I don’t usually write poems, but I thought I would do a small one…

Changes in the air
I can now declare
Time grows short on earth
I embrace my family’s worth
Weaving memories in life’s net
I yearn never to forget

Here’s what’s going on… My husband has worked in the retail business at two companies for a combined total of about 20 years. He worked at one company for about 10 years on the West Coast and the other company for about 10 years on the East Coast. He has been a retail manager for most of those years and a darn great one at that. Put it this way… the motto is “Whatever it takes”.

Over the last couple of years, he decided to step down to be a supervisor since I was earning the main income and he could relieve some of the stress of being a manager to spend more quality time with our three boys and myself. Even as a supervisor, sometimes he was able to share his expertise that he learned over the years and other times just sit by and watch as new people came in and did what they think works.

This year he felt like he wasn’t appreciated. He was due for a miniscule raise as usual – same as each year. However, this time, he was denied. What was the reason? He had reached his “cap pay”. He was told the only way he would get a raise is if he were to step back up into a management position. He certainly doesn’t want to do this and put the added stress back onto himself and our family. He started talking with his boss about it and trying to address the situation about the DM (District Manager) decision. There are exceptions to the “cap pay” rule, which my husband qualifies for, but they didn’t want to consider it. There you go… my husband now feels his experience is meaningless. All of those 20 years of learning, classes, going to countless meetings, being in the trenches and training new people is worthless to the very company who helped raise him.

My husband and I talked about this issue at length to figure out what we should do. He works about 30-35 hours a week. It takes him about 40 minutes to get to work. The cost of gas has increased so much, along with his eating out; we figured half of his income is taken just to go to work. It’s like the stories you hear of when parents consider day care so their spouse can go to work only to find out that the day care, clothing, eating out, etc. is actually causing them to lose money and time with their family.

Therefore, he is quitting his J.O.B. with a heavy heart. His 40th birthday is on July 25th, this month. His last day at that job is about July 21st… this month!  I will officially be the main breadwinner in this house. Yes, this brings a lot of worry, stress, and anxiety about it… but many big changes in life bring those feelings. There are also feelings of freedom, relief from frustrations, unpredictability and pressure, etc.

For instance, my top five examples:

1) We NEVER know what my husband’s schedule is from week to week. This causes many problems for planning just about ANYTHING. Even if he puts in for a day off for important family functions well in advance… he isn’t guaranteed that time off and won’t know if he gets it off until the week before.

2) He ALWAYS worked most of the holidays. For example, just this 4th of July he worked all day, late until 9:00 pm. No celebrating for him… and it’s the same every year. Plus, it makes no sense why the store was open that late when in about four hours, there were only three customers.

3) Trying to put in for a vacation is like putting a puzzle together. The retail company is so short staffed that everyone there juggles a week here or there just to have time off.

4) Being at the whim of the company to rely on your health care coverage… which changes every year. The coverage seems to be the cheapest the company can afford with a bulk rate that’s best for who?… the company of course.

5)  Loss of family value by the company…. There was a time when a company would have a manager fly to another state for a meeting. This often times would include a “play time” of goodies. During the ‘good ole’ days, the spouse or whole family would be invited and many expenses paid for. Apparently, this all ceased to exist RIGHT before my husband became a manager. It’s not as if a family would ‘expect’ it. However, a company that is more concerned with including the family in some way to show their support for their top employees was better than how they seem to ignore basic family recognition these days.

There is such a big disconnect now. The needs of the store, with ‘whatever it takes’ is actually destroying the very foundation of the company… slowly… but surely.  Managers do more work these days … way more than most of their employees and are burning out fast. Managers are supposed to ‘manage’ the employees and be the brains of the operation… and sometimes get their hands dirty when needed. Now the company relies on the managers to do everything… including covering all tasks regular employees perform and work on a skeleton crew to save their budget. Yep… companies like this are dying slowly as if it has a disease. When people don’t believe in your company and talk highly of it, it’s just a matter of time.

** I’m sure you know I could go on about this topic and cover more flaws, but it isn’t needed here. We have come to a decision. We are going through this big change and will enjoy the ride, even if it is a bumpy one. 

