the funeral. They stood at attention by his casket, they made Chris an honorable sheriff, they never left his body alone. When there was so much water and his little casket couldn't be laid to rest the day of the funeral, they left an officer with him until he was properly buried. These fine men of the law.. dressed my brother in his uniform the day of the funeral... that had to be the most tender thing I have ever seen.
Another tender moment was on the way to the burial, we passed a firehouse. They knew we were coming. As we passed there stood on the edge of the driveway, two fireman..next to them was a pair of empty boots. They saluted as as we went by.
My brother wanted a sign that Chris was ok. He was cleaning out his garage and came upon a picture that his daughter had painted, it was an angel. It said underneath... Heaven. My brother turned it over.. on the other side in Chris' handwriting it said.. HERE.
My brother lost his very best friend in his son.... its been 2 months. The first trial is the end of the month.... it is hard to see my brother have to deal with the death of his son, all because of the stupidity of 6 kids...
(Since the pictures wont move... they are out of order and place)
Below, just some of the police cars that were there

Above, my mom and brother at one of the many community outpourings of support
Above Chris and Jenny (his mom)As we entered the funeral... they stood at attention
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Do you ever suffer from.... Blogstipation ???


Friday, May 1, 2009
Da BoYz
Dont they look like something you would find in the post office? Yo, come here
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Noblesse Oblige
Pseudonymous High School Teacher, from http://phhhst.blogspot.com/, has passed on the Noblesse Oblige Award to me. It is quite an award! If you haven't been over to Pseudo's blog, you should. She is an amazingly talented women. A Breast cancer survivor, who recently had quite a scare. I am grateful that nasty disease hadn't returned. She has a lot of great posts and pictures of Hawaii. She has the ability to write and keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next! One of her funniest post (I think) Is here. The best part is, even though she is a high school teacher, she doesn't correct my grammar. Although, I bet on many occasions she wishes she had that red pen!Thursday, April 23, 2009
My sons secret Karate- Lacrosse Move....



Tuesday, April 21, 2009
"I am goin knife you!"

Many asked if we had bags or foil. My husband and sons froze. I don't think we could process what we were seeing
He had to be in his 70s, he was serving the rice. He put the spoon down and went over. He said, "you are at a church, we are feeding you.. please show some respect". Those words said, in a kind and gentle manner.. stopped the fight. He reached down and pulled the men off each other. Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Contrary to popular reports, I have not fallen off the face of the earth!
He left ALL his clothes, except the ones on his back, with the people of Mexico.
The airline thought his bags needed to stay and extra day!
When we finally got his bags, here are a couple things he brought home.
This is a Mayan Dress.... one size fits all
This is a T Shirt he thought best fit my personality!!
It has been great having him home. His English is improving. I have to keep reminding him to eat. For the past two years he has only eaten once a day, some days- they didn't eat at all.
We have had a great time! We have a full day planned for today!
Hope you are enjoying your week
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Helping those with Alzheimers and those that are blind
In front of us was many magazines, glue, and lots of construction paper.
We were given folders with various themes, such as sports, farms, 1950's, 1920's and so forth. We would make simple pages with pictures of the theme. When hospice would get a new patient, they would find out about the patients past. They then go into the files and customize a book just for them. 




(The above board was made by my friend Julie). What I want to draw your attention to is that pink paper behind her board. It was a survey we were supposed to fill out. We were supposed to list out talents and things we wanted to work on. Well, being the good friend that I am, I "borrowed" Julies paper and proceeded to fill hers out for her. Wasn't that nice of me? Well, not to be out done, Julie filled mine out! Remember the wedding incident? Well, under things I need help with.... Julie wrote .. Eating just ONE chocolate! BRAT!
My board is the one below. (We made several) OK yeah, so not as pretty as Julies board, but... this is one project color doesn't matter! It did have various textures to it!

