My Favorite Pics

Have you ever had one of those days?

My Dearly Beloved.....(sigh).....I am here to testify that sometimes just getting through a day is a miracle in itself. Today was one of those days. I don't mean to complain, but - just how much can one person do to stay sane in today's world or is there something to be learned from adversity? It started out with my son desperately needing a car....but before he could buy a car, he would have to get his license straightened out.
I will spare you all of the details with this bulleted summary of what happened.

• Left my place with my dog, Kato, in North Barrington, drove 15 miles and arrived at my son's apartment (I call him "J") in Sleepy Hollow around 11:00 PM on 6/17/09 after working all day around the house.
• Played around with the animals and gave J a haircut so he would take a better picture for his license the next morning.
• Went to bed around 1:00 AM, with my alarm set for 7:15. My son wanted to be at the DMV at exactly 8:00 AM to avoid the lines.
• Didn't sleep very well in different surroundings. I love my son, but still.....
  
• Woke at 6:45 and thought, "What's the point in going back to sleep now? I just have 30 more minutes....can't get into a deep sleep anyway.
• Went ahead and got up and fed all the animals.
• Loaded up J and Kato and drove 6 miles to the DMV, dropped off J to get his license straightened out and went to my daughter's place 2 miles away to drop of Kato and wait for J to call.
• Arrived in Shannon's driveway and my son called - "Gotta pay fines before I can get a license.....just take me home."
• Went back to DMV and drove 3 miles towards Sleepy Hollow trying to figure out how to get a car so he can work the next day
• I got a brainstorm and turned around headed back towards Elgin, because my daughter got a car with a less than stellar record.....I asked her for advice.
• Turned back around after a mile, heading back for Sleepy Hollow because she said she "knew someone."
  
• Unfortunately, that "someone" skipped town and has never been heard from since.
• Arrived back at son's apartment and made about 40 phone calls trying to find a way to get a car.
• Vic Giannotti called and asked if I would entertain on July 31st at the restaurant. KEWL.
  
• Cell Phone became very hot and started burning my ear and had to charge it while I was talking. Which option do we go with?
  
• Went to bank to get money to help J buy a car from option one.
• Found out from the bank teller that I need a photo ID...not just my credit card like the first guy told me...."Yes, Ma'am.....that's all you need - just your card....it says right here."
• Bank Teller says, "They don't know what they are talking about....they are associated with us, but not really a part of us....know what I mean?" Right.
  
• Couldn't find my license with a photo....Good Lord - now's not the time to lose things.
• Doubled back to son's apartment from the bank.
• Went back to DMV - 6 mile drive again - to get another license, but looked really crappy from lack of sleep, no comb for my hair and make-up from night before still smeared all over....Thank God for sunglasses.
• Stopped by Shannon's house to take a shower so I can get another picture taken.
• Realized I forgot my make-up case at J's house.
• Jumped back in my van to go to Walgreen's (which was closer) to buy make-up.
• That little trip cost me $24.00, but it was buy one - get one free, even though it wasn't my favorite brand. What the heck - it was on sale.
  
• Came back to daughter's and took a shower & put on Make-up.
• I got a call from Caroline who asked me if I would do music for an event next week on Wednesday. Yep - I'm free, so I'll be there! Woo-Hoo!
  
• Son calls and said he called Courthouse and they told him he still has driving privileges and his car lot of choice told him if he brought in his $500.00 DP and a copy of his public driving record (costs $12.00) they could sell him a car complete with insurance today.
• I go back to the DMV - which meant I didn't need to borrow money on my credit card anymore, because all I needed to do was pick up a copy of J's record. He told me all I had to do was pay them $12.00 - THAT'S IT - Just pay them $12.00.
  