Ok. Here is the blog, though I am not sure if I will cover everything. A lot has happened over the last year, which includes a whole series of unfortunate events and awesome highlights as well. Just like the rollercoaster of life tends to be.

The series of unfortunate events and some awesome highlights are things I cover briefly as they are related to family or friends. I tend to keep my family stuff quiet, unless there is a reason for posting something, such as my son’s ruptured appendix or lymes disease last year. I bring those things to light online sometimes because it is good to share information to help others who may have to go through it in the future. Other than that, I don’t post a ton of photos of my kids and I don’t gossip online about issues with my family or friends. You have to know me pretty well or I have to trust you to divulge any information. Otherwise, I just keep quiet about that area of my life.

I will give you some general advice about things that have affected me though. There have been many doozies this past year. I have felt the impact and had my heart broken watching my family (especially my kids) suffer from the circumstances that are out of our control.

You see, some people will tend to want things from you, and they don’t think about anything but themselves. They don’t pay attention to the mound of issues you have to deal with on a daily basis. They feel you owe them either your time or something else for free. They assume you can understand and ’sense’ what they need rather than tell you outright. They don’t communicate and they have tunnel vision only for their own needs. It is selfish, yes. Though we can all be that way off and on, depending on the situation we are dealing with at a particular point in time. But, life is precious…. those people have to stop assuming things. Remember, assume = ‘ass’ of ‘u’ and ‘me.

Another thing that happens is that rumors or hearsay are believed with no doubts or research to find if the information is true. This happens with family, friends, and acquaintances. It’s like you are guilty until proven innocent. What about keeping an open mind? It’s true then… life isn’t fair.

You may be going along, surviving day by day, thinking things are fine… and then wham… you are considered weak, evil, no good or incomplete.

Well, you know what? They aren’t the judge of you. So, stop worrying so much. Heck, I am very guilty of worrying about what people think of me… but I get over it. You have to. You know why? It will eat at you and hold you back from going on with life. It will cripple your mind and outlook on all things good in life. It will affect your personal life and your business life.

I am not perfect by any means. I am human. Though some folks would say I am different than many girls out there. But, none of us are from a mold… we are all unique.

So, I say, I know it’s hard to turn off hurt feelings at first. It’s hard to get past the shock of how someone treats you… especially if it was someone you really trusted or loved. It’s a matter of mourning that relationship, digesting the information you found out, and then either trying to repair any damage or just get closure and then let it go. There is no certain time period on this process of course. For me, there were so many things that happened over the last year that hurt. But, once I got over the process of being angry, wounded, and compressed by the feelings, I moved on.

Remember, the opposite of drama is comedy and other wonderful things. I try to focus on the great things that have happened over the last year. How my boys are healthy now and growing to be such wonderful young men. How I have beautiful nieces and a nephew who I am very proud of… as well as being proud of my brothers and other family. And I am grateful to have many new friendships. For any losses or disappointments in life, there is plenty of love. Find the source of it and bask in it.

Ok, I am not posting about my latest projects and cool info until my next blog.

Leave a comment about how your last year has gone. Don’t give specific details or names as this is the internet and those folks may read it one day. But, do leave a general post of your heartaches or your great accomplishments. I love hearing about great things happening… its inspiring and will help others know about some cool things in other’s lives….

Anyways… have a fantastic day! 

Well, I wanted to start off sharing about my new project as many of my online friends still haven’t heard about it. You’ll want to read about it! So, here goes…

Officially Plugged In - A website I started to showcase friends and folks who are in the public eye. The showcase contains a video, a mini interview and links to official websites. This is the first website of it’s kind!!

My friend Karlyn described the OfficiallyPluggedin.com site well in her blog today… she said, “These are artists, musicians, actors, directors, producers, authors, business people and more, who care about their representation in the public eye and want to make sure you know where to get the real info on them, their background, their website, contact information, etc and not be mislead by copy-cat sites, false or outdated information by others posted online, unofficial fan sites, or even people with a similar name.. If you are in the public eye and want to keep your friends and family (and fans) safe, then I encourage you to check out OfficiallyPluggedIn.com and all it has to offer you and protecting your online identity. As Wendy told me, «It’s just good to know who the ‘real deal’ is», you know?”

