A Dream

Keepers and I have a dream, that someday soon I will be able to work here at the studio with them on a daily basis instead of needing to work at a regular 8-5 job and helping in the evening. It has been our dream for quite a while now. It is a big dream we know, and to many it is probably unrealistic, but we had a lot of other dreams that were also, but they have come through. Some did not for various reasons. Like becoming a 501 (c)3 charitable organization due to IRS rules and regulations that would have required us to change our site drastically and our gift giving methods. So we chose to remain a Missouri recognized not for profit and leave it at that.

We hoped to build the studio and the office for Keeperskorner and we have now! The studio has a drafting table, a large wooden easel, computers, printer, and the office has a huge wooden desk and file cabinets and shelves and then we have a storage room with more art supplies, paper, the mat board cutter for preparing Keepers framed art, all has become a reality.

At time we ourselves doubted it could happen but we decided a year ago this past July to make it our ministry, for multiples and survivors, to be a source of hope, instruction, information, friendship, and caring. We have met a great many people through Keeperskorner, many of those people live in other countries, and we have learned about them and their countries and their habits and customs, some are different and some are similar, and all have been interesting and friendly, hopeful and in doubt, struggling and thriving, as we all are at one time or another.

Our dream is continuing onward, some steps seem to be excrutiatingly slow and awkward and others seem to be rapid and awe inspiring. Our personal dreams and our dreams for Keeperskorner are very much intertwined, and we feel on some days to be failing and on others to be succeeding, and the frustration can be offset by joy and the happiness by sorrow. We have lost friends over disagreements, due to death, and we ache for those we lost and treasure those we have. We pray for all and keep them in our hearts and thoughts.

Keepers continue to offer their experiences for others to look at and compare and draw from, to take what they can use to help themselves on their road to recovery. Sometimes I am asked for my viewpoint from the vantage of being the significant other, more or less an outsider due to being a singleton, and when I can I do. It is a teamwork here, not only between keepers and myself but between us and our visitors, our friends, our, what I can only call, family. There is a closeness, a bond, an affinity that only family can perceive, and I am not talking blood family, but family of circumstance and experience, of people who understand a commonality they share, a need they all have, a road they are all on, walking it together, with different people at different times, but all on the same journey, a journey of healing and recovery and yes, I do daresay, thriving.

Happy trails

JM

One Week From Today

One week from today keepers and I will officially be the same family! Every keeper from baby right on up will be family with me. We will have our ceremony presided over by Pastor Brown, and we will all sign a Family License for all to see, hanging right here in the Keeperskorner studio, so that littles especially can look up and see it and know they are are a part of this family.

A few days ago Jennifer asked me if she was going to be a part of the family and if not she understood. I could only reassure her that she was definitely wanted in the family, that I had no intention of leaving any keeper out! Even now after 30 some odd years many of them feel as though they are not wanted, not accepted or just hangers on because of them being a part of the entire group of keepers. I hope and pray this ceremony and license will finally let them all know how much I want them all to be a part of the family. How much I love each of them, respect each of them, want each of them to feel wanted and accepted and respected and loved and not only loved but liked.

I think that is why our marriage has succeeded and thrived and next week will be our 38th year, because love is not enough, you have to like the partner(s) also, if you like them and love them I think the respect comes along. Just loving someone, in my opinion, is not enough, you have to like them also.

Keepers have some painful days to get through before our ceremonies next week, our son's birthday tomorrow and our granddaughter's birthday next Friday, so I know their hearts will be aching, a mother's heart is much more fragile in that way I believe.

Anyway, one week from today we will have reached a milestone, those I married and all those who will be "adopted" into our family! Welcome to all keepers, you always were, but now it will be official so you can know it and see it and feel it. I am sorry it took so long, maybe we had to find the right person to officiate, and I think we do have that person now. Pastor may not understand all of the multiplicity and what it entails, but he is trying to learn, he is open minded, and he cares, he really cares about all of us and we for him. As far as he is concerned, him, keepers and me are family, and I think he is right!

Happy Trails!

JM

What Do You Do?

