]> http://greasy.com/hopefields/index.html hopefields's Blog en-us © 12:39:30 Greasy.com All rights reserved. Sun, Jul 12:39:30 6 GMT 30 http://greasy.com/hopefields/4th_july.html For the Fourth of July, my kids went to a barbeque with their dad's church while I stayed at home with our doggie. I wanted to make sure someone was home when the fireworks started going off. The kids got home early and we all watched a movie together. I went and applied at two stores today. I am tired of waiting to hear from public schools in my area that are hiring educational assistants. I want to work. I miss working. So, hopefully, I will hear something from the places I am applying f ... Sun, 6 Jul 2008 09:24:19 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/family_2.html There was another murder suicide in Hawaii this past week. Apparently, the husband allegedly beat his wife and son to death and then hanged himself. I am at a loss for words right now. It just seems like it is happening all the time now. It's so sad...what else can be said? Onto happier topics... My daughter went out on a date with her new boyfriend tonight. He is such a gentleman. He never lets her walk upstairs to our apartment by herself. He always walks her to our front door and says h ... Thu, 3 Jul 2008 09:15:04 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/walking_talking_drama_shopping.html Today was a busy day. I paid two bills and ran some errands. I stopped at Baskin Robbins for a treat for the three of us. My son worked this morning and then went skating with one of his friends. I picked up my daughter from her friend's house. It's so nice to have her home again. She's been quite busy with friends over the past few weeks. I went walking with my daughter and we walked one mile and just talked...about alot of things. It was wonderful spending that time with her. We plan to ... Wed, 2 Jul 2008 08:50:20 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/review_moving_forward.html Moving Forward: Taking The Lead In Your Life, written by Dave Pelzer, is an amazing book that opens a whole new world to any survivor of child abuse. Mr. Pelzer writes of the various tools for healing from an abusive past. These tools include letting go of past abuse, as well as the mental and emotional baggage that a survivor carries throughout their lifetime. Other tools are believing in themselves and their dreams, being a leader and a mentor to others, and standing firm on what they be ... Tue, 1 Jul 2008 05:28:54 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/busy_weekend_reviews_movies.html Well, it has been a busy weekend for my children. My daughter has actually spent a few days with a close friend of hers, to celebrate her friend's birthday. They went to the Water Park and had a great time. Then, today they went on the houseboat of the birthday girl and spent the day on some little island, playing volleyball and stuff. She's now, as I type this, with the family of the birthday girl singing karaoke. Tomorrow late morning, my daughter is starting work at McDonalds as well. S ... Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:04:53 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/thinking_moving.html I have been strongly considering moving recently. We have some problems with our apartment that I have been trying to get fixed for a very long time now. Most of them have been the way they are now, since we moved in five years ago. One of them is one of the bedroom windows. The crank that is used to open and close the louvered windows can't be used on one half of the windows because there is no way to get it through the screen covering the window. Another thing is the gap that is between ... Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:42:57 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/regardless.html I had a rough day with one of my kids the other day. They did something they knew they shouldn't have done and told me about it. I did talk to them about it and scolded them, telling them not to do it again. While I was pleased that they were honest about it, I was still upset that they did it. During the conversation, they said some things that were hurtful. I considered it a lesson for me. You know, no matter what our kids do, we love them with a very strong and powerful love. God, I bel ... Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:02:26 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/jerms.html If you opened this, copy and paste to a new page. Then change the answers to your own, and send it to your friends! Learn 50 things about your friends, and let them learn 50 things about you! 1. What do you add to your coffee? Cream and Sugar 2. What are you reading now? Moving Forward by Dave Pelzer (Best selling author of A Child Called It) 3. Do you own a gun? No! 4. Are you registered to vote? DO you vote? Yes and Yes. 5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? It depends on wha ... Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:35:50 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/met_boyfriend_thanks_prayers.html Earlier in the week I asked those of you that pray to pray for my son's girlfriend's dad. Thanks for praying. He is getting better and is expected to be released from the hospital soon. Again, thank you. My daughter went out to the Waterpark with her boyfriend tonight. She caught an afternoon bus to Kapolei and then met him at the skatepark. Once there, they drove to the Waterpark and watched a movie. The Waterpark has a new ride called the Tornado and it has a built in screen, in the wate ... Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:05:48 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/busy_busy_busy.html It's been a very busy few days. Doctor's appointments, meetings, household cleaning, and chauffeuring the kids to where they need to go. My daughter goes to her orientation tomorrow morning for McDonalds. She got a job at the same restaurant that her brother works at. She's looking forward to the checks she will be getting now. My son worked one overnight shift and that kind of threw his body out of whack for a day. I think he only has to work one more nightime shift and then he will go ba ... Sat, 21 Jun 2008 09:36:04 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/walking_dog_park_army_drill.html Today has been a good day. We all got to sleep in. My son and I took our dog to the dog park while my daughter met a friend at the mall. They have a new park for small dogs, so we were able to sit in their with Ku'i while she played with a tennis ball. It was very nice. There were some huge dogs in the regular dog park. At one point, two large dogs were running towards each other and literally collided head on. Neither of them was hurt, but it looked like it was painful. I am very proud of ... Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:38:10 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/invest_time.html As I was washing dishes tonight I was thinking about things and feeling thankful that my children and I have such good relationships. I was a stay-at-home mom for most of their childhood. As they got into their teen years I worked and did volunteer work as well. Now, the three of us, as I said before, have a pretty close relationship. I consider myself very fortunate and blessed to be able to talk to my kids about pretty much anything. It is not something I take lightly. The teenage years ... Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:32:05 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/discipline_religion.html This is a very sensitive and touchy subject to address because there are beliefs in some religions that it is okay to spank a child. For instance, those that believe this way will often quote scriptures in the Bible that speak of the rod of correction or discipline. Their belief is that the rod is an actual paddle or stick that they are to use to spank their child with. Their belief is also that God approves of spanking and hitting a child. I have a huge problem with this because one must ... Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:22:32 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/exercising.html I have made a commitment to exercise at least four days a week. I started tonight. My daughter and I went to the track field of a local high school, where she ran around the track, while I power walked. I made it 1/4 of a mile which I think is pretty good because I just started exercising again. I also plan to do Taebo which I really enjoy. My goal is to lose 81 pounds. We are going to walk again tomorrow late afternoon. She's quite a fast runner. I was surprised to see how fast she could ... Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:26:01 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/got_email__totally_believe.html Some people build swimming pools in their back yards. But outdoor pools in Alaska just won't cut it. Since this particular family lives on the outskirts of Anchorage , they decided to build a sturdy, colorful playground for their 3 and 4 year old sons, with smooth-stone gravel all around it to avoid knee scrapes and other injuries. They finished building it on Saturday evening, and the following morning, as the Mom was about to wake up the boys and have them go out to play in their new pla ... Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:37:58 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/best_friend.html This is a picture of me and my best friend. It was taken this afternoon at Tantalus. She is at the airport now and is preparing to fly back home. She will truly be missed. I sincerely enjoyed visiting with her. You know, the cool thing about best friends is that when you live in different states and one visits the other one, it's as though you were never apart in the first place. It's a lifetime bond that you have when best friends. She is returning in November and I can't wait!!! I am rea ... Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:26:11 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/bullying_child_abuse.html Bullying can be a form of child abuse. It isn’t just adults that abuse children. Children also abuse other children. Many schools have introduced no tolerance policies, hoping to prevent bullying. Sadly, it doesn’t always work and there are many children that continue to endure abuse from their peers on a daily basis. Some children reluctantly go to adults at school, or their parents, for help. This doesn’t mean that they are listened to necessarily, just that they make the attempt t ... Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:15:59 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/working.html Yeah!!! My internet is working fine again now. I don't know what happened, but I am able to post new articles and comment on people's blogs. It was hard for me, since I spend some time reading the blogs of others and posting comments on them. I haven't been able to do much of that and was getting kind of bored without it. lol I am going to go read some blogs that I've missed visiting and then watch some T.V. Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:07:24 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/north_shore.html We had a very busy day again today. My son worked until 12 noon and then I picked him up. After he had changed, we headed out to the North Shore. We drove through Haleiwa Town and stopped at the general store because my best friends' friend wanted some signs for her beach. Problem was, being that we were in Haleiwa, the signs were $25 each!! Ouch! That's expensive. Her friend ended up going online and finding that same sign for $5. After that, we went to a shave ice place where I had my fi ... Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:05:29 GMT http://greasy.com/hopefields/hanauma_bay_kailua_blog_issues.html Today was a fantastic day! I got to sleep in a bit and then me, my daughter, my best friend, and her daughter all went for a drive through the Pali highway and Kailua. It was so pretty. We also went to Hanauma Bay. I had not been there in years and had forgotten just how beautiful it is. The water is clear blue and you can see the fish under the water! They took many pictures, so I hope to post some on my blog soon. Tomorrow, we are going to all go, including my son, to the North Shore. Wh ... Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:58:10 GMT