I have been helping actor Sean Patrick Flanery (Young Indiana Jones, Boondock Saints) with his Official website and MySpace account. There was some doubt from friends and fans as to whether he was indeed the real person he claimed to be. So, I had him make a video that said who he was and where his official website was located. This helped friends and fans wonderfully and they write in often to say they are glad Sean did the video. This got me to thinking that others can also do the same thing and so a site to showcase these videos came to mind.

I set the new website up at the end of last year and showcased Sean’s video after I talked with him about it. He was more than happy with the idea. So, this year, after New Year’s Eve, I started getting it going. To date … there are 23 videos/interviews showcased on the website. This site is not just for folks who are famous, but also for folks who are up and coming and are in the public eye.

I am always looking to help my friends out with the projects and things they are working on. This website will be useful to many folks as a resource to find others in certain fields to work with. For example, a casting agent may look at the videos of the actors/actresses and decide they like what they see and hear. So, they’ll contact them for film or television work. A filmmaker may like a band they see listed and want to use their music in a film. There are lots of ideas that can come out of this. Folks will be able to see, hear and reach the official site of folks showcased. The listings are complimentary! If I ever get too busy with it, I will try to keep basic showcases free and those who want up fast can pay a fee or pay to be featured.

This site brings people a presentation of folks that are real. You can hear and see them. The site helps to keep family, friends and fans safe on the internet.

Take a look at the ABOUT page and the GET LISTED pages for more information about why you should seriously consider getting showcased. All videos showcased will have the video/info posted at the various video/social networks listed at the bottom of the OfficiallyPlugggedin.com website.

I feel really strongly about this project. If you believe it is good, please get yourself showcased or tell folks who should be posted to get in touch with me. It is beneficial for everyone involved. Help me get this out there!

There is a MySpace set up for OfficiallyPluggedin.com (www.myspace.com/officiallypluggedin) where you can find some banners to post. If you want a size or something besides what is there, let me know.

TODAY is February 29, 2008. It’s my birthday and I am now 10 (40) years old… a rare day as it only comes once every four years. I often get asked when is it that I celebrate my birthday when there isn’t a 29th… well, I tend to celebrate a bit on both Feb. 28th and on March 1st… it depends on some family and friends and when they can celebrate it with me. However, I do prefer the 28th if it isn’t a Leap Year. Though celebrating over a couple days is nice, but I do feel spoiled no matter what year it is. I am blessed to have my family and friends. I also wanted to say thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes today. You are awesome!! I wasn’t expecting such a huge outpouring of love and wishes.

My birthday goodies!!!!!!! The three cards in the front are the ones my boys made. My youngest made his with colorful lettering and filled it with hearts. My middle guy made a creative card box that held a card inside. My oldest used glitter glue which made the card have a raised affect…. He wrote in his card, “Most people have their birthday once a year, but yours is once every four. So it only makes sense that you make your birthday four times as special. Happy 40th Birthday Mom.” He is only 14. I love all my boys and husband!

The flowers with bear and the tower of yummy goodies are from my mom and her husband. I was totally surprised by them and ate some sweets after dinner. My husband came home from work carrying the big spring bouquet of flowers. Awwww!!!! I got lots of phone calls from my family and friends today. I am very blessed to be here to share more time and memories.

So I was Tagged again, this time by my long time lovely friend Karlyn. I’ve been instructed to post six unimportant facts about myself. So, here goes…

1. I love my family and wish we could live together forever.
2. My favorite color is purple.
3. I love chocolate… especially dark chocolate… everyday!
4. I am very sensitive to sound… if it’s too loud-too long I get irrated.
5. I love hot peach tea.
6. I only get a birthday once every four years… so I am 10 years old!

Now, I get to pass on this little meme to six friends.
Paul, Rob, Zara, Brett, Michael, and Frederic. and I’ll add Mireille, and whoever else wants to share theirs! Let me know if you do this and I’ll put your name here and link to your blog where you posted yours.

All through my life I have come across people who think they have me pegged.

Oh yeah…I had the “You did that? But, I thought you were so innocent!” As I can look like that.

Then they become surprised when they find out something ‘new’ about me.