What do you do when the one person you love more than life itself is not happy, is not fulfilled, is a victim of evil and hatred and you can do absolutely nothing to help? What do you do when their dream is slowly crumbling in front of them? What do you do when you see their dream, which was actually coming through, fall apart? Not just one dream but several, one after another. What do you do?

Everyday I get up and go out the front door knowing full well they have nothing to get up for. They have no one to see, no one to visit, they are alone. Yes, they have people they call, and they IM and they email but they have no one to see face to face, no one to hug in friendship. They had a website, created to offer their artwork and poetry and articles and links to other multiples so they too could find help, support and information that may offer them the strength to go on, to continue on their journey of healing. Then the site was corrupted, we had to start over, then the blog on the site was no longer supported by the software creators so we had to move the blog offsite and now, the site's number of visitors is decreasing rapidly. Why? Are websites passe? Do only blogs garner visits on the internet? Are there no more multiples looking for information or loved ones of multiples looking? Or significant others either?

I have been visiting other website lately, trying to get some clues, I have even sent emails to sites we have links to to see if they have blogs now, and if they have noticed a decline in visits.
I have also been searching for new sites also. It seems from what I can gather so far is that sites in general are not being updated unlike keepers korner, they do not have blogs, unlike keepers korner, and as best I can tell, no one is answering their emails.

The attacker also killed their ability to paint, to draw to write and nothing I do can restore it. Maybe, just maybe if and when the state ever gets it's red taped ass moving and finally finalizes
the discipline and judgement in their case against the former therapist those things will be restored. It has been way too freakin' long, they gave their testimony in January and this is August, seven months later, seven months and still nothing. That is pathetic. I will be sending a letter to the State Attorney General tomorrow, because this is ridiculous, especially when they say they need more people to come forward in cases like this, and yet they let these people, the victims, hang there for years waiting for closure.

It is just the same old shit coming from somewhere else.

What do you do?


happy trails

JM

Hidden Faces

Hidden within are pictures, of faces, partial faces, and who knows what else? See what all you can find.

Happy trails to all

JM

I See . . .

The bridge disaster in Minneapolis just brings to the forefront our countries lack of funding for our very own infrastructure. Our bridges are in terrible shape and more of this will happen, our children and women are not protected from abusive people, our prisons are overcrowded and need to house even more, which in turn makes me wonder, where are we heading? Our health care is a shambles, costs are exceeding incomes, foreclosures are up, and the middle class is not growing, it is disappearing.

Do I have answers? No, I wish I did, but I do see what isn't working. I do see big companies, corporations, gobbling up more and more companies and corporations, I see foreign based companies gobbling up what was US based corporations.. and eventually where will we be?

I see my income not rising enough to meet cost of living year after year, I see medical costs so prohibitive we avoid medical care, I see insurance costs so high but we cannot afford to get medical care because of what is not covered. I see people eating less so they can pay their electric bills, I see people being approved for loans they cannot afford, i see children just now growing up that I thank God I am not them, because I would have no hope.

Sorry for the negative blog but sometimes the bad things are piled so high the good things are blocked from site. Oh I still have the love of my life and our friends but I see little to be hopeful for the world itself. I see global warming and massacres in foreign countries, genocide in others and I still see racial discrimination everywhere from one race to another. I see churches that still cover up the abuse their clergy participates in, I see nations that still promote female mutilation and countries where dictators rule with iron fists and do as they please to their fellow countrymen.

I see mothers walk away from their children for a fix, or babysitters selling those they are supposed to be protecting to their own boyfriend for his sick perversions, I see .... I see too much I don't like, too much I cannot change instantly or even in my lifetime, I see a whole hell of a lot that needs to be changed and I have no idea what to do about it, except pray we wake up.


happy and safe trails to all of you

JM

another window another door

as things happen we sometimes wonder where we are heading to...how will we work around this roadblock...how will we ever do that or help them....and then, somehow, someway...something comes along, it may be new...it may be something we never saw or realized before or it may be something completely new to us...but whatever it is it helps us accomplish that which we felt we could not.