Friday, March 13, 2009
RaNdOm PoSt-We randomly cut holes in the wall, dont you? And NO, I didnt beat him!
His ankles....
(Yes my floors are bamboo.. and NO I would NOT recommend that for a wood floor)
My middle son, who has been in Mexico for almost two years comes home in a little over a week!!!!! I hope he remembers how to speak English! The good thing is he is now bilingual and that should help him get a job before he heads back to college. He plans on becoming an actuary.
My oldest is applying for a firefighting internship. If he gets that, they pay for college. WAZOO!
That's life in a nutshell.... How are things for you? How is YOUR day going?
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Really, I DO have SOME self control!
I looked at the box and I said, "Oh, no, I would have them ALLLLLLL eaten before I got home"
At this point the mom of the bride went stone cold silent..... I am not sure I have ever seen her quiet.
Then she said..."Really?"
Seizing the opportunity said "Oh yes!"
She then took the chocolates and said, "Well, in that case" and proceeded to move them away from me!
Made me chuckle. It gets EVEN better!
Bright and early Tuesday morning there is a knock on the door. It was the mother of the bride, she was returning some vases and things I had lent her for the wedding.
In one of the vases was a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers.
How sweet. Then I reached for the note in another vase
This line CRACKED ME UP!!
She wrote " I decided against filling the vases with chocolate... please enjoy the flowers instead"
I busted up laughing! Really, I can control myself. Really......
(Just so you know, the mom is a real sweetheart.... I just don't think she honestly knew I was kidding!!! ! She must not have noticed that oh so familiar look of mischief in my eyes. Hello.. My name is Pam, and I am a chocoholic...)
Monday, March 9, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
How to deny the economic downturn
Pretend that all your 401 K is investing in private jets.... I mean it is..... just not your private jet.
Tell everyone the reason you are biking to the store, is you are going GREEN!
Experts say,you need a month of looking for every 10 grand you make. So, convince yourself that each month of looking is one month closer to retirement!
If someone says something about wearing last years clothes, just explain they haven't read the lastest fashion magazine, vintage is in!

PS NEVER EVER open your 401 statement, without sitting down.... EVER......
Monday, March 2, 2009
Homeless Shelter..... Serving there!


I loved the idea of REAL plates!

Then I handed my phone off so I could be IN the picture..... 
This is a recipe for the potatoes I made.... OH BOY were they yummy!!!!
Mix the following with a mixer and place in a crock pot. Heat on low for 2-4 hours directly before serving.
6 cups mashed potatoes
3 oz. cream cheese
½ c. sour cream
¼ c. melted butter
1 envelope dry Ranch Salad Dressing
1 t. parsley flakes
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Photo Shoot Give Away!


Friday, February 27, 2009
Some People!
Like a lot of teenagers, my son works at a fast food restaurant. (They have been so wonderful working around his hockey and Lacrosse schedules!)
This happened to him a couple weeks ago.
I will let my son tell it in his words, this is his facebook post!
Craig is laughing cause today at work, McDonald's, I got a drink thrown at me by like a 50 year old woman. This old woman came in the drive through and I gave her her McDouble and bottled water and told her to have a good day. I wasn't sure if she heard me so I said have a good day to her again. She had a straight face the whole time. I closed the door and started talking to my co-workers again and turned around and she was still there. I thought she wanted something else so I opened up the door and the next thing I knew there was a taco bell cup flying at my shirt. It had the lid on and when it hit me the contents spilled all over my shirt! It took me a little bit to realize what she had done. My manager saw this and he was quite mad. He said next time I saw her to get the manager or the licence plate number and call the cops on her. This was so funny. My friend who has been working there for almost a year has never seen this happen. This was some crazy old woman with red curly hair. I WANT HER ARRESTED!!!!
I don't get why this lady felt the urge to throw who knows what on my son. He is working, not out causing trouble!
My question to you..... where was your first job? How did you handle rude people?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
WAY too funny not to share!
Monday, February 23, 2009
tHe pArTy
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
On Break/Blanket Comments
(Hijacked this from Frumpy) While I am stealing from Frump, I stole this too.... I wont be commenting on my break, so feel free to grab a blanket comment
Whatever you are posting , please mentally take a comment from the following list and know that I would genuinely mean it if I was able to read and post on your blog
a) Oh no!!! That is terrible!!! I can't believe she/he would say that!!! Well you just tell her to come talk to me and I'll get her/him sorted out.
b) Your kids are so cute!!!! How adorable!! And they are getting so big. *sigh* such is life.
c) You are so freaking hilarious that I just can help but wet my pants over here. So. F.U.N.N.Y!!!
d) I am so sorry to hear this. Please know I am thinking about you.
e) This is unbelievable!! I can't believe it!!
f) Wow - hope your kids had a great first day of school!! How cute are those outfits - love them!!! Here's hoping you have a great year.
g) Your injured!!! That totally stinks.
h) Happy Anniversary!!!! What a cute couple!!! So happy you are still in love after all these years
.i) He did what????? Husbands - what do they think???? Glad you got flowers out of it, though
.j) Yeah - pooping in the potty!!! That is always so exciting!!!
k) Kids say the funniest things. This made my day.
l) What a great post - I needed to hear this today.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Reasons You Dont Want Your Kids Dressing Like a Cowboy
Over the years these young men begin to think they are indeed Cowboys. That thought leads to shoes that look like this:

Wearing clothes like THIS (By the way it was NOT Halloween)
This was last weekend