It isn’t ‘new’ at all. It is just a new discovery to them. They hadn’t figured me out at all.

The next reaction when they see this ‘different’ side of me is ‘why?’

Why does she do that? Why does she like that? Who influenced her?

It isn’t like her to be that way. She is acting out of character.

Is she depressed? Is she on something? The answer is no, but people will still think what they want.

The judgments people make can be amazing. I am sure everyone has to confront it or ignore it.

Generalization on character happens by people every day. Judging isn’t their job to do in the end anyway.

However, people’s judgments can be harsh and wound people. Just because they ‘aren’t like them’.

I think everyone has something interesting about them. People come into our lives for a reason.

I am not one to do something because ‘everyone’ is doing it. I am not a ‘follower’.

I won’t let anyone try to ‘mold’ me or tell me how I should be.

I ‘rebel’ against people like that. I won’t change just to ‘fit’ in.

Stay true to yourself. Help others along the way. Love your family and friends the best you can.

So there! I am who I am. I’m unique and different as it should be!

I can say my husband is my soul mate and understands me nearly all of the time.

However, no-one can be ‘pegged’ completely.

Do what you love in life and don’t let anyone say you ‘can’t do it’. Show them you can!

~Wendy Shepherd

I thought it was time to do an update.

My son is doing well. We have a Dr. appointment this coming week and we will then find out when his surgery will be to remove his ruptured appendix. My whole family got hit by nasty colds, but we should be pretty much over them in a few days.

Lots of things happening, as always in my neck of the woods. I’ll cover more of that at a later date. I have some catching up to do, some interviews to weave and if you are waiting to hear from me, it won’t be long. I’ll email you soon!

My friends are busy with lots of neat things as well. A few I can mention about are:

* Brett made a new song called “Tightrope” - Listen here (*Brett, waiting for your reply on what that tv debut is about. )

* The ’soopa’ multi-talented Paul, Rob, and Zara are working on a film called “FUROR” - More Details Here
They are all part of Soopa 8 run by Sid who is also super nice.

* Will is progressing with the Cowboy Smoke film. Please tell family and friends to go view the film trailer and leave comments of their thoughts - View here (Official Site)

* Some rumbling going on with James and Cory, which I’ll share soon. Fun stuff.

* Arin and Susan have posted their full feature film on YouTube until August 15. They are the first to feature a full film on YouTube - View Here

* Mike Hedge is taking an Eco Trip across the USA - Read More

* Dan was on the show THE LOT and had to come up with a beautiful short film. Letting Go - View here

If I forgot to mention anyone, I am sorry. I still suffer from a stuffy head. By the way, I found that sucking on ice helped my laryngitis. I almost had it full blown and was drinking lots of fluids, but the ice helped the most. Maybe it was the contstant moisture or the cold that helped the swelling. I am getting better and very happy to get things back to normal.

Feel free to post your latest happenings in the comments section below to share.

Personal note: My son turns 8 years old this coming week and my husband and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary on June 30. I still love him with all of my heart! My one true love. We were so made for each other!

Watch here for future exciting things. Make sure to subscribe to this blog in the right hand column

I thought I would post this info in case others would be able to benefit from it. I may update this post later with more details that may be helpful…

The last two weeks have been really hard for us here. My 11 yr old son (Timothy) got sick, with what we thought was the stomach flu. He had the usual symptoms like a flu, seemed to start getting better a little bit, then got worse. I took him to the emergency room because as much as we were doing for him, trying to keep him hydrated and back to eating didn’t seem to be working. He had no appetite. I had even been talking with the doctors on the phone and we all treated it as a stomach virus. I had a strange feeling one night after trying to sleep for an hour near him… and decided to call the doctor again. This time he agreed that I should take him in. So, at 2:00 am, I drove him 20 minutes to the emergency room in Gettysburg, PA, which is closest to where we live. After many hours, the next afternoon we were told he had a ruptured appendix with a large abscess and very high white blood cell count. They called for transport to take the both of us to Penn State Children’s Hospital and we stayed there for a week until he was released yesterday.