• Stood in line for 15 mins.
• Finally got to desk and there's a sign that says they accept every major debit and credit card except for VISA.
• I have VISA.
• She said I could give them a check, to which I said, "Great!! I have a check!!"
• My checks were at my daughter's house.
• Go back to daughter's house - 2 miles away - and got checkbook.
• Go back to DMV - stand in line 5 mins.
• Got to front desk with checkbook and they gave me papers to fill out to obtain son's public driving record.
• The lady with the bug eyes and scowl on her face tells me I need a picture ID to get his records and to get my ID, all I need is my Social Security Card.
• JUST SO HAPPENS I HAVE MY SOCIAL SECURITY CARD!!!! YAY!
  
• At my daughter's house.
• Get back in car and go to Shannon's house and get SS card.
• Go back to DMV and wait in line just a couple of minutes.
• Paid $20.00 and got my ID.
• Vittorrio called and asked if I would sing at T'Amo on Golf Blvd. in Scaumburg, Friday night and I told him I'd be there!
  
• Took my ID back to front desk and filled out papers for son's public driving record.
• Paid $12.00 and got the record.
• Went back to daughter's house to pick up other son, Chris, to take him to J's place to hang for a few days....Chris had to leave his dog, Max, at my daughter's place, because J isn't allowed to have a Pit Bull in his apartment.
• Max didn't have any food, so I had to go to Jewel to buy a bag of food for the dog and a bag for the cat.
• Came back to my daughter's house and Chris jumped in the car and we drove to J's apartment.
• Chris went in and J came out. I was going to give J a ride to the car dealership to pick out a car, because the salesman told him to just bring in that $500.00 DP and that driving record and he WILL leave with a car tonight.
• On the way from J's house to Rt. 31, Rebecca Darr from WINGS called and told me the paperwork finally came in from the State of Illinois and Dream For The Stars is now legally incorporated. I did catch that in the midst of my head spinning from the day's events.
  
• I was going to take my son to get a car and leave straight from the dealership to work, because I had a show Thursday night.
• We were supposed to take I-90 to I-355 to get to Glendale Heights, where the dealership is.
• My car - by this time - was out of gas from all the driving I did today.
  
• Went passed I-90 looking for a gas station - by this time I'm totally drained, because it was 6:15 and I had been going non-stop since I got up at 6:45 after 5 hours of sleep.
• The gas station that used to be on the corner has a "FOR SALE" sign stuck on the pumps.
• Unbelieveable - we are almost back to where my daughter lives now.
• Gas station is just ahead.
• The next stoplight, I stepped on my brakes and the pedal went all the way to the floor - NO BRAKES.
• I'm kinda freakin', because I almost hit the lady in front of me. Thank God I didn't.
• Praying, "Oh, LORD - get me to my daughter's place safely!!!! It was only about a mile away.
• Miracle of miracles - it was uphill all the way to get to Shannon's apartment.
• Made it to Shannon's without incident and her friend (who is a mechanic) told me that the brake cylinder was blown and pointed out the leaking fluid from the area of the back tire.
• Dealership was going to close at 8:00, so Shannon took J to the dealership to get his car while I stayed at her place to figure out how to get to work. Just so happens that tonight, of all nights, is the very first night of the talent competition and it was expected to be very crowded - and it was. :'(
• Couldn't find a way to work - so here I am writing this to help myself decompress. I never miss work - ever.....can't fret over it now, because there's absolutely nothing I can do. Too late to get my van fixed and nobody around to help me get to work.
• Called son at 8:00 to see what kind of car he got, but said that salesman didn't know what he was talking about....everything he brought in wasn't what was needed to get a car.
• Shannon took J back home.
• We'll have to start again tomorrow to get my van fixed so I won't miss another night's work on Friday and try to find a car for J so he can at least go to work on Saturday.
• Now - what did I get out of all this?
• It's a miracle that I didn't hit that lady at the stoplight.
• It's a miracle that it was all uphill to Shannon's house.
• It's a miracle that the brakes blew just one mile away from where I could park my car and be safe at Shannon's.
• If my car didn't need gas and we went straight up on I-90 instead of looking for a gas station, the brakes would have blown out on the Interstate when I was traveling at a higher rate of speed.
  
