I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed seeing everyone at Hoggfest! I wish I could have stayed longer, but I'm still a little wimpy from surgery. Thank you to everyone who participated. $9,171.00 is one nice chunk of lovin' from the community. I was able to meet Jenni the night before, and she just radiates peace. Oh, and BTW Jenni- I think the short hair suites your personality, very sassy! =) Roch shaved his beard off, so I almost didn't recognize him, but I got a hug in the end. Billy was there as well, and so was Lenslinger with his adorable daughter. It was a lot of fun, and I was glad to see a good turn out. Anyway, I hope all is well out in Greensboro, NC blogland. I'm off to bed. Goodnight Everyone...

~Ann

Post-HoggFest

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed seeing everyone at Hoggfest! I wish I could have stayed longer, but I'm still a little wimpy from surgery. Thank you to everyone who participated. $9,171.00 is one nice chunk of lovin' from the community. I was able to meet Jenni the night before, and she just radiates peace. Oh, and BTW Jenni- I think the short hair suites your personality, very sassy! =) Roch shaved his beard off, so I almost didn't recognize him, but I got a hug in the end. Billy was there as well, and so was Lenslinger with his adorable daughter. It was a lot of fun, and I was glad to see a good turn out. Anyway, I hope all is well out in Greensboro, NC blogland. I'm off to bed. Goodnight Everyone...

~Ann

Hoggity Hogg HoggFest

Operation pork/brownie drop off went as planned, and the Hoggards have my donation. I did forget the ice chest, but I think I'll just bring that tomorrow. I need to find a chair to sit in, because I'm going to be doing a whole lot of it because of my back. I do feel better, but I get really tired really fast. I need to try to do a little more each day so that I'm not so shaky on my left side. I'm actually really excited to get outside a little because I've been in all week, and I want to see everyone there too. BEN, YOU BETTER BE THERE!!! Anyways, I got to meet Jenni, and she is so cool. Oh, and btw, they have the most awesome house. Its as inviting as they are themselves. Anyways, see you guys tomorrow at HOGGFEST!! BE THERE OR BE SQUARE.

babies

I keep asking myself what might be the worst thing that could happen in my situation, and I guess the truth is that there are dozens of "worst" ways this could turn out for me. They all depend on how good, or bad, of an impression I had on The Battens. Up until this point I feel like I haven't been able to give nearly enough information for them to make a decision about my fitness as a parent. That is probably an understatement too. I'm not even sure if my lawyer even exists at this point, but I do know that my retainer fee does not. I used to communicate so well with people, but I find myself at a loss right now. I don't know what I would do without my children. They are the blood in my veins. I've only seen them for about an hour and a half each night this week, and I just ache with complete emptiness at night for them. I want to smell their soft hair, and kiss each tiny finger on their fat little hands. Yes, I did make some beautiful babies...

Thank you Ben

Thanks Ben for helping me fix my wireless issues. My laptop can now boil an egg, butter AND jelly my toast, give me a foot massage, all while buzzing a great rendition of "Come As You Are" by Nirvana. Whataguy, eh?

Cookies Ben, lots and lots of cookies. =P

Stupid Stuff

Adios, you mental midgets. Hogg, your bleak circumstances notwithstanding, go f**k yourself.
Fecund Stench • 5/19/05; 10:57:21 PM

I do not understand this, and I am saddened and embarrassed for us. We as a COMMUNITY should NOT LET PETTY issues, and they are ALL PETTY ISSUES, come between us in times like these. We should be supporting eachother, and absolutely find ways to communicate in ways which shine true to our community. Lets not tear down eachother, especially when one family is already nursing one of their own.

It just makes me ill.

4,3,2,1....?

So, I got the wireless router and hooked that bad boy up perfectly. I know I did! Didn't I? At least I'm 99.9% sure I did. I have my little wireless card in my notebook, and nothing is happening. I don't know how to configure my laptop. Actually, I really don't know what I'm doing at all. Ben, where are you when I need you? =)

I'm really aggrivated right now. I have called at least 5 times to talk to the kids today, and left 2 messages for C.D to call me back. He never did, and I'm am just TIRED of this. He always has some lame excuse of why he doesn't answer my calls at night, or during his time with the kids. If he has such a hard time keeping up with a cell phone, then he needs to invest in a land line telephone. That way we won't have such "complicating" issues.

Come to me, wireless router, you will.

MYLO

Great music: check out MYLO...

Back to the Bed

Ok, I'm only here for a sec, but then back onto my bed. Just an update with what's going on. Apparently Dan/his parents are having some kind of wacko email war with mine. I'm just staying out of it, lol. Dan threatened to call the police on me the day of my surgery if I didn't have someone here in the morning to take care of the kids while I was in the hospital. (As opposed to him taking off work to care for them.) This whole thing is crazy. All of this kind of puts a hitch in my plans to get a place for the kids and I, since everything has made absolutely no progress in my favor. I had my home visit the day before my surgery, and couldn't do much but lay there on the couch. I don't know how that might have affected things with Mrs. Batten, the evaluator. Ok, back to bed. The Mack-truck feeling is returning. Ciao people,

Ann

Surgery it shall be...