They put a stomach tube in where the large abscess was and drained it. Through the whole order of IVs and blood tests, etc. he got poked 11 times, poor thing. Things look better, but he is still weak and recovering here at home. He is on two separate antibiotics that are taken at four different times a day for three weeks. He lost a lot of weight and is still trying to get a full appetite back. In 4-6 weeks he will have his appendix removed.

That night that I decided to take him to the emergency room, I was checking on him after I slept for an hour. He wasn’t easy to rouse to get him to drink some more fluids, and he was sleeping but was lying in a crooked position. So, I went to straighten him up and accidently touched his stomach which made him come out of a deep sleep with a big “ouch”. That is when I decided to call the doctor. By that time in his illness, his stomach muscles shouldn’t hurt anymore from throwing up. Something else seemed wrong.

When they checked him at the emergency room, his left side hurt. You would think with an appendix problem, it would be in his right side, where the appendix is. But, at that point, the pain was from swelling from an abscess located in his abdomen in a different area. One more odd thing that I noticed that day is that he had a strange smell on his breath. I mentioned it to the doctor. At first they thought he maybe had a kidney infection. After the CT Scan, they realized it was a ruptured appendix and that he had a large abscess of puss that was very infectious. That was mostly what was making him sick. He also had a very elevated white blood cell count. Usually that means his body had kicked into gear to try and fight infection. But, from what I saw come out, and how the surgeons mentioned the abscess was VERY infectious, it seemed we got him help just in time.

It has been an extremely stressful, upsetting, scary thing to go through with him. He was so sick and weak. There was so much to drain out. It was dangerous for him. We are exhausted. *sigh.

Anyways, I have lots to do here to help him heal and have laundry, bills, and chores to catch up on, not to mention sleep and mental relaxation. I can’t seem to turn this whole thing off enough to relax. I held a lot of stuff in to be strong for him and keep him calm as I could through the whole process. We were definitely scared.

I can say one thing for sure, the whole nursing staff and surgeons for the pediatric care at Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey were really excellent!

In April of 1984, when I lived in sunny, hot Arizona, I was part of a breakdancing group. We had a whole gang of us who liked to learn about different moves and practice constantly at a local elementary school called, Carmichael School.

A couple of girl friends and I formed a group called ‘Level 3′. Their names were Jennifer and Vicki. Our colors were black and white. We had cute little matching black and white shirts with our name put on the back, which we would wear with solid color pants.

I remember how we performed at a library once for some elderly folks and children. I was nervous performing in front of people I didn’t know, but I was better once I started doing the routine.

I have some old photos below of our group and some of the other kids we hung out with. On the back of one of the photos, I have a list of the kids in the group so that I wouldn’t forget them. I have no idea where they are now or what they are doing in life.

I also have a newspaper clipping of the ‘guy group’ within our breakdancing friends, who called themselves ‘System 7′. They were quite popular and performed all over places in Arizona. I have an old clipping from our school paper that tells about them and the places they performed. I do remember having fun with all of our break dancing friends.

Here are the old photos; I put my name under where I am located…

I absolutely love watching LOST. My son and I watch it each Wednesday. Last night we found ourselves watching the first season DVD just to refresh and see if we could tie together some clues we may not have noticed before… especially the people who are connected.

This last episode of LOST was awesome. I love the way the show is one big puzzle with a taste of sci-fi.

However, I have to say, the selection of LOST apparel and goodies in the online store don’t seem very desirable. With such a popular show, there should be some cool things for fans, like us, to buy! They are missing out on some serious sale dollars. I could come up with better ideas. See what I mean? …
http://abctvstore.seenon.com/index.php?v=lost

So, what are your theories about how everyone seems to be connected? Who are your favorite characters and why? Who is to be trusted and who isn’t? Did they all die on the plane or is this a big cover up to throw these folks into a big science experiment?

This show rocks, eh?!!

I am curious… how are you coping with the rising gas prices? Are you cutting back on your traveling? Are you working more or taking on side jobs to pay for gas to get places? Do you think this whole gas price fluctuation is a conspiracy? How the heck are you handling it?

Right now, we just aren’t going anywhere that isn’t necessary. We can’t afford any reconstructive alternative types of energy or fuel devices for home, cars, etc. I am sure most people can’t. Seems many famous rich people can.

Just came across this today: http://www.worldwithoutoil.org