Laughter is Good Medicine

"Why do they always lose when we see them?" Jeter's venting frustration at the Giants loss to the Chargers in the last minute of the game.

"Mommy, how about when I grow up then you can be done with your marriage to Daddy so I can marry you?" Barber asked me this tonight as I'm tucking him in to bed. Then he followed it up with "Can you do that? Can people stop being married to one another?" The timing of when these questions arise astounds me. If you know me, then you know that we had a discussion (brief but I couldn't let it go) about the fact that marriage is more then just husband and wife. It is a commitment and a covenant made before God and although there are some people who stop being married that is something that Mommy and Daddy will never ever do. I also told him that I don't know who he is going to marry but I am already praying for her. Yes. I. Did.

"Mom, why do you have to do that? You are always working!" Barber's response to me asking him to pick something up from the floor. I have two responses to this - (1) maybe I need to play some more and (2) at least he recognizes that all of the stuff I do around here is indeed work.

"Mama, what can I do to help?" Normally, this is a question that a mother would love to hear her son ask. But I just got finished telling Jeter that he needed to sit down and rest so that his body could heal. Apparently he's as good at sitting still as I am.

"Why aren't Papa and Mima going with us to the game? We only have 4 tickets?!?!? Can't you just buy 2 more?!?!?" This was in reference to the tickets that we were able to purchase to bring the boys to see the Giants at Giants Stadium. The innocence of childhood. It also shows the love of family. Like his Mommy, Barber loves and cherishes the time we have together.

"Life with the Campbell's is always an adventure." Simms made this statement after he safely pulled over to the shoulder of the highway. We got a flat tire en route to NJ - to bring the boys to the Giants game the following day. Thankfully AAA sent someone to us in about 15 minutes and the boys thought it was fun to be in the car while the gentleman changed our tire and added air to the spare. It also helped that Poppy and Grammie drove out to meet us so that we could trade cars and quickly get back on the road again.

Simms is right. It is and has always been an adventure - and I continue to smile and laugh as much as possible on our journey together.

Midday Smile

Amidst the busy-ness of today's plans, I stopped to check my email and found that Simms sent me an message with this link that caused me to smile. Football fans understand.

Now...back to work!

Weekend Blitz

How would you have spent your weekend if one of your family members exhibited symptoms of stomach flu Thursday night and then your spouse came down with symptoms this morning?

Considering Christmas is only 10 days away, this is what I did:

Thursday night - Jeter got sick after Barber was in bed. He was immediately limited to his bedroom and one bathroom. Unfortunately all of this happened when Simms was NOT home. I went upstairs to check on him and found my poor little boy by the toilet. I walked in and then quickly walked out gagging. I then stayed in the hall way apologizing to him for my weak stomach. He told me it was alright and that he understood because he has a weak stomach too. He is so sweet - even when he is so sick. I prayed that Simms would get home soon and then suggested he put the lid down and flush as soon as possible.

Friday - Jeter stayed home from school. He took a shower as soon as possible as per my instruction. I scrubbed the bathroom and disinfected anything that Jeter could have possibly touched in the house. Washing hands throughout the day - just because became an instant family policy. LOL. I stayed home with the boys while Simms went to his company's Christmas party after work. I was kind of bummed because I like the people he works with and it would have been a fun night out for both of us. At the same time I'm grateful for the opportunity to be mom and take care of my boys. After they went to bed I wrapped all of their presents!

Saturday - Spent five hours working on Christmas presents for family members. Sorry - I can't give you any more details on this.

Sunday - Simms woke up feeling queasy. He was immediately sequestered to our bedroom for the entire day. I took care of the boys, made over 300 chocolate covered pretzels, spent another 2 hours on family member's presents and watched the Giants not play very well. Now, I'm going to bunk for the night downstairs and prep myself to disinfect the MBR and bath tomorrow.

Need. To. Stay. Healthy.

It's My Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me!

Thankfully my cold is gone so I can enjoy my day. My mom called me and invited me to lunch at their house. Yipee! Hopefully that means I will see Promises, Brady and Smiles too. I recently told someone that when I say my age (38) it sounds old to me but I don't necessarily feel old. Granted, I am not in the same shape I was as an 18 year old (if only!) but overall life is good.

