I sure didn’t. We were driving through the country and we passed these long, low buildings - lots of them, all in a neat row. Mark says, “Yeah. Those are chicken houses.” How the hell did he know? He grew up in Florida! He definitely spent a lot of time out here, though. He is constantly telling me stories about this place or that. Anyway, I sure thought of my friend, Ang. of Ang.’s Chicken Coop, when I saw the chicken houses! I meant to tell her about them and I forgot!

We kept on driving and after a while, there was a sign out in the front of someone’s house that said, “Chickens for Sale”. I imagined that was maybe someone like my friend, Ang., raising them on their own farm and I thought that is so much nicer for the chickens, than to be stuffed in the chicken house like sardines, with a million other chickens.

Of course, in my head popped pictures I’ve seen of chicken houses on the PETA website - ewww! Those were awful, and although not as nice as living on Ang.’s farm, I do hope those chicken houses that I saw were WAY more pleasant than the awful pictures that I saw!

Local businesses can have a horrible affect on the environment and its citizens nearby. It has been proven again and again that some of the age-old practices of typical businesses are just not good for the environment or the people around them. There was a business not too far from my house that was actually completely shut down and all of the residents were given funds to move out of the area. Mark will not let me buy produce when people are selling it on the side of the road, because he is afraid that it came from too close to that area.

There is a company that supplies EHS Compliance Software to businesses. They are utilizing the best of technology to help companies keep on top of their environmental footprints. They have a long list of clients that they have helped towards this mission.

The EHS metrics software brings together environmental health and safety professionals with information technology. In one area of their expertise, over 100 wells can be monitored and assessed for environmental damage in less than an hour!

Their staff works with their clients from the top to the bottom for the EHS software implementation. They work with the senior level company staff on strategy and planning, but, are also very present in the day to day happenings of the business, actually acting as extensions of their client’s staff.

The company was founded in 1998, and I think they are providing a wonderful service to all of the citizens who live near potential bio-hazard businesses! I bet they could have saved the town and the people near me that were so deeply affected by environmental waste. This is one company that I would really love to see expand and grow!

Did that capture your attention? I imagine that the words ‘buy cheap viagra’ made a few people do a bit of a double take! And just what the heck does viagra have to do with SEO, anyway? Right? Well, John Pozadzides of One Man’s Blog, is running a little experiment, prompted by a post by Aaron Wall. And the question that Aaron proposed is, “How Easily do Authoritative Sites Rank for New Keywords?” And he talked about Matt Cutts ranking pretty high for the words, ‘buy cheap viagra’, just by using the words in one post. And as John has a PR8, he is wanting to experiment and see just how quickly he ranks up high for those words, as well. There is one wild card to the experiment, though, and that is that Matt Cutt’s site has much more longevity than John’s site. In fact, John just celebrated his One Year Blogiversary! Happy Blogiversary, John! And I am interested to hear how this experiment turns out!

Ok, so things are looking a little barren over here now, but, there is absolutely nothing to worry about!  Nay, in fact, you should be excited!  I just found this great theme at One Man’s Blog, written by John Pozadzides and it is the bomb!  I mean - THE BOMB!  I can’t wait to start playing around with it some more!  It is really exciting learning how to manipulate code.  I am learning more very day and I absolutely love it!  I’m really happy about this theme, though and I am pretty sure that I am going to install it next door, too.  (www.LisaMarieMary.com)  But I just found that one that is over there the other day, and I can’t bear to part with the colors just yet.  So as soon as I get a little more versed in fixing this particular theme up just how I want it, then I’m going to install it over there, too.  Look, John’s got a PR8 and he’s been helping people out with HTMLhelp.com for almost a decade!  I don’t know about you, but, I’m sticking with him!

I just love my Punkymoms! I’ve been a part of their group for quite some time now, around four years. And they are some of the most amazing, loving, fighting for ya, giving, intelligent, inspiring women I’ve ever met! I love being a part of their group. And the group is getting not only pretty large, but, also pretty widespread. We’ve got mamas from all over! There is one amazing and pretty good size group in Orlando. They are one of our larger Punkymama clusters. And I know that I could go and stay with any one of them at any time. It is like I have my very own vacation home Orlando-style! It is a cool feeling to know that I could go visiting lots of different places and see my sweet and rockin’ peeps! There is a great group in New York that I’d like to hang with, as well as Minnesota! Punkymoms are just the best!

