Are you my mother?

Published August 27, 2008 by jcarvin77

So, it’s now 12:30 AM and I’m exhausted, but I can’t sleep and I have a raging headache.

I want to preface this entire thing with the fact that I would not change one single thing about my life growing up. My mom (really my grandmother) is one of the best things that ever happened to me and I wouldn’t change being raised by her for anything in the world.

For those who really know me, the short story is, I found my mother on Facebook. Yes, my real mother.

For those who don’t know me (or don’t know the whole thing), here’s the story: I think I was about 5 years old and my mother and I were living with my grandmother (parents were divorced). One day, I was up in my mother’s room, looking out the window. I remember seeing her (my mother) walking out across the lawn and I believe she was on her way to work. Little did I know that would be the last time I saw her.

Fast forward a few years…I’m still living with my grandmother (who I started calling ‘mom’). I was getting ready to leave for dance class and the phone rings. I answer it and it turns out to be an administrator from some hospital (I don’t remember which one). This was the day I found out I had two half-brothers. The call was because there were some hospital bills that weren’t paid for and that was the contact number she gave. I remember hanging up the phone and just crying. I didn’t know why at the time. I think it may have been overwhelming at that age to find out that I had two half-brothers that I didn’t even know about.

Now, fast forward many years (to about two years ago). I was looking through pictures at my mom’s house and she says something like “Hold on a second. I guess I should give you these.”. It was pictures of one of my half brothers and another picture with him, their dog and my mother’s husband. I sat and cried. I was sad, hurt and jealous.

It’s funny. Even when you know you didn’t do anything wrong, you still wonder. Why did she leave me? Why did they get to be a family? Did the boys and her husband even know about me? (don’t laugh…my father’s 2 best friends didn’t know he had a daughter…I was about 17 at the time. Not exactly new to the world.) Man…no wonder I have abandonment issues. Two parents that left and wanted nothing to do with me.

So, tonight I was just messing around on Facebook. Looking up old friends, co-workers and family. I decided “What the hell. I’ll look her up.”. Very. First. Entry. Now, I don’t know what to do. Should I contact her? Should I just leave it alone?

I want to know why. And, honestly, I feel like I deserve an answer. I want to know my two half-brothers. Growing up, I wanted nothing more than a sibling and now here are two that I may never know. I’m afraid that if I contact her, she’ll want to be a part of my life now. I don’t know that I want that. I don’t know that I don’t want it. I’m afraid that she’ll want something. From what I’ve heard, she’s a taker, not a giver. And I have heard or seen nothing to contradict that. Basically, she’s a complete stranger to me.

So, that’s where I’m at. Tired, torn and a bad headache. This sucks.

I met someone (somewhat) famous before they were (somewhat) famous!

Published August 22, 2008 by jcarvin77

So, apparently, I have some “very rare” pictures of a now somewhat famous wrestler. I put “very rare” in quotes because every site that I saw that had this guy dressed up as previous characters were marked as rare or very rare. So, why can’t I put it?

If you’ve ever watched the ECW, you may have seen Jonathan Rechner — better known as Balls Mahoney. I’ve seen this guy wrestle many, many times, but under a different name.

Way back when I was 18, my ex and I used to go to wrestling matches in an almost deserted strip mall in Berlin, NJ. (I knew about the place from an ex before that – we used to go and help set up the chairs before the matches and then take them down afterwards) The matches were fought by students of the Monster Factory Wrestling School, owned by Larry Sharpe (yes, “Pretty Boy” Larry Sharpe). I LOVED going to these things! It was like old time wrestling — not the “soap operas for men” we have today. There were always big name wrestlers coming through, too! I remember seeing The Bushwackers and King Kong Bundy. He is one big man. I went up to him to say hi and ended up holding his cup of water for him while he signed autographs. Wasn’t smart enough to get one myself (an autograph that is) though.

Anyway, when he started out, Jonathan Rechner wrestled as Abbudah Singh. He was my all time favorite out of all the guys there at the time. Here are some pics I took:

There was another time he showed up at the matches, but this time he was Xanta Klaus. We knew it was him, but he wouldn’t admit it. I believe that was his first character for the WWF. We did get our picture taken with him:

So, aside from meeting Bobby Darren when I was a little kid, this has been my only other brush with the famous. I’ll take whatever I can get.