• If I hadn't done all of that running around all day in town, my brakes would have blown out on me at 2:00 in the morning, on the side of the road, coming home from work with thousands of dollars of equpment in my car.
• I missed a night of work, but I'm still in one piece....that's something to be thankful for.
• Oh, yeah - I picked up 3 extra gigs, which will make up for the one I missed tonight, even though I really wanted to be at HAWTHORN'S BACKYARD in West Chicago. Frank and Lou are awesome.

I guess it's all in the way you look at things.

WE LOVE YOU, BENJAMIN

It is with a very broken heart that I write this blog. Today is the day they will lay 16 month old Benjamin Kingan in his grave from being murdered by his caregiver last Wednesday, 1/14/09. My deepest condolences go to his mother, Amy Kingan and her family in this incredibly difficult time. It is impossible to understand how a tragedy like this can happen. Amy Kingan has been working at WINGS shelter for women since it opened and has taught training classes on child abuse and domestic violence. This especially adds to the tragedy that her own baby would be killed by child abuse. Please lift her and her family up in prayer with me and let's join together to help raise awareness of child abuse and domestic violence for all of the Benjamin Kingans in this world. Benjamin is now in the arms of our Heavenly Father, leaving behind his very loving mother and father, along with 3 siblings...one of which was his twin sister. God Bless the entire Kingan family.

GO GREEN WHEN YOU CLEAN YOUR SCREEN

As you know, we all need to do our part on protecting the environment against chemicals that not only deplete the earth's soil of nutrients, poisons our water and chips away at our ozone layer; but causes allergic reactions in our children and toxic build-up in our pets. From now on, I pledge to avoid using chemicals at all cost and GO GREEN!!! Since we spend so much time on our computer, it is necessary that we find alternative and green ways to clean our computer screen. I have found the perfect screen cleaner and I wish to share it with you. Please pass on this valuable information.

GreenScreenClean

Cool things happening

OK - I went out and bought some more exercise DVDs and equipment with the attitude of DO IT OR DIE. Let's hope it's not the latter. Yeah - God Bless the holidays....my favorite time of the year to cook and eat.....and eat.....and eat. I also love to crochet, so I made lots of hats & neck scarfs as presents this year for friends and family. People tell me all the time I should go into business making things and selling them. Right.....even if I charged MINIMUM wage - some of these take as many as 30 hours to make. With the price of yarn I use - $5.99 to $6.99 a skien - where it takes 6 to 7 skiens, well......you can see the cost would be up there. If I went by those calculations, a hat and scarf set would cost over $300.00! lol Soooooo - I just make them and give them away as presents.
I'm really looking forward to getting into my exercise routine now that the holidays are over and I don't have to make any more gifts. I've also been talking with a guy from one of the major bicycle manufacturers and he is very interested in partnering up with us for the ride. It'll be great to finally get a road bike to practice with. Of course, I would need an indoor trainer for the bike until the warm weather gets here, but that's OK. I'll be used to it by then.
January will be a big month for me, because I'll be taking a class to get a certification so I can go into shelters to speak with women. I'm just finishing up my essay to summarize my life that will be published in a book to be released this summer and I'll be meeting with a publicist to put together a book deal about my life......which will be leading up to the glorious bike ride we will be doing in 2009! Too exciting.

It Is Time

OK, Kiddies, I have been sitting behind this computer for so long that my hips are starting to look like battleships. It is now time for me to get in shape, so like Joshua - I am on a quest for MUSKLES! That means.....No more Pizza and Beer......No more Frostys from Wendys.....No More PROCRASTINATING!!! I solemnly vow that if I procrastinate, I will do it NOW!!! I will live my life in the moment and worry not what will happen if I take another bite of that cheeeeeesecake that bekons my name everytime I pass the fridge. I will NOT listen to nay-sayers who tell me, "What? You don't want to start getting in shape NOW.....NOT before the holidays!! You look fine just the way you are" Look - I'm going to need every second I can muster to climb on that bike and peddle these battleships across the country; however, I'm hoping by that time they are more like dingys.....no.....water skis! Yep....I'm really gonna do it and if I'm going to be miserable, By George, I will let you know every pain I experience so you can support me in my misery - at least until it all starts feeling good after I get past that initial phase.....you know, when taking a deep breath and holding until the count of four makes you feel as if you have had a good workout. Brenda Underwood told me that I should go to the store and get one of those exercise balls to sit on while I am working on my computer so I can strengthen my core muscles. I did that last night, so right this very minute, I am rocking back and forth on my exercise ball as I am typing. Gee - working out is great, isn't it?
Also, I'm still in communication with bicycle manufacturers for sponsorship of our ride next year, so at least my mouth is getting in shape......Well, it's a start. :-)