Today I let Sammie go to the community pool with a friend - with no grown-ups. The friend’s mother drove them there and dropped them off. I suppose she is maybe of an age to do this. It’s hard sometimes to differentiate between knowing she’s not old enough and being overprotective. It is that way with the boys, too. It is a totally normal thing to do, is the idea I’m getting from the moms and kids around here. And I think they do it at a much younger age than almost-11, it sounds like. There are so many variables that go into this stuff, really. I mean, I could easily see dropping her off at the community pool in the neighborhood where her best friend, Christina lives, back in Texas. But you see, that feels familiar, it is a community pool. And then I have to say to myself, ‘but Lisa, this was the community pool that she went to today’. Oh yeah. But, you see - I lived within a 10 mile radius for 99% of my life. So although it is big city, it is all familiar. And out here, things are very new and unfamiliar, and releasing your children to people and places in a new and unfamiliar town is HARD to do. But I did it. And just like they said they would be, they were home around 4:30. And she said there were lots of lifeguards. And she saw Patrick’s best friend, who spends a lot of time in the summer there. So I guess it was okay. Hard on me, but, it was okay. All of these little baby steps, of letting our babies go … can be so hard ….

But thank God they are baby steps.

I absolutely can’t believe how quickly the time has come to start getting ready for school again! The summer breaks are way too short now! Well, Mark is out with Shawn right now buying his clothes for the new year. He took Patrick yesterday and he’ll probably take Sammie tomorrow. And we’ve got to start looking for those supplies, too. We can’t get Patrick’s until the school year starts, because the teachers let them know what they want on the first day. One thing is for sure, I want them to have their names on everything. So much stuff gets misplaced at school, but, if their names are on it, there is a much better chance of it making its way back to us! There is a great site online, that I’ve spoken about before, where we can get personalized labels to put on everything! The company is called Identity Direct and I think the kids will have a blast designing their own labels! They’ve got lots of other back-to-school products, too, but, I’m really excited about the labels. Especially with two boys in band, one of them in marching band, we’ve really got to start getting their names on their stuff. I’m sure going to and from the football games is going to be quite hectic, and losing stuff will be a frequent problem. But putting Patrick’s name on his things is really going to help a lot! I’m excited that I found this online shop!

And it is the cutest thing!! The kids and I were so excited! Now, Lucky has never worn clothes before, and he is a scaredy cat gentle soul, so I wanted to be as cautious with him as possible in putting it on him. He also has some type of handicap, that I think I’ve told you all about, and so I didn’t want to hurt him, either. So he and I went into another room alone, where it was quiet, so that I could put it on him slowly and gently, while at the same time, loving on him and reassuring him. And guess what? He was fine with it! He pawed at it, barely, for a second or two, and then he was just fine with it. I think he actually kind of liked it. The thing he didn’t like, and never has, is my trying to get his picture. There is no better evidence of this than the shot below, in which he escapes to his favorite spot, under the table while I’m desperately trying to get the perfect shot! See the tail tucked under?

Silly boy! I must take your picture - you look way too cute! And yes, a 120lb. dog can be cute!

We got this sweater from this great online doggy store, DoggieTshirts.com, and I was absolutely thrilled that they could accomodate my big boy!

Now, if you’ll notice in the picture above, right above that table is a window letting in lots and lots of sunlight. And as I had to take Lucky’s pic with him under the table, I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to deal with the light. This next picture, barring the horrible light, is actually the best shot, so I had to keep it.

I got his entire body in the shot and he’s looking up and bright. Now, in this next shot, the light is good, but, the dog looks stoned! Grrr!

I am just so excited about this sweater, and I can’t wait until it cools off so he can wear it more! I will admit that I was a little disappointed when I first opened it, as I was expecting it to be super-duper soft, like hoodies for us bipeds are. It just has a little bit of a toughness to it. And as it turns out, that is a very good thing, because with pulling it over their elbows and such, you need that toughness. And also, if it were soft like ours, when you wash it, it might get kind of baggy, and not only would that not look very nice, I think it could be dangerous for the dog. So now I am totally, completely happy with the sweater and its level of softness.