a children's book titled knots on a counting rope helped keepers see what they and their littles were going through and also made the bigs realize what they had to do to help the littles. isn't it amazing how something as seemingly insignificant as a children's book could provide the secret to recovering? to regaining ones strength...to realize what one must do...too see what one is doing and accomplishing!

so you see, when all seems lost somehow or insurmountable just look around and open your eyes to all of the possibilities that are there, and do not restrict yourself to the easily and highly visible because you may be overlooking things that really could help you see that new path to take to get around the newest obstacle in your path.

they say when one window or door is closed God opens another, sometimes we just can't see them right away...something to do with not being able to see the forest because of all of the trees that are in the way.

happy and safe trails to all of you

JM

Supporting Keepers

Keepers just wrote a blog reclaiming their lives and their little ones. All I can say is bravo and I am with you 115%! Whoever this person is they need to see that we are reporting all of their threats, that we refuse to kowtow to their lies and misinformation and that we will do everything we can to protect the little keepers and to let them know they are loved.

Whoever this person is, they need help, they need counseling, they need help. They are living in a world of their own creation, one that is no where near reality. Somehow, someway they need to realize this and get help to deal with it.

To them I say keepers and I will go on with Keeperskorner because it is the right thing to do. Keeperskorner helps people. We feel Keeperskorner is what we are supposed to be doing at this point in our lives and the feedback we get from other multiples and survivors says the same thing. We have the support of our local police department, of our Pastor, of the Attorney General's office and a whole lot of friends and family from here in our home state to countries half way round the world.

This is the right thing to do.

peace and blessings

JM

Great Distances

Over the last year keepers and I have met quite a few people over the internet, some we have IM'd with and emailed and some we have spoken with over the telephone and met none in person. So, when they or we have a crisis, mini or big, sudden or building to a crescendo, it would be so nice if we could hop in the car and drive over and sit with them and be there to help in some manner or vice-versa. That is the frustrating part of meeting everyone, only being able to be there for them over the distance, in spirit only. Maybe it is that way for a reason, I do not know such things.

We know people in Australia, the UK, Canada, Scotland, and India and each relationship is long distance. Like I said, though maybe there is a reason, maybe it is how the big plan is laid out. To be there for people, more or less blind, no perceptions of them except in your own mind. We do know how some look, at least from the neck up because they have kindly sent us a picture for our Wall of Wonderful, but even that can be forgotten when the voice on the other end of the phone line is in trouble. Granted, keepers are the main focal point with the other multiples and abuse survivors but I do IM with some and maybe talk on the phone with them if I answer but for the most part it is keepers sharing their experiences, consoling them, and sometimes they are the ones being consoled.

Point is, no matter how great the distance, no matter how different the time zones, we all try to do the best we can for each other. We often talk of meeting somewhere, sometime and whether it happens or not there are definite friendships being made and nurtured each and every day. A sad point but real point is that we also lose friends, as disease and tragedy strikes everywhere and maybe then, is when the distance sometimes eases the pain just a bit.

We consider ourselves blessed to be able to be a part of these people lives. There are those here we wish we could say the same for but we cannot. That is life and we must accept such things. At least we have these new friends who are in many ways our expanding family, not of blood but of necessity and of caring and of mutual concerns and true friendship.

To all of you no matter where you are, in fact some of you live a matter of hours away from us while others are on the other side of the world, we say thank you for being you and letting us be a part of your lives.

Happy trails

JM

When to fold 'em

Keepers just wrote a blog about knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em and I couldn't agree with them more. They finally folded for the game they were in, a very painful game that had gone on way too long.

Now it is over.

You have to realize when something is no longer dreamable, when it is just too far gone to ever recover. That is when you fold 'em and find a new game.

That is what we have had to do.

We all have to sometimes, no getting around it. Sometimes the players come around, sometimes they don't, sometimes they get better sometimes they get worse. Sometimes they try to drag you down with them, into some new, twisted game of their choice. We chose not to.

Been in too many of those over the years and we are not interested in getting into any new ones like that or staying in any old ones like that. Life moves on, we play the cards we are dealt, in each game. There is no rules about finding other games. Everyone is encouraged to find a new one if the game they are in is a losing game.

