Happy Valentine's Day!

I have the best man in the whole world.

He's the one who gave me the beautiful bouquet of flowers in the picture above. He is thoughtful, kind, caring, loving, helpful, and he has a really warped sense of humor, like me. We've been through so much together, and while there have been times where it's been rough, we managed to stick it out and stay together.

I can't tell you what would happen if he was out of my life, I don't ever want to think about that.

This Valentine's Day I want the world to know how much I love and appreciate him and all he's done for me and Alex. Thank you, honey, for everything. And I hope there are better and bigger ways for me to show my love and gratitude today and everyday.

I got the flowers on Thursday, when he brought them home after work. They were a combo of "Congratulations" and "Happy Valentine's Day."

I found out on Thursday, I got the job I was interviewing for the past 2 weeks. I start tonight, and I'm excited to be going to a new place and learning new things and meeting new people. I have a really good feeling about this opportunity, and I am grateful I have a steady job now. I'm going to continue writing, I have a lot of things planned in the next few weeks, so don't worry, you will be hearing from me. :)

Since my last blog post, my son has emailed me that they will be in Rio (Yes, that Rio!) in a few weeks. His ship, the USS Carl Vinson, left Haiti on February 1, 2010, and they went to Mayport, Florida, to resupply. They left for the remainder of their journey this last week, to their final destination of San Diego, California. They should arrive there in April, if all goes well. Thanks to everyone for the prayers, best wishes, and good thoughts you have given him and my family while he is deployed. Please continue to support our troops.

I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day and you show and tell the ones you love how much they mean to you, not just today, but everyday.

USS Carl Vinson Leaving Haiti

As of yesterday, February 1, 2010, the USS Carl Vinson was released after completing Haiti relief efforts as part of Operation Unified Response. If you want to read more, here is the link to the Facebook page and the article:

Carl Vinson Completes Haiti Relief Efforts

http://www.facebook.com/notes/uss-carl-vinson-cvn-70/carl-vinson-completes-haiti-relief-efforts/281376722033#/notes/uss-carl-vinson-cvn-70/carl-vinson-completes-haiti-relief-efforts/281376722033

This means my son, Alex, and all onboard the USS Carl Vinson are enroute to San Diego. I am so proud of my son and this country and all the things that were accomplished in the last few weeks.

Wish them all a safe journey and please keep them all in your prayers.

This Is My Son

It's been a little over a week since my last post. I've been through a lot since then, and I won't get into the details here, but I feel now the worst has past me.

Everyday I look online to find articles about my son and his ship, the USS Carl Vinson. Here is the lastest link that tells what those fine young men on that crew have been up to during their time in Haiti assisting in Operation Unified Response. It's coming straight from the Department of Defense website.

Here's the link: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57691

I cannot tell you how proud I am of my son and those fine young men and women who are serving onboard all our American vessels in the Carribean giving assistance to those hurt and starving. To those critics who are out there saying the Americans are "taking over" and are knocking the job we are doing, I say, "Shut the hell up!" WE were there to help secure and organize a place that was thrown into utter anarchy, and I don't see anything about YOUR contributions to the people of Haiti.

I am proud to be an American Citizen, and most of all, I'm proud to be the mother of a fine Navy sailor named Alexander Thomas Crawford serving aboard the USS Carl Vinson.

I will keep everyone posted on Alex and how he is doing as we hear from him. Our only communication right now is via email, so I hear from him every couple of days or so. He's been keeping very busy, doing his job on the ship and off, so I'm thrilled when I see his name in my email inbox.

Thanks most to all of you who have sent prayers, good thoughts, blessings and well wishes to us and to my son. His Dad and I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

Until next time...

ADDITIONAL NOTE: The USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) can also be found on Facebook and on Twitter. Give those fine young men and women a boost and drop them a nice, positive, encouraging comment or two. I'm sure they will gladly appreciate it after all the long hours and hard work they are all putting in. :)

The USS Carl Vinson Enroute To Haiti

If you have been watching the news, you have heard Haiti was hit by a 7.0 earthquake. This morning, President Obama announced at his press conference that the USS Carl Vinson is enroute to help with humanitarian aide.

For those of you who read my blog, my son, Alex, is aboard that aircraft carrier. It was originally supposed to be going to San Diego, California, but with the disaster in Haiti, it will be going there instead.