Now here is the best picture color-wise, it is just bright and crisp and my little honey bear looks so sweet!

Isn’t he just a doll?

And then, of course, the kids got into it. Shawn had to go and make him ‘gangsta’:

Poor, poor Lucky - the crap he puts up with. It was really funny, though - I’ve never seen six pre-teens/teens so excited about one piece of dog clothing! It was great!

My mom and dad both have big dogs, too - I can’t wait to tell them about this online doggie shop! (Unless they’re already reading, in that case, “Hi guys! Go shopping!”)

Since Lucky is such a chicken gentle soul, there was this one tshirt that I wanted for him, because, I thought it would be so funny! But they didn’t have it in his size. Bummer! But lemme just show it to you:

Isn’t that funny? My little wimpy kind-hearted boy, a certified killer! Cracks me up! You can click on the picture to go to DoggieTshirts.com and see that shirt!

Every day I sit down here to work.   You know, like perform functions for which individuals will pay me.  That kind of stuff.  And every day I get so bloody distracted!

The end of the day sneaks up on me, and I swear and mutter - and promise to do better the next day.

It’s kind of like this, it’s kind of like telling me, “Hey Lisa, I want you to go to that party - you know the one where all your favorite people are, whom you dearly love and enjoy - and I want you to work.”

Work?  What?  I can’t work.  I have got emails to answer, message boards to visit, and communities who need my input!  There are people from the east coast to the west, and even some overseas - who are depending upon my particular brand of merriment!  Don’t you know that?

Yeah.

Wonder if I could set up ‘Lisa-locks’ on my computer, instead of child-locks?  Like on one computer, I am free to do as I wish, but, on this other computer, the only access I have is to my blogs and to ChaCha.  Period.

Who would keep me from sneaking onto the other computer, though?

Hmm…

Now that is the perfect way to start my day! A nice, hot cup of coffee in my favorite cup and some Freeze It Pain Relief Gel rubbed on my sore shoulders! I know I’ve talked before here about having migraines, and often I wake up in the morning with my neck and shoulders hurting. And that pain almost always leads me into a day of icky head trauma. So nipping it in the bud is of paramount importance for me. And I have never found anything that does such a good job of it as Freeze It! I received some Freeze It samples the other day, and knew exactly what I would use them for! I was so excited to discover how well it works!

I usually use Icy Hot, but, I can only use it on my shoulders and be really careful not to get it on my neck because it burns my neck like crazy for some reason. I tentatively spread the Freeze It on, letting my fingers rub just slightly up on my neck and discovered that it doesn’t burn at all! So I went ahead and put it on my shoulders and my neck! That is probably a large part of why it worked so well. I mean, when you are only putting the cream on half of the pain, that is going to maybe work and maybe not work. But on those mornings when I wake up like that, the pain is definitely connected from my shoulders to my neck!

It was also much less greasy than Icy Hot, and easier to clean off of my hands once I was through applying it. They do, however, have a roll-on, which is another positive mark in their court! That would make application so easy! And I can buy two roll-ons for just about $15 - that is a good deal, considering how long they will surely last.

Another really awesome point about Freeze It, is that it didn’t get my shirts all gunky. When I use Icy Hot, it ruins my shirts! The stain from Icy Hot is still on some of my shirts even after washing them! Freeze It totally didn’t mess up my shirts!

That first morning that I used it I was so excited, because, I had forgotten that I had put it on, but, I also forgot that I had woken up with any pain that day!!! I gently stretched my neck back and forth in each direction, and I didn’t feel ANY pain! Any other method I’ve used to get rid of that pain (Icy Hot, ibuprofen, hot pad, etc.) usually leaves at least some residual pain. In fact, once I do wake up with that pain, I usually have it for at least a week and sometimes longer. But the pain was completely gone! I was totally floored!

I’m so glad that I got these samples, and I am definitely stocking up on some Freeze It! Chronic migraines are a real downer! You can ask my kids. “No honey, we can’t do that today, Mom has a headache…” If I just had a penny for all the times I had to tell my kids that, we’d all be set for life! So anything that can help me avoid those nasty headaches is a WINNER in my book!

Freeze It ROCKS!!!