I hope you all can recognize when you are in a game which says, hold or fold, and I pray you can fold if need be, and go find a new game. To all of you who can hold 'em and come out a winner I applaud you.

happy trails

jm

mean and cruel

I am sorry to admit that i have said things to people at times that was mean and or cruel, not intentionally but more through not thinking before I spoke or wrote and generally as a much younger person. As I have grown older and seen more I often wonder why people in their 30's, 40's and even in their 90's can say so many mean and cruel things to people as if they have absolutely no effect on those they speak to! Are they that clueless that they do not realize the hurt they are inflicting? Are they that ignorant? Or...are they that mean and cruel?

A friend of ours just went through this, when their weight was the butt of their other friends jokes and while they attempted to laugh it off and chalk it up to "well we really are big and fat, so it was true, and we should not be upset when they say something true". it did indeed hurt and hurt deeply. For their "friends" to say that, is to me, boorish behavior on their part.

I have seen older people do this also, my own grandmother will ask "why is she wearing that hat? It looks silly" or "why did she color her hair, it was so much better looking before," or "why are you wearing that and showing off so much skin?" Each of these comments were directed at keepers, in each instance it was said as if only her opinion counted and keepers should change just for her. It is her complete lack of caring about what effects her comments have on people that made me realize, she enjoys being this way.

One of keepers grandmothers was the same way, she would tell family members lies, saying A said B was this or that, then go to B and say did you know A said this about you? then come over to C and say, watch A and B!!! she would laugh as they reacted to her lies!! how mean and cruel can any one person be? I mean abuse that creates multiplicity is indeed horrific but this is abuse also in my opinion.

Writing lies in blogs, blog comments and emails in an effort to hurt are just as abusive and just as mean and cruel, and only goes to prove that the writer is a sick, twisted person who cares about no one but themselves.

Another person is the one who says something offensive and then laughs, as if to say oh this is all a joke, I didn't mean it and in an effort to not make a scene the offended person, laughs along, all the while hurting inside or being angered but none the less, saying nothing in their own defense.

People who make these cruel comments verbally or in text, we have tried to remove from our lives, they are not beneficial to our well being. They are not people we want to be around. There is no reason to put yourself in the direct path of mean and cruel words. We all deserve to be treated with respect and if people cannot do that....so long!

Happy trails to all

John M

Corn and Tomatoes

June 30, 2007, the first meal of corn and tomatoes for this year, this season of fresh veggies in our area. We have done this for so long, even when we had all the kids at home, when the corn and tomatoes come into season we have meals of nothing but sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob. Tonight was our first this year, and tonight the corn especially was sweet and juicy. It was the mixed variety, white and yellow kernels, simply delicious.

Now the tomatoes we will have on everything. Keepers love cheese and tomato sandwiches, or tomato on a hamburger while I will put sliced tomatoes on just about all kinds of sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, bologna, even a fried egg sandwich, yum!!! We had BLTs this past week and will have them again next week. Ah yes, when these two things are plentiful and in season we will get our fill!

Now where's the watermelon?


peace, blessings and happy trails to everyone

john michael

Movies For a Rainy Day

Here is a partial list of some of JM's favorite movies to watch on a rainy day or evening: Feel free to throw your comments about these movies my way!

Pirates of the Caribbean

Chicago

Jesus Christ Superstar

Red River

Support Your Local Sheriff

The Shootist

Any Robin Williams Concert

What Women Want

Young Frankenstein

True Lies

Sin City

Terminator

48 Hours

The Rock

Shane

Casino Royale (new Bond movie)

Once Upon a Time in the West

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

A Day at the Races

A Night at the Opera

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

There is Family, Then There is Family

Keepers just wrote a blog today about Family, what is it, why is it, who is it?

In the end after all was said and done they made a very definite point that blood and DNA should not be the all inclusive factors in determining who your "family" is, there are other factors to consider, like loyalty, deserved loyalty not blind loyalty. Honesty, in dealing with people, honesty in doing what you say you will do, honesty in how you treat strangers also. Being supportive, not only when convenient or to your benefit, but when the other person needs your support.

