Archive for giveaway
I remember the day like it was yesterday. 5 years ago….
I was watching TV on the couch at my mom’s house. The local news broke in with Breaking News. A woman and her children were gunned down in a quiet local neighborhood in broad daylight. The man who killed them was still at large but they knew who he was, James Magee. My jaw dropped. Adrienne. Just then the phone rang and my fears were confirmed. Adrienne Magee and her son, Zach were killed by her husband, his father. Their two other daughters were also shot at, only one receiving minor injuries. James shot Adrienne point blank in her left temple with a shot gun. He shot his son in the back as he was running away and then walked up and shot him in the back of the head. Then he unloaded his gun into the car, where his daughter’s were.
At the time I was a single mom. Katrina had since passed and life was different. I had been looking for work and had finally landed a great job and also a great day care for my daughter to go to. Adrienne was the woman that I trusted to care for my daughter. The only woman who was not family that ever took care of my daughter. She was warm, compassionate and kind. She loved my daughter and all of the kids she cared for and I loved her for it. She was a fantastic mom and took such great care of her 3 children. She had been separated from her husband. She had informed the police of the abuse, gotten out, gotten a restraining order, did EVERYTHING she could to protect herself and her children yet she still died at the hands of the man she once loved and was trying so desperately to get away from.
Why am I writing this? Just this past week, 2 women from my town were murdered by the men in their lives. Both of them were 31 years old. Both of them were single mothers. Both of them were doing what they could to get away but did not get away in enough time. One of the couples, Bridgette and Benson, my husband and I knew.
There are so many things that you can do to escape a violent relationship but what scares me is that these women did what they could and still died at the hands of the man they once loved. After Bridgette was murdered many came forward with emails and text messages from Bridgette stating the abuse she was receiving in the relationship. Why only now are people coming forward? I know plenty of people begged her to leave him and her mother even purchased her a house to live in so that she would have a permanent place to go to raise her 3 children but why didn’t someone go to the police or even to her parents and say “This is going on, we need to get her out”. Would that have even helped?
Are women who choose the wrong man destine to die at the hands of Domestic Violence?
I’m so confused and I have so many unanswered questions.
Let’s go back to Adrienne for a moment. She had contacted the police and told her loved ones. She had removed herself and her children from the violent home. She had filed police reports, restraining order, saved all voice mail messages from her husband and never spoke to him on the phone with out police present listening in. A warrant was even issued for his arrest due to the Domestic Violence but she died anyway and so did her son. She did everything she could do to protect herself and her children but it wasn’t enough.
When will it be enough?
Too many women (and men) are fighting for their right to live a violent free life yet never make it out alive.
Bridgette had decided to leave Benson. She had a place to go, a plan, family and friends supporting her. She went and had coffee with her mother that morning then headed over to the home she once shared with Benson to finish retrieving her stuff. Her almost 2 month old son was with her, her 2 older sons were at elementary school. Her SUV was fully loaded and their infant son sat safely in his car seat in her SUV while inside the home she was beaten to death then strangled then drug outside by her hair to the barn behind the house. By the time the police got there she barely had a pulse and passed away on the way to the hospital. Benson took the baby from her car and took off with him going straight to his lawyers office to turn himself in. He already knew she was dead and honestly didn’t care. When he was charged and his bond was set, he told the Judge to “Have a nice day“. What kind of man does this to a woman, the mother of his child, and then acts like it was no big deal?
It makes me want to never let my daughters or my nephews date.
What can we do to help those, who are still in this horrible situation and are scared, to get out? We can be there for them, we can go to the police, we can offer them a safe place to stay but as you can plainly see, this is just not enough to save them.
I am not going to condemn these women because the men they loved happened to be murderers. You really can’t help who you fall in love with. You can’t. You can avoid certain types of people but do any of us really know what anyone is capable of? You could date the nice sweet boy next door but he could have those violent tendencies inside of him and not show it until it is too late.
So what can we do? What can we do to save them from dying senseless deaths? What can we do to help them save themselves and their children?
This question goes over and over in my head… what can we do?
I LOVE Tupperware! There are so many amazing products and I thought it would be fun to share with y’all some of my favorites that just so happen to be on sale today!!!
Tupperware Season Serve
The Tupperware Season Serve has to be my all time favorite product. Yes, it is made to marinate meat in. It is air and water tight which makes it great for storing just about anything! Everyone in my family has at least 2 of them, one for the man and one for the woman. Take my sister and brother-in-law for instance. Her husband loves to BBQ and he uses his to marinate meat for the grill. You put your meat in the Season Serve, pour the marinade in and flip the container over ever now and then to evenly marinate your meat. My sister uses it to store baked goods. She is a huge baker! The Season Serve is perfect for cookies, cupcakes, muffins, bread… seriously the uses for this product are endless. I LOVE IT! It is only sale today for only $14 (normally $28). I stocked up and bought 3 more! Really, we can never have enough of them in the house!!!
Tupperware Round Cake Taker in PINK!!