I have been thinking about my life 20 years ago - my high school reunion is next weekend. I'm looking forward to it and yet, I cannot believe that much time has passed. That alone makes me feel old. There are a couple of friends I have remained in touch with but everyone else...not so much. Life happens. You go to college, move out of state, get married, have children and build new relationships.

We are blessed to be able to stay with my closest friend from SBS and I know we are going to get very little sleep - talking into the wee hours of the morning! But what other conversations will I have? Most likely I will overload on small talk - discussing the number of children you have, their ages, where you live, what you do... It's caused me to become a bit introspective this week. My Alma mater's motto is Character Before Career. I have always appreciated the meaning of this simple statement and pray that my life has and will continue to exemplify the value of these words.

Enough about that - I've got another week yet to prepare and decide on important things like what I am going to wear and how many pairs of shoes to pack . Thankfully I already know what I am wearing this weekend. It's my Birthday Weekend and even though technically this isn't really a birthday present, it's happening this weekend and therefore I've decided that it is part of my birthday celebration. Totally makes sense to me. Simms and I are going to see my beloved New York Giants this weekend with Say Anything and Stretch! We are playing the Redskins - I know Sandy will probably be watching the game. Never know - if you are watching, you just might see us!?! I will be wearing my Strahan Jersey - #92. Yes, I know that he is retired but I see nothing wrong with honoring an awesome NY Giant. Besides...it is my birthday!

Update: this morning, after being wished "Happy Birthday" by my boys, Barber asked me if I would be giving them presents today. I smiled and said that traditionally they would give me presents. He thought about that and then stated "Remember my Lightning McQueen Birthday? I gave presents to everyone." He's right. The party favors. Hmmm...now to come up with appropriate party favors for turning 38. Any ideas? Be nice...

You Guessed It!

Melissa and Livin' Life were correct - partially. I know others of you must have guessed correctly as well - like Mr. Thrills. Yes, the New York Giants played their first game of the season but more than that - for football fans everywhere - the kickoff last night also marked the beginning on the 2008 season of football and everyone can be happy about that, no matter what team is your favorite!

Some highlights and other thoughts:

• It was so awesome that they started the game earlier so that Barber and Jeter could watch at least part of the game. Barber stayed up until half time and quite reluctantly went up to bed. We actually let Jeter stay up for the entire game.
• The start of the game was awesome for us NYG fans. Strahan really enjoyed getting that stadium rockin'. I even got goosebumps!
• It was so great to see Eli run it in for a touchdown after juking out his opponent.
• Jacobs was on fire!
• Where is Boss? I didn't see a lot of action from him.
• Burress looked good as did Smith and Ward.
• I'd like to see more from Toomer offensively and Tuck defensively.
• Can you believe Pierce headbutted his opponent at the end of a scuffle without his helmet (it got pulled off). That wasn't very smart.
• I was praying for Smoot. He was in a lot of pain. I don't like to see anyone badly hurt regardless of what team they play for.
• Giants got a lot of penalties last night. The one call for face mask was totally wrong. What were the officials looking at?
• For how much we dominated the game, the score should have been higher than 16-7. Our offensive coaches and players need to make the proper adjustments.
• Some of Eli's passes were great, some were way off target. He also needs to stop telegraphing them.

Tackle It Tuesday

Last week Jeter asked me when football started again. I told him preseason would begin next month. He was bummed that he had to wait. I believe his excited anticipation for the next season may have something to do with the re-do of their rooms - which will include framed posters and painted canvases featuring the NY Giants as well as the NY Yankees and NASCAR's Jeff Gordon (for Jeter) and Jimmie Johnson (for Barber).

It's taking me a L-O-N-G time to get started on this project. Do you think that the dislocated/severely sprained ankle has something to do with it? I am on the road to recovery and PT is amazing but I am not allowed to climb a ladder yet. Major problem when the walls are 8 feet high and I am 5'4". Add to this that my injury has brought out the Papa Bear of my Daddy. So I think about him or have his voice in my head - or in my ear because he has called me to make sure that I will NOT attempt to climb up a ladder or even a stool! This alone chases away any thoughts or temptations to attempt a climb. Meanwhile Barbers' walls have to be painted before this weekend - furniture needs to be moved back so we can house the Long Island entourage of family that is visiting. I am so excited to see my family again! Can you say "Mommy to the rescue!"? I am so grateful for her. She worked on the edging and the top 1-1/2 feet and I painted the rest of the wall. We completed the two light blue walls this weekend. Last night we completed the chocolate brown wall while Simms taped off the final wall. The top is going to be a light khaki, the bottom the chocolate brown and the large middle is going to be a medium blue. This actually mimics the comforter set that Barber has - my inspiration piece for the painting of his room. Who knows...I might even attempt some before and after pictures for you when the project is done.