Too many people blindly say "it is my family I have to do this or do that" and that is boloney! When your family is hurtful, or dangerous, or deceitful or hateful or abusive or trapped in addictions, or mean or negative in their behaviors and actions, your family lines must be drawn in order to protect you, and others you love.

Both keepers and I have had to withdraw from many blood family members because they are harmful to us, and to others, and to themselves and no matter what we do they are not changing, they have no desire to, so the relationship had to cease. Other members of our families have done the same thing, because in their opinion it is harmful to them, it is negative to them, it is in their best interest to put space between them and their family. In the end, one must look out for one self and those who cannot protect themselves.

I could write a lot more here, and I probably will in the days coming, but for now let it be stated, we have found so many more people who are not blood or DNA related that we feel so close to, so in line with, so attached to and so cared for that we also care so much for, that we consider to be our family. Your normal standard family, no! But that isn't so bad, when you look at society and what is considered normal now, it is not bad at all. In fact, it is quite a few notches above in my opinion.

Happy trails to all

JM

Eavesdropping

I have been sitting here working at the computer, listening to keepers talk with another multiple on the phone, a system in a sort of turmoil right now. They have been diagnosed as DID for around a year so it is all very new to them. The different alters are bickering and fighting for time out, time out to journal their feelings, to visit other people, to email people, to read stories and be read stories and other such activities. To even talk to the therapist!

As most of you know, my wife, Keepers, has multiple personalities and she offers contact and such with other multiples via her site and the phone and email and IMing. Being a singleton (me) I cannot identify with all of the feelings simply because I am not a multiple. I can understand some of it having lived with Keepers for over 35 years and only because of all of the exposure I have had would I put out any opinions here about what they are going through.

Keepers have lived in the knowledge of having many within for a very long time having been diagnosed back in 1982, while this system they are talking with has been living with this knowledge for about a year or so. Logically Keepers have some knowledge and experiences they can share and thus offer some insight into what this other system is enduring and what may possibly help them.

I do know that so much of what multiples feel and react to is because of how they were treated as children, it was so horrific and so intense and so long in happening that they themselves treat their inner ones in the same manner. They will ignore, insult, put down, other alters who do not agree with them in any manner. This is what they learned to do, this is what they were taught.
This is what they have to unlearn and undo in order to begin to cooperate together and move forward together.

It is indeed sad to watch as they prolong the hurt to themselves because it is all they know. To believe they deserve better is so foreign to them, to believe anyone would believe them, is so foreign to them, to believe they are lovable in the truest, realist meaning of the word, is foreign to them, and it goes on and on. They literally perpetuate the abuse and the abusive behaviors they were treated with as children among themselves, so much so that their own littles want to go away and hide to avoid the fighting among the alters.

Do I have answers, hell no, I have none, all I have is observances as an outsider. I saw Keepers go through this and like everything else it seems, good old hindsight is so good!! Keepers now can try to explain because of what they went through, have done, have gotten through but at the same time it can be so frustrating because systems that are relatively new in their realization of what they are are so locked in to those old brainwashings of their abusers there is a lot they cannot see or hear.

They do not see they are beating themselves up, they do not see their own little alters feeling so neglected and pushed aside and scared by the fighting among older alters, they do not see or comprehend that they themselves are being disrespectful of each other just as their abusers did not respect them.

So I sit here, eavesdropping, wishing I could offer Keepers and way, a method, a means to get through tot his other system, but I cannot. And I sit here eavesdropping, wishing I could offer some magical words to the other system, to help them really hear and understand what Keepers are trying to get through to them, but I cannot.

So I sit here, eavesdropping, and praying that God is also eavesdropping and that in His way, will help all involved, to see, to hear, to understand, to survive and thrive.