September 18, 2008

There's not much I haven't done in my life to make a living. When I was younger, I tried being a secretary, but just couldn't cut the 9 - 5 lifestyle. Maybe because I was a bit too free spirited for the daily grind. I got fired from a job once....well, actually I called in sick and they told me just not to come back in. It was a job at a finance company I got through an employment agency, where I had to call people who were behind on their accounts and tell them if they didn't get the payment in we would take them to court. I just didn't have the heart for that one. If I called someone and they gave me a sob story, I would say, "Ohhhhhh, I'm so sorry to hear that.....I hope things get better for you really soon. You just pay whenever you get the money."

One of the supervisors asked me one time when this one lady I called was going pay her bill. I told her, "Well, she doesn't have it right now because her husband just had surgery and the kids had to start school and she had to buy them clothes....." The supervisor demanded, "Well, what did you tell her?" I replied, "I just told her to pay whenever she got the money and that I was sorry things weren't going well." With that, the angry supervisor snatched that stack of phone numbers I was to call off of my desk and went and called all of the people herself to tell them she would take them to court if they didn't pay. I knew I couldn't hack a job like that, so I called in sick the next day. When the office head told me not to come back in, I said, "Oh, Thank God....I just can't do this job!" He told me I would make a good secretary because I had the skills, but I definately couldn't be a collection agent. Whew! Thank God that job ended.

I was always in talent shows throughout my elementary and high school years, so a singer is what I wanted to be when I grew up. When I finally made it to the age of 21 and legal to be in bars, I joined a band and traveled the East Coast singing in lounges. I moved to Florida when I turned 26 and got a job at Cypress Recording Studio in Jacksonville Beach. I sang demos and did back-up on other people's records. I had two 45 rpm records pressed to vinyl....did you catch that? I said "vinyl"....not CD. Goes to show you how long ago that was!....I guess when you have it in your blood from childhood, it's there for life. I have also done voiceovers, commercials, jingles and I play guitar and keyboard. I've done weddings, anniversaries, private parties and corporate gigs, but mainly sang in clubs and bars. If you want to hear a little bit of what I've done you can visit me at Barbara on MySpace. These songs were recorded at my shows, so don't expect anything too great. LOL Only one was professionally recorded...it is a duet I sang with John Anthony.

I was with Second City for several years and took all of the classes in Improv, Acting, Improv For Actors and Comedy Writing. Having a sense of humor has gotten me through the tough times in my life and I believe it is important to never lose your sense of humor or you'll become a very bitter person. I have done inspirational speaking to women and girls for 20 years and use music and comedy to break the ice. I'm excited to be associated with all of the great people who are going on this journey next year, as they all have something to say to help people have a more positive attitude towards life. I know that the combined energy of all who are going will make a difference in the lives of people around the world. It's also exciting that we will be the first ones to do something of this magnitue to raise awareness of child abuse, teen dating abuse and domestic violence.......not in a negative way, but to say....YOU ARE NOT STUPID.....YOU ARE NOT WORTHLESS.....YOU WERE MEANT TO BE BORN.....THERE IS A PURPOSE FOR YOU IN THIS LIFE.....YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.....YOU CAN HAVE A LIFE OF LOVE.....YOU ARE WORTHY OF BEING LOVED.....AND - YOU DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH ADVERSITY THROUGH VIOLENCE. I wish everybody could be on this train.