By the way…if you’re interested, Monster Factory is still operating and has moved to Bellmawr, NJ. I think they have matches every Saturday at 2:00…check their website for actual info: http://www.monsterfactory.com. I’m thinking of checking it out one of these days.

Is there crack in fruit?

Published June 16, 2008 by jcarvin77

I’ve been discovering a lot of new stuff lately. Partly because of trying to be greener and partly because of becoming vegetarian. Two of my new faves are fruits. I’m almost convinced that they transport crack or something with them because I can’t get enough!

  • 1) Mangoes – If you told me a few months ago that I’d actually be craving mangoes, I’d have told you that you were crazy! I’d had mango flavored stuff before and never liked the taste at all. A few weeks ago, our grocery store had pre-cut mango on sale. So, I figured I’d try it, seeing that I had never had the actual fruit before and, if I didn’t like it, Michael does. I was on the fence, but ate the whole thing (it was a snack size container) to give it a fair chance. Last week at the store, I saw a giant organic mango and decided it give it another try since I still wasn’t sure. After dinner one night, I peeled it, cut it up and proceeded to eat the whole thing. I couldn’t help myself! It was the most fantastic thing I had ever tasted! So, this past week, I bought two smaller mangoes. I just had one with lunch and it’s all I can do to not eat the other one! I think I need to buy more the next time I go to the store!
  • 2) Avocado – Again, if you told me a few months ago that I’d actually be craving avocado, I’d have said you were off your rocker! I can’t even remember how it came to be that I tried avocado. I know it was in a salad I got at Don Pablo’s but I’m not sure if it was listed on the menu and I decided to give it a try or if they didn’t list it and it was a surprise that it was on there. In any event, it was on the salad, I tried it, I loved it. Last week, I knew I was making tacos for dinner one night so I decided to buy an avocado to have on taco night (incidentally, same night as “inhaling giant mango” night). I ended up putting the avocado right on my tacos and, oh my god….BEST tacos I ever made. If anyone’s interested, here’s what I used that night and what I’ll use in the future:
    • Ortega Hardshell Taco Dinner Kit (no palm oil in this one! I don’t remember seeing high fructose corn syrup either.)
    • LightLife Smart Ground (original — it’s also vegan)
    • organic canned black beans
    • sharp cheddar cheese
    • sour cream (low/no-fat has palmitate in it — a.k.a. palm oil! use less of the regular instead!)
    • avocado (grow a houseplant with the seed! mine’s sitting in water right now — keep your fingers crossed that I did it right!)
    • homemade salsa (homemade by a local farm – not me)
    • shredded romaine lettuce
    • taco sauce (from taco dinner kit)

So, now I can’t get enough mango or avocado. If you have any other ideas of what to cook with mangoes or avocados I’d love to hear them! Don’t worry if it’s not vegetarian — I can always adapt it!

The fabric of our lives…

Published June 16, 2008 by jcarvin77

…has gotten soooo much better!!!

So, many of you may know that we (hubby and I) love everything that’s comfortable. Soft, squishy pillows, fluffy blankets, soft socks…you name it and we probably love it. For the most part, I LIVE in cotton clothing. As part of my new “greening” process, I’m even more conscious about what I buy. Now, I’ve discovered something new (to me anyway)…100% organic cotton. Why didn’t anyone tell me about this stuff sooner?!?!? I recently purchased 3 t-shirts at Target and I’m in love. I don’t know if they have a high thread count or what but they’re super soft, extra comfy and as light as can be. I need to find more of this wonderful fabric STAT.

Sponsors needed!

Published May 27, 2008 by jcarvin77

One of my favorite charities is looking for sponsors for their t-shirts. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Here’s the info from their most recent newsletter:

Fundraising update:

T-shirt sponsors still needed!