God bless


john michael

A Long Time Between Blogs

It's been a while since I last posted a blog, so long I don't even remember what the last one was about. I had been trying to formulate a rebuttal to the IRS because they said we did not qualify for a 501(c) 3 status as a charitable organization. I called them, spoke with the agent who sent us the letter, for a couple of hours. All to no avail. We do not meet their guidelines and to meet them would eliminate things like the links to other multiples and survivors sites that we have on our website and blogs! We have to let the IRS know way more than is necessary for them to know. We have to find more people to be on our board and to participate in making the decisions for Keepers Korner, so, we are giving up on being classified as a "charitable organization" by the IRS and will be content with being a "not for profit" in the great state of Missouri.

What else? Well our new webmaster is still trying to add a sub menu to the website so we can add pages. The previous webmaster who developed the site did not allow for easy expansion. Previous says no problem, current says not so, and three others we had look at the site, said, no way!! Majority rules, site is not easily expandable. So, the frustration continues.

Next! This morning at 6:03 Owen, our big cat decided it was time for him to walk on keepers and me, meow at keepers and me, climb on us get down from get back up on us, meow at us again, etc etc etc. Of course once we got up he went off and laid down somewhere! Cats!!!! I love 'em but sometimes.............

Serpentine belt on our car almost blew, took it in to get it replaced, not knowing what to expect, and had a relatively nice surprise, the hoses were okay! I figured if the belt is shot the hoses probably are also but they said they were okay and did not need to be replaced! yeah, less money than needed to repair the car.

Keepers have been very busy with several multiples who are having really difficult times right now, I won't go into any details out of respect for their privacy. Let's just say that in my opinion Keepers are doing exactly what Keepers Korner is about, helping them get through what is currently happening, helping them have a voice to vocalize their hurts and fears, being an ear and a shoulder for them to speak to to lean on. This is why Keepers Korner is; why it exists. These people need someone they can turn to and they have found it. Almost daily we receive emails and comments, on the blogs, the website, about the help, the support, the reminder, people have found there, things that help them keep on going. I am proud to be a part of it.

Sports! the Cardinals don't suck as much as they did but they are nowhere near where they should be, but time will tell. Looks like they have no pitching, looks like they have little hitting, and the commitment of the entire team is questionable at this point. I expect a major shakeup after this season but I have been wrong before, hmmmm come to think of it when was I right
about this team? oh well, we all make great managers and general managers from where we sit, right?

Lottery Update!!! Mega millions, still haven't won. Powerball, still haven't won.

Work update! Still work. See above for the Lottery Updates

To all of my visitors here, the visitors to Keepers Korner website and blog, have a wonderful coming week and may all of your wishes come true.

Happy trails pardners

John Michael

Why Is It?

Why is it that people try to save addicts who don't want to be saved? Over and over again they put them in rehabs and treatment centers and either the addict walks out or waits until they are discharged and then they go back to their addiction, and then the cycle starts over again. How often does the addict do this before people finally realize no one can help the addict until the addict wants help.

Why is it that some people, and I use the word people very loosely, actually enjoy hurting people, both physically and emotionally? I mean, to actually get some sort of high when they know they are hurting someone? I have seen an elderly grandmother stir up crap between two people to watch them go at it, I have watched people pretend to be other people in emails and blogs to intentionally hurt people emotionally. Why?

Why is it that our government does not require a church to file any forms to become a charitable organization yet if we want to be recognized as one to help multiples and abuse survivors we have to file a zillion pages of forms, answer ridiculous questions and jump through hoop after hoop?

Why is it that roses are $9.99 a dozen until a week before Valentine's Day and then they are $35 and the same price gouging on any other holiday? Likewise how can a grocery store sell t-bone steaks for $9.99 a pound and then for $4.99 a pound, that's a $5 diff on the price or Pepsi is #3.50 a twelve pack or the same as $7 a case of 24 and then, voila, it's on sale for 5 12 packs for $10 or $4 a case? Which then brings us back to gas stations, the price jumps at 10 or 20 cent increments but drops in penny increments, why is that?

Why is it that there is more news coverage and more outrage over the pet food contamination than over the plight of children who are abused day in and day out in every imaginable way? or for that matter over spousal abuse?

Why is it the news has less news than ever before, a good portion of it being self promotion and show promotion and sadly terrible news after terrible news?