This cake taker is awesome (and they even have an accessory package to make it even better, on sale for $29, normally $49!!!). It is perfect for cakes and pies! I have it in red but right now they are offering it in pink as well! Perfect for a mom like me who has 2 girls! It’s a steal right now for only $24 (normally $35)
Tupperware Slimline Pitcher
Everyone likes to save money and this Slimline Pitcher lets me do exactly that. My family loves Orange Juice but some like it with pulp (hubby) and some without (me). This pitcher actually has a strainer in it! Instead of buying 2 cartons of OJ I can buy 1 frozen can of OJ. I put the frozen juice in this pitcher, add water like instructed, close and shake to mix (it is water tight!). Then when I want pulp free juice, I pour myself a cup, when hubby wants juice full of pulp he pulls the easy to remove strainer out for a big glass of juice full of pulp! It is easy to clean and dishwasher safe!!!! Normally $18 is is on sale for $9 (with a $100 purchase!)!!!
Tupperware Snack Cup Set
Right now, the Tupperware Snack Cup set is Buy 1 set Get 1 set FREE!!! That is 8 snack cups for only $14.99 (a $30 value!). These are perfect for diaper bags and purses. They are the perfect snack size and since the lid is liquid and air tight it is PERFECT for just about anything! I have at least 4 of them in my daughter’s diaper bag! One is filled with those little banana puffs that go stale quick (they are still fresh!), one has cookies in it, one has goldfish in it and the other has the ointment for her legs in it! These are a MUST HAVE!!!!
There are so many more products on my must have list but unfortunately they are not on sale at the moment! When they do go on sale I will be sure to let you know!!!
Have a Happy Mother’s Day to all of my Mom readers out there!!!!
-The Mom Claire
Just wanted to update everyone and let you know that we had a miscarriage. I feel so very empty inside. It has been very difficult for us. Please pray for our family.
Thank you
The Mom Claire
So much has happened since I last posted. The Mom Stefanie moved to town and we are living in the same city for only the second time in our lives. It is great having her and her boys so close by. Our children are having a blast together and it makes me so happy to see cousins sharing so much love and laughter together.
Our Family
My mother in law moved in with us and it has been amazing getting to know her better. I am really enjoying having her around and my daughters just adore her.
Madelyn and Grandma
Madelyn turned 1 and has such an explosive personality. She is not walking yet but will be soon. She loves to sequel with excitement and loves to laugh. She keeps me busy but I don’t mind.
Madelyn
My oldest, Mia, will be 7 next month. She is growing way too fast! She’s doing great in school and is in love with her little sister!
Mia
The biggest news I have to share is that I am pregnant again. Our baby is due 12/12/12 and I don’t think I have ever wanted to deliver on my due date so badly before! I’m still early in the pregnancy but my jeans are already getting a little tight and morning sickness has hit me hard, especially in the late afternoon. It will all be worth it in the end!
Claire and Mathew
My health has improved. The heart medication is working great and I still have some pains in my hands and feet from my neck but no where near as severe as before. The Doctor did say that my neck could heal itself and I may not need to have surgery. That is what I have been praying for, for my body to heal itself.
So all in all it has been quite a busy few months. Sorry for neglecting this blog. Sometimes you have to stop and live your life and that is what I have had to do.
Mia and Madelyn
Hope you all are well and I hope to be blogging much much more soon!!!!
-The Mom Claire
I had the heart procedure last Monday. When I woke up, I could not move my neck. The doctor had told us that he was only going to make one incision but ended up making three and one of them was on my neck. I am waiting on a an MRI right now to see just how much damage the Doctor did on my neck. This whole thing has been a disaster. On Friday I started feeling some horrible pains at one of the incision sites, my leg was bruising, it was weird. The pain got so bad I ended up in the ER and then was admitted to the hospital with internal bleeding from one of the incision sites. In all of this the Doctor was no where to be found. We called his office over and over again for an entire week and only got one call back from him and all that came out of his mouth was a bunch of lies to cover up his mistakes. When I was in the hospital with internal bleeding, he refused to even come down (his office was one floor up from where I was) to check on me or even discharge me. THANK GOD for my regular cardiologist. When we called her and told her what was going on, she was there within the hour and took care of everything. She was floored at what that Doctor had done to me.
I am on a heart monitor now, probably for the rest of the year. I am starting a new heart medication because when that messed up Doctor went in to fix the problem, he actually never fixed the problem. He cut me up, made a mess of my body and never fixed the issue that he was suppose to go in and fix. And I am going back to the Neurosurgeon. I may end up having that neck surgery after all.
On top of all of this, the hospital that I was in violated my HIPA rights not once, not twice but four times. I signed the confidentiality agreement to remain anonymous in the hospital and they still gave my medical information and such to any random person that asked. The hospital could care less. For almost a week after my surgery, we had no clue what was done and why they cut me up so much because after my surgery, instead of calling my husband like instructed to do, they went out into the waiting room, called my name and whomever answered the nurse gave them all of the information on my procedure including after care instructions. When ever we asked (we = me the patient and my husband) for after care instructions or why I was cut so much or even what was done we were given one of two answers, “I don’t know” or “I can’t give you that information”.
I feel so empty and helpless right now.
Posted on November 22nd, 2011 in giveaway