Meanwhile...how do we break the news to Jeter that his favorite NY Giant player - Jeremy Shockey has been traded to the Saints for a couple of draft picks?!?

Woooooooooo Hoooooooooo!

Super Bowl XLII Champions

New York Giants

Tribute to the Big Blue Wrecking Crew

Do you know who I'm talking about?!? Not a football fan - it's okay. You can skip the post. I wanted to do a tribute to my team but am on a time crunch. Thankfully I found some others who had the time to create a tribute or two or three or four...

These are for my Simms - I thought he would especially like the one regarding NY Giants history.







This one is for my Barber - he likes the photos of all his NY Giant players! I found another one that was solely photos of Eli Manning (his favorite player) but unfortunately the music that was part of it had - well let's just say words in it that I wouldn't even think of let alone allow my 3-1/2 year old listen to.


This one is for my Jeter - he likes the hip hop music.


And for me? Let's face it - I like all of them. I know you know what I will be watching next week! Go Giants!

So...What You Been Up To?

What have I been up to? A lot. I hesitate to say the lack of posting is because I am sooooooooooooo busy because that simply sounds like an excuse. It's been a matter of priorities - and there have been a number of things that have continued to bump my blogging/journaling further down on the list. Here is a small sampling of what our corner has been up to the last few weeks:

Recognize this game? Yes, it is when the Giants ended their 6 game winning streak with a loss to Dallas. But, it was the game that we were able to bring our boys to. Once in a lifetime opportunity. The seats were incredible so the boys had no trouble seeing what was happening on the field. Jeter and Barber were so thrilled to be there - who am I kidding, we all were! Shockey had the best game of this season (if not his career) which was a thrill for Jeter. Shockey is his favorite player. Barber kept asking "Where Eli Manning?"

We left the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It was nice to walk with the boys without the crowd. This was not the case getting into the stadium. Don't know when or if we will ever have the opportunity to go back. The above was our parting shot.

Our first snow. Here is evidence that Barber is enjoying winter this year. Hooray! I was teaching him how to make a snowman. We had an enjoyable time. Below is Barber's first snowman ever. Sure, it's lacking the hat, scarf and nose. Barber had moved onto making snow angels and I was ready to go inside. Next time...

Here are some pictures of my candy making extravaganza.

The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

I am tired today. Why? Because I stayed up LATE last night watching my Giants. Simms packed it in before 11pm but I couldn't because you never know. Needless to say I did not get to sleep until after 11:30PM. Here is my assessment of last night's game (if you are interested).

The Good

• Eli's passing is definitely improved. Thanks to the new QB coach. He had pass completions to Shockey, Burress, and Toomer. I am so happy to see Toomer back.
• Ward stepping in for Jacobs. He's not a tank but he has some speed.
• Closing the gap to a 1-point difference before the half was impressive.
• Al Michael's stating "The Giants are very resilient". Was that a compliment I heard?

The Bad

• Jacobs out for the rest of the game with a sprained knee.
• Zero pressure on Romo. Not too happy with Strahan missing pre-season. It does make a difference.
• Defense totally incapable of putting a stop to the Romo-Witten connection.
• Seeing the doctor check Eli's right shoulder when there is less than 5 to go! They're saying it's a bruised right shoulder. Ugh.
• Did I mention my disappointment with the defense? Only one sack - and not until the 3rd quarter?!?

The Ugly

• Bumbled attempt at the first opportunity for an extra point.
• Special teams #44 better hold on to that ball...
• Strahan's beard. Simms (mine) thinks it looks good. I'm not a fan
• 3 starters are injured. Injuries destroyed us last season.

The new season has begun and although I saw improvement in some areas (offense) we still ended the game with an "L". We'll see what next week holds...