Why is cable and dish touted as so wonderful? Remember when people were so fed up with commercials on "regular" tv so they welcomed cable and dish, and yet they too have a ton of commercials on their stations many seemingly more than "regular" or "commercial" stations!
Why are the same movies on over and over and over and over?

Why is it that Anna Nicole has been dead for months and she is still being talked about on "news" shows?

Why is it that someone who is considered an excellent baseball player, one of the best to come along in many a year can decline so much in one year? Say for his first 5 seasons he averages 38 HRs and 125 rbis and this year, out of the blue, he is on a pace for 22 HRs and 75 rbis?

Why is it that I write these Why is it blogs? Do these things just bother me and a few others or more than that?

til next time

JM

Mucho Good Mexican Food

Poor grammar I know but boy was the food excellent! We went to this restaurant the night before keepers testified against their former therapist, in our state capital. The food there was so good and so inexpensive, what a welcome thing that was! When we left they said they had another restaurant near St Louis but we did not know where. Well on one drive back from meeting with Pastor Brown we saw a billboard for their new location, it is about 50 miles from our house.

Today we took a drive out there, around 5 this afternoon, it was my way of telling Keepers happy Mother' Day, just a day early. They had mentioned going there a couple of times since we had seen the billboard but I don't think they ever expected us to go there. We got there before the supper rush so there was no waiting to be seated. We ordered 2 number one combinations and an order of beef nachos to share and 2 Pepsis. They bring the usual salsa and chips for an appetizer and the salsa is okay but on the table they have habanero sauce, both red and green, so we added some green to the salsa, that perked things up real quick!

The nachos are simply chips on a platter, covered with seasoned ground beef and that is covered by melted cheese and I do mean covered! With a lot of both. The combo plates we chose had 2 beef and cheese enchiladas, a beef taco with cheese and lettuce and spanish rice. We add salsa to the taco and to the rice and I spread it on my enchiladas also. At one point keepers ran out of soda, had a few bite with the green habanero sauce and it burnedddddddddddd. Just about then our waiter came by picked up their empty glass and put his hand on their shoulder, "Are you okay?" he asked

They nodded "yes"

He looked her empty glass, her face, then the habanero bottle, "Did you put the green sauce on your enchilada?" he asked

They smiled and said "Yes"

He shook his head as if to say "crazy gringo lady" and went to refill her soda. He was funny.

So we left there with three to go boxes, they had one and a half enchiladas left and some rice, I had two enchiladas and a little rice and about 1/3 of the nachos and it cost us a whopping total of $22.62 tax included. And we will get a late evening snack out of it or lunch tomorrow, either way it will be delicious.

So there you have it, our night out...oh yeah, I forgot we went to Wally world after that a we got them a small Mothers Day cake. Terrence got into that as soon as we got home!!! That's okay, that is what it is for, to each of them I say Happy Mother's Day, I know how much you love your children, I know how you did the absolute best that was possible, I know you will always love them no matter what. You were and are a wonderful Mom.

Love

JM

More Ramblings

May 01, 2007 so what is new? Cardinals suck big time, even before they lost a team mate. Now it is even worse. Look for big changes after this season from management to players.

Mucho rain here today, lots of thunder and lightening, wind for a while had rain blowing in windows and we weren't paying attention so had three wet places in the house! OOOOps!
All of the noise today has no effect on Owen and Max, sleep right through it like it is nothing.

Why was traffic a pain in the keester today? On the way to work and the way home, traffic, traffic, traffic!!! Long lines on the highways and interstates for no apparent reason. Just one of those days you wanted to stay off of the roadways.

Bill paying day, everybodys favorite day, right? Well, maybe not...pay this credit card this much and that one that much and oooh look that one is almost paid off!!! Yay!!! Hey, what happened here? I thought this one was lower....oh yeah, had to buy that thigamajig last month, forgot about that!

Wore one of my new shirts for only the second time today, nice comfortable one, and we go to I-Hop for supper, good old Rootie Tootie Fruitie meal and guess who gets strawberry juice on his new shirt? Yeah, it was me! Wiped it with the stain stick when we got home, hope that takes care of it.