I'm having a little bit of a surprise back surgery on Thursday afternoon. My family doc sent me straight over to this neurosurgeon this morning, which was kind of nice because I don't think I could have lasted until June. Then the nuerosurgeon said we needed to get it done soon, and made the appointment for Thursday. The good news is that I should wake up without the pain in my back and leg, and I will be able to move my foot better. I only have be off my feet for about 2 weeks or so, and then rehab for a month. I'm just going to have to figure out what to do with the kids if C.D decides not to help me out. My mom is going to start to be out of town a lot again for my grandfather, and the 700 dollars a month won't really help me with paying someone to help me out during that time. I was really planning on moving too, but to me this is His was of saying it isn't the right time. (As much as I want us to have a place of my own, and get on with our lives already.) My home visit is tomorrow, and I'm hoping its not such a big deal as I have read it to be. I know I sound like a broken record, but you just don't know how much I can't wait for this to be over with.

Music Midtown 2005 in the ATL

I seriously doubt I will be able to attend because of this whole back thing that is going on, I another one of my friends has tickets for this: Music Midtown, Atlanta.

This is the three bedroom house I am seriously thinking about getting in WS. The backyard is perfect to become kiddieland. Its really cool.
pics by Ann

I absolutely hated getting my picture taken when I was a kid. I hated those dresses even more I think. =) 

I was feeling a cute little yellow bow and all. I loved school as a kid. I was so ready to go that morning. My brother? Not so much so. It was my first day of kindergarden, and I was ready to rumble. Even then. Ha. 

The things we have come to fear the most.

I can take pain. There has been points in my life where people have asked me to rate whatever pain I was feeling, or tell me about the pain I was experiencing about a certain injury, ect. I have never known how to answer those type of questions honestly. None of this makes sense, I know. Well, it doesn't make sense because I'm not really talking about physical pain exclusively. Just pain in general. Its so far beyond pain, that I don't think there is a word for it. When people turn their backs on you, and you never feel like anything more than some kind of indigenous slave to the rest. This post isn't supposed to make sense to any of "you". Not that its helping a whole hell of a lot for me. My writing is nothing but burnt up paper. Everyone is right. He is going to get my babies. I will be left with nothing. And my heart will burn up inside me. If he takes them away. I have nothing. That is what he wants. He wants to bury me under the rocks, and have the ocean of time erode my color away. control is everything to him. I feel so sorry for that kind of existence. I want him to shine as a father. That in turn will make them shine too. Today was not a good day. C'est la vie. N'est pas?

Shop till ya drop?

Yea, its a girl thing, or a cool guy thing. I love this site.

AOL blog

Here is my new, short, baby blog on AOL.

This is my pops...

D'Lites of America, more of the same, and more of the same...

My third Mothers Day

I thought this was interesting: A Stay-at-Home Mother's True Worth: According to Salary.com, parents who stay home to care for their children could command a salary as high as $131,171 per year if you combined all their day-to-day roles. Considering they rarely have any time off and are on-call more or less 24-hours-a-day, that pay scale doesn't sound that unreasonable, but hopefully they get good benefits, at least on Mother's Day. Happy Mothers Day to my mom, and all of you mothers out there!

Help me

I've fallen into this

bubbling sea of

human-

ity

and all you fishies

are trying

to

eat

me.

THE BIG LINK

This week's edition of THE BIG LINK...

A little Buddhism for today...

‘He insulted me, he hurt me, he defeated me, he robbed me.’ Those who think such things will not be free from hate.

-Buddha

I got engaged to C.D on Cinco de Mayo. Sometimes I wish all this could just be ok.  

Support the Hoggards

**The Jinni Hoggard Fundraiser**

If you ever have a chance to take your kids to the Childrens Museum in downtown, DO! Barrett loves to pretend to "shop", as see here. Caleb loves the bubbles and firetruck in the back, and Rosie loves the ride-on's they have in the front. Its a great place, check it out!

My little chunky-monkey again...

Great Post

I thought this post was so cool. Check it out, its by our friendly neighborhood weatherman Eric Chilton.

I SEE LITTLE PEOPLE. (In a hushed "Sixth Sense" kind of voice)

Ann=Dork

I just wanted to say sorry to anyone that I might have missed at Fishers tonight. I officially have a slipped disk in my back, and all these pain pills had knocked me out cold. I also am having an allergic reaction to one of the prescriptions that I they gave me, and I look like a puffy troll. Well, more than usual anyways. See, I told you I was getting old. Stuff starts to fall apart in a hurry. Again, I apologize.

FREE skin cancer screening on 5/7

Moses Cone is doing a FREE skin cancer screening on Saturday, May 7th from 9am-Noon! Bring the whole family, because its open to everyone. If you can, please register by calling 832-8000, mmmmmkay?

Skin cancer=bad; family activites that involve taking care of your body=good. :-)

Get a map to it: HERE

A hot steaming cup of SIN.....hehe. 

Cool Picture in downtown Winston...I'm in the middle 

FISHERS 5/3 at 7:30pm

WING-O-RAMA AT FISHERS!

See my previous post for the hows and why's please. Meet me, us, whoever will show up to chow down on some killer wings and cold brew-haha at 7:30pm today! COME ONE PEOPLE! 10% of the total sales goes to Greensboro Urban Ministry. Lets ROLL on this one. Email me if ya are gonna make it, ok? =)

Ann