For a $50-$150 pledge, you can get your name or business logo and website on the back of our organic cotton brown t-shirts. In exchange for your donation, you will receive four t-shirts of your size preference. We will be selling the t-shirts for $20 each at our merchandise table during our benefits and through our website. I would like to get 200-400 made, but they cost ~$8 each (since we are trying to be eco-friendly), so the more pledges we get the more we can purchaseJ Here are the fabulous t-shirts! Thanks to Michael Kerwin at Nuclearview Design Studio (www.nuclearview.com) for the t-shirt design!

Front Back

Please email me at amy@primatesinc.com if you would like to be a sponsor. Thanks for your support!

They also have an online auction coming up in September:

September 1st-September 30th – mark your calendar!

Online Auction – Visit www.primatesincauction.com during the month of September and bid on unique items donated from businesses and Primates Incorporated Volunteers. Donations are still needed! If you are artistic or see something while you are out shopping, please consider donating an item to our online auction – it is for a great cause and will be tax-deductible! Contact amy@primatesinc.comfor further details.

Any help you can give to Amy and the folks at Primates Inc. would be awesome!

It’s been a month already?!?!

Published May 19, 2008 by jcarvin77

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I’ve posted anything! I was hoping that my mind would churn out posts once or twice a day! Oh well…maybe I’m still getting used to this and need to just type.

I’ll have more pictures to post later this week. I’ll be going to the zoo again – this time with my best friend and her niece. I can’t wait! I’m taking the good camera. It may not hold as many pictures but at least they won’t be all shaky and blurry! :) And maybe Sugi and Tua will both be outside this time and maybe Sugi will show off his beautiful cheek pads instead of hiding!

Hopefully I’ll think of something else to write about soon!

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Published April 19, 2008 by jcarvin77

What’s happening to some of the big charity organizations? A lot have a “minimum donation or nothing” thing going on nowadays!

I just got back from a local Earth Day celebration and was looking at some of the pamphlets that I picked up. One was for a pretty large organization. I went to their website, thinking about joining our local chapter. The meetings, etc. are free but I’d want to contribute to their cause. In looking at the form, they have different membership categories. The “Limited Income” category for an individual membership is $24! There’s no option to write in a donation.

Last week, my mom was telling me that she got a call from another charity looking for donations. When she said that she couldn’t give their requested minimum the woman said to her “Well, how about $15.00?”. My mom told her that was too much and she could give $10.00. The woman told her they couldn’t take donations less than $15!

Am I the only one that thinks that some charities are getting too greedy? I understand that research, employees, pamphlets, etc. cost money but an “all or nothing” attitude may be losing them money. My mom would have gladly given a smaller amount to the organization that called but they didn’t want it! That seems outrageous to me! If I were an organization and someone could only give $5 or $10 I’d be grateful!

Additional Blogger Page

Published April 11, 2008 by jcarvin77

As many of you may know, I’ve been very involved lately with an orangutan conservation organization. One of the largest threats to the orangutan is the palm oil industry.

I started looking for websites that would help with figuring out what doesn’t have palm oil. Most sites I found either told you what HAD palm oil in it, or were for products/stores in the U.K.

So, I decided to start a new Blogger page to list items that I’ve found that do not have palm oil. I figured that if I was looking for something like this, someone else may be looking for it as well.

Hope you enjoy and find it useful! Feel free to let me know anything that you find and I’ll add it to the list. I’ll only do reviews of items I actually use.

http://palmoilfree.blogspot.com/

A picture’s worth…

Published April 1, 2008 by jcarvin77

I decided to change my profile picture. I thought the old one was a really good picture of me, until someone told me it wasn’t. I was bummed all morning and then got upset and decided to keep the old one. Then I got over myself and looked at it again. Ugh…she was right…

I ended up doing a photo shoot…of myself…by myself. I don’t normally do crap like that because I’m not very photogenic. Now I have…no lie…47 pictures of myself looking like every other picture “the kids today” take for their MySpace profile. Ah well, at least I got one that I was very pleased with. I deleted my MySpace profile but I’ll use it for Facebook. I get one decent picture and I use it for EVERYTHING! :)

To the person who had the honesty to tell me about it, THANK-YOU!

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