Taken from Polar B's Inner Sanctum-- Here's my answers:

5 movies you Loved:

The Princess Bride
Phantom of the Opera
It's a Wonderful Life
Beauty and the Beast
Pay It Forward, Sixth Sense, Young Frankenstein
(sorry, but I couldn't leave these last three out )

5 Websites you visit Frequently:

Blogstream
Ebay
Booksfree.com
Netflix
The Regency Plume

5 Places you have Vacationed:

Washington D.C.
Bermuda
London, England
Disney World
White Head Island, Canada

5 Jobs you have held:

Tour guide in a historical home
Blueberry factory worker
Tea room waitress
Quality Assurance Director
Person Centered Planning Coordinator (current position)

5 places you would love to visit:

London (have to go back to finsh seeing everything)
Scotland
Alaska
Any roller coaster park
Ireland

5 Favorite CD's at the moment:

Great Ladies Sing the Blues- various artists
Self titled CD by Seven Nations
Tree by Gaelic Storm
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me- The Cure
Let Love In- Goo Goo Dolls

5 foods you Love:

Stuffed Pumpkin with mashed potatoes and gravy
Anything Chocolate
Broiled Scallops
Chef salad or cobb salad (as long as I don't have to make it)
French onion soup

5 things to take if stranded on a deserted island for a long time:

Tent
Unlimited candles and matches
Unlimited blank notebooks and pens
Favorite blanket
Survival Techniques for Dummies book

5 Favorite books:

The Mists of Avalon- Marion Zimmer Bradley
A Rose in Winter- Kathleen Woodwiss
Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
The Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings series- J.R.R. Tolkien
Encyclopedia of Country Living- Carla Emery

5 Favorite Articles of clothing:

Silk bathrobe
Burgendy velvet dress
Blue plaid flannel pj bottoms
Black peasant skirt
Favorite black v-neck tee

5 Favorite material Possessions:

Copper calla lily Honey made for me
My Dad's study Bible (I can see his writing and still hear his voice)
Zachary's memory box
All Photo albums
Angel collection

Cheers everyone! Will try to catch up with you all real soon! ~MacKenzie

I have help today. Jess is here and now I can plan to get a few of those "things/objectives/stuff" done that I mentioned yesterday. Today the fog is so thick we can barely see across the road to the trees beyond the field. I feel like we are living in our own little "Avalon" and we are invisible to the rest of the world. Or maybe we're floating on a cloud some where. Or an island..... Okay, you got me. My humor is slowly returning and I'm feeling a bit more my creative/imaginative self. I guess I can't really get anything done while sitting here, though.... rats...... See, now I'd like to procrastinate and sit here and blog as I have no distractions. Hopefully, I can come back later!!!!
Cheers Everyone!! ~MacKenzie

Oh my goodness....today, if my kids ask for one more thing, fight one more time, spill one more thing, leave the refrigerator or freezer door open one more time, pee on the floor one more time, spill powder all over my bed one more time, interrupt me one more time, I swear....I just want to throw them out the door and lock it behind them. Oh, but I am trying to find even tolerance with them at this point today. And of course, it really has nothing to do with them. It's everything to do with me. I had certain objectives/goal/things/"stuff" I really wanted to accomplish today and the second I set out to do one of them WHAM!!!!! That's when they start to beat each other up or start in again on any of the above scenarioes. Today, I just want to do what I need to, zip/zap beginning, middle and end complete and no having to stop a zillion times, in order to get things done. No interruptions, no chasing after the kids, no having to stop constantly what I am doing to pay attention to them. I have my teeth clenched to try and not yell at them for, well....just being kids . I'm trying, everyone...I'm really trying to keep it together just one more hour and a half before Honey comes home. Unfortunately I have already heard from him today and he, too his having a rotten day. Blame it on Monday blues??? I don't know. Today I just wish I could have some space. Saying Mommy needs some alone time is not working today. Trying to hide out in the bathroom is not working today. Going to a spot where they are not is not working today because they keep coming in search of me. Trying to sit and deal with playing with them to give them the attention they want and then going off on my own is not working today because they just want more and more. Finding an activity for them to do today is not working. Now, if I let them dump baby powder all the house, play in the dirty dish water, color all over the house, fight and scream at each other (I let it go so far before intervening in hope they can resolve it on their own) and throw toys everywhere without consequences, well, most all would be well, I'm sure. Pumpkin in particular, is not stop talking!!!! She just won't shut up today. What's this? Do you like this? See how I'm coloring in the lines? Will Daddy like this? What are you doing? Why are you doing that? Can I have a drink? Milk? yes??? Oh, but wait, I wanted chocolate milk...no strawberry...never mind.... wait..I want chocolate again. Monkey wants milk too. But Parrot wants juice, no kool-aid...we only have orange? She wants cherry.... (sigh) juice is fine.... GIRLS!!!!! (I want to scream at the top of my lungs and send them to their rooms and lock them in there for the rest of the day.) But I won't. I'll continue to clench my teeth and click my jaw and try ever so hard to keep myself under control. Why today? Why am I like dynamite waiting for that little spark? I have no idea. Weather? Maybe...it's been foggy and raw the past two days and well, just not fun going out to play weather. Moon phase? Nope...I can't imagine that being the cause. Certain period of the month? Well, perhaps . That's the best explanation I can think of so far. My, oh my. Whatever it is, I have got to hold it all together. I've given up on most of my goals today. I just hope I can keep the one to make it to bed all in one piece tonight. Thanks for listening to the rant. Do hope you don't mind, but I think I'd rather answer comments from yesterday a little later when I'm more... calm? more balanced? less irritated? feeling a little more gentle with the world?!? well, you get the idea!
Cheers! ~MacKenzie