Over on Keepers blog the rude and crude comments have eased off for a few days, maybe it will end now and the idiots will find someone else to bother, really hope they just dry up and blow away and not bother anyone, but then along comes another one....do these people leave comments like this, "you are so full of yourself, big deal you have a site about multiplicity, so do a lot of other people" because they think it makes them look smart? or observant? or philosophical? or like a mental genius? or eloquent speakers of the absurd or what?

Bet that last one gets a comment! That's what moderation is for, right?

Misunderstandings are multiplying like bunny rabbits in heat, every blog i read here lately has comments or innuendos of someone taking exception to this or that or why did you say that and then oh you weren't talking about me? Sensitivity is high!!!!!! Seems most of it is misunderstandings. too bad too because these people normally support each other, not get upset with each other and tear each other apart. What it is, or so it seems is that many of the players are each having their own issues and turmoils going on, which is making each of them apprehensive and leery of words from others. Abreactions are common right now, many are writing about it on their blogs and that creates nothing but havoc with multiples.

Keepers have some time to do art now but no motivation, so i told them maybe they should let the artwork flow, in other words it doesn't have to be a pretty picture that fits in the Healing Gallery, maybe it will be a picture reflective of the goings on from the last several weeks and fit better in the Trauma Gallery.

That's it for now, see you soon!

JM

Another Needless Death

The St Louis Cardinals lost another player over the weekend, this time in an auto accident which may have involved drunk driving, again. I say again because it happens day after day night after night all across this country of ours. Have I done it? Driven under the influence? Yes I have but not for over 20 years. It was stupid to do.

As I was growing up I knew people who died this way, as our kids grew up they had friends who died this way, and now I have friends at work who have kids or relatives who die this way. i wonder when we will get it, drinking and driving do not mix. Alcohol plus vehicle equals death way too often!!

At least this time, if alcohol was involved, no innocent bystanders were killed in the process.

JM

Miscellaneous Ramblings part II

Catchy title for a blog, eh? Where oh where did the month of April go? Same place March went I guess. This is one of those going nowhere blogs in case you haven't guessed yet. Our local major league baseball team sucks big time so far, season starts and the entire team except for one player goes into a batting slump, whole team is hitting like .200 so far, not good at all.

It's spring in the midwest here so one day it is 65 degrees and the next is it 82 and then the sky rumbles and lightning shoots all over and we get a downpour that lasts for 10 minutes and it begins to feel like a sauna.

Our income tax refund is gone already but we now can use our shower and bathtub again after 3 months of not having it, but now the bathroom sink drain clogs up!!! gotta go find my snake and try to unclog it.

the boys, our 3 yr old cats, Max and Owen are still as goofy as usual, they are like having a couple of kids around. I was talking with Keepers on the phone while I was at work today and i hear them say, "we don't know what happened in the basement...we heard something fall...then both cats came flying up the steps...right past me...and this is the different part...usually when they come flying up they stop when they see one of us and just kind of walk like we aren't supposed to notice how they flew up the steps...then they pick it up again after they get by us...but today they just flew by her and headed to the back bedroom where they stayed for about an hour!" Still haven't gone down in the basement to see what happened, not that brave yet.

Went to Red Lobster for dinner tonight, Shrimp Lover's Tuesday, 3 shrimp dishes for $11.99 includes salad and those wonderful cheddar biscuits! When we left Keepers said "You know we have never had bad service at Red Lobster" and we haven't! Oh yeah, always order some crab cakes also, delicious stuff.

I have to buy a new headlight for the car, bought new shoes tonight, old pair wore out, I know exciting stuff!!

Over at Keeperskorner some odd stuff was happening last week, seems to have ceased for now, I am very proud of keepers for holding their own and making it through what was a very difficult time for them. Waiting for Andrzej our webmaster to make some much needed changes to the menus for the site so we can expand it some more. Maybe by this weekend, keeping fingers crossed!!

That is all for now, nothing major, just some rambling words to let the four of you know I am still out here.

Happy trails pardners

john michael