Please, everyone, pray for the safe return of Alex and his shipmates and all who are going to Haiti for this mission. From what I've seen from the news reports, the country is devastated, and dangerous with the aftershocks.

Thank you. Here is a link for more information:

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/US-Navy-Sends-Help-to-Haiti-81481732.html

Toast the New Year With Lemonade

I'm watching the CBS Evening News last night and on the segment "Spirit of America" they told the story of a group of advertising executives and writers who were laid off, got together and decided to make a movie about how the lay off turned their lives around.

It's called "Lemonade", as in, "Life hands you lemons, make lemonade." I've seen the trailer and as my gift to all of you I am posting it on both of my blogs.

It amazes me still that something so simple, can change your focus in an instant. I've been looking for something to give my ideas and my life some sort of direction, and this little segment did, and after watching this trailer, I ordered the DVD. I'm now inspired to live my life on my terms. If they could do it, I can do it. Bless your circumstances this year, and bless the ones to come. And make lots of lemonade.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Big Time. I'm on my way I'm making it.

Being a child of the 80's, I couldn't help myself when I was on YouTube.com and found the video for "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel. If there was ever a song that symbolized the whole pursuit of happiness through wealth in the 80's and 90's, this was it. I loved it. I still do which is why I'm sharing it with all of you today. If you've never seen it, you are in for a treat, and if you have and like it, you'll enjoy it even more. If you hate it, try again next time. I can't make everyone happy and it's not my job to do so. :)

So, have a great day, everyone. :)

This Is A Test

Once a month we are all subjected to a loud, annoying noise coming from the television or the radio and we are told, "This is a Test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a Test."

If only we are warned about such things in real life. These days the imagined problems and the worries seem to be a lot worse in our minds than what is truly going on in the present moment.

I want to put a stop to that.

I'm not saying we go the other way down the river of Total Denial, but to imagine the situation you are in is worse than what it really is? Well, you have to ask yourself why on Earth you would make things even harder than they are?

It's human nature. We're all guilty of going to the negative end of the river, to swim upstream and make things harder on ourselves. I've been doing that for months, thinking the more I bitched and complained and worked at being a victim of circumstance, then God or the Universe would then feel sorry for me as much as I was feeling sorry for myself and "Poof" all would fall into place and the world would continue to turn. And then we would live happily ever after.

Bullshit.

The main reason I am not where I want to be is I haven't been DOING ANYTHING! My fears have manifested all sorts of horrible scenarios to the point that I've been paralyzed by that fear to take any kind of action whatsoever. Here's just a sample of what's been going through my head:

*I'm too old.
*There's too much competition for a job, for writing work, for money, for business, etc.
*I'm too fat.
*I don't have the education, the resources, etc.
*I don't have enough money
*I'm too tired.

And that's just in the first 5 minutes.

The last few weeks, with Christmas coming, and everyone around me in a bad spot financially, it's hard to be optimistic. I keep praying and believing things HAVE TO GET BETTER. But when it's your world that's crumbling, the last thing you feel like doing is putting on a "happy face."

I do it anyway.

I try to find something to laugh at once a day. I try to list the things I'm totally grateful for, my health, my family, my friends, the roof over my head, the electricity that runs my computer and my lights, and the groceries in the fridge. I do know, only too well, that things can be much worse in a short amount of time and to just stop whining and be grateful helps a lot.

But what works for me the most, is imagining how much better things will be once we're all past this. Visualization has been used by successful millionaires, athletes, and inventors to see the future, to feel the future, and to ask for nothing less than the very best, because they usually get it. No playing the "I really don't deserve it," card, but instead, "Of course I should have that, I Deserve It!" card. It's a lot more fun swimming downstream. And it's all imaginary. No harm, no foul.

After all, this is only a test.

The funny part of all of this, is I've been job hunting since I was laid off in June. I've gone on interviews, been told by several employers that I have what they are looking for, and then when I ask, "When do I go to work?" All of them have told me they will call. The phone's been ringing, but not from them calling me.

I was ready to give up the writing career, again, just get a job and do it as a hobby. Let it go, as painful it would have been. Now I get the feeling God or the Universe is telling me, "Not yet." Maybe that's why I can land a job, but they don't want me to actually work for them. It would be nice to get paid for it, though.

So, I'm going to take it as a message, loud and clear, don't give up the writing just yet. Things are going to work out better than fine after all.