Well, the title of this post says it all. It HAS been a quiet weekend. My family has been taking a break from everything and is just relaxing. We've gone outside to play, we've played board games, we've just been gathering our energy for the coming week. It's been nice.

This week we have celebrated both mine and Honey's mother's birthdays. For Mom C's b-day, Papa surprised her with a cottage rental for one week in August on a Rhode Island beach. They have been talking about it for awhile. And, they want us all down. Honey was able to take a few days off from work so I guess we'll be in Rhode Island for a few days in August. I'm not sure how I feel about it. In some ways, I look forward to being near the ocean, going swimming and relaxing. In other ways, I understand that the beaches will be so crowded that it may be hard to relax while keeping track of the girls and everything else. Did I ever mention that when we (Honey, me, Mom C and Papa) took just Pumpkin to Disney World how a nervous wreck I was that something would happen to her? Or we'd loose her? Or something.... I can't imagine trying to keep track of three. But, I guess that's what we're going to do. Already Mom C has invited us to stay down there the whole time and ride back with them when Honey has to return to work. I got off the phone with her and had to chuckle. If I have such a hard time trying to deal with her over Sunday dinner, what on earth would I do alone in Rhode Island with them??? Then she mentioned that even though Honey couldn't go up with them in two weeks to the cottage in Canada, she wanted us to go. Then she told Pumpkin, like it was a definite thing. Then Pumpkin got ALL excited, and talked about it in front of Monkey and Parrot. Then I got angry and depressed all at the same time because she ASSUMED I would go. What was that, Sherry.....do I hear your voice in the distance? Lay back and enjoy it??? yeah...I know, I know.... Actually, I will have to think of it as a learning experience and think how I can use my observations towards my writing. That will give me something to do and look forward to.

By the way...to those of you who have read my blog for awhile.... Remember how I mentioned that my dryer was acting horribly??? This past week after drying a load of towels, I found a big long screw in the dryer. The squealing and piercing howl that arose from the dryer when turned on has stopped and my clothes still dry. Hummm.... go figure... I guess that one little screw isn't needed after all???

Well, as I said...not much going on in my neck of the woods.....
Cheers! ~MacKenzie

Okay, this past week I have noticed that I have let Friday Fact material leak out all over the place, comments on other's blogs, side notes on this one...so, I'm going to gather them all up and post them here.... if you've heard them already, just move on to the next one....

1) I love butterflies! They are so beautiful and they remind me of life's dance in this world.

2) I'm a collector of knowledge. I love finding out about a suject that interests me. I have articles that I have printed out dating from 1999 that I just don't want to let go of because it's of interest to me.

3) As many of you know, I love reading books. I love disappearing to other places in my mind. Fantasy, historical romance (yes, go ahead and roll your eyes...but no, I DO NOT read them only for the sex scenes....truly...honestly...positively... tee hee...), and mysteries set in the 1700's-early 1900's are my favorite reads. I love seeing the protocol that people back then felt they needed to follow and how different things have changed.

4) Throughout my teens and early 20's, I had the thought that I was not going to have children. I just didn't see myself with them. I was not experienced with children and thought I would make a horrible mother. At age 24, Honey and I decided that maybe one would be okay. So, we made an agreement. I would be willing to have children up to the age of 30, but that was the cut off date. No more after that! After 30 (we're the same age), he had to have a vasectomy...which of course a few months ago he finally got up the courage to do. Yeah!!!!! We both stuck to the agreement.

5) Here's one you don't know..... my real Scottish clan's name is McFarland/MacFarlane. (there's a few ways to spell it) My dad's mom was a McFarland before she married. So, I took the Mc/Mac from there. My children's first initials are KENZ and my Honey often puts an IE on the end of my name. MacKenzie. There I am....

And there ya go....!!! 5 facts about me!!!
Cheers! MacKenzie