Crying Tears of Joy

I HAVE to share these. I've received several letters like these, but these were the only two I could find without spending a month going through my saved mail. I cried when I read them. I bawled! I really don't want to sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but I am so happy that I've been able to do this. To brighten someone's day like this.


Dawn, I'll keep this short as I know you are busy.

Not only do I want to say "Thanks" for making ME laugh - but more importantly - THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY SISTER LAUGH !!!

She has been going through one of those marriage ending episodes (don't worry, I'll spare you the details) but for the last month - everytime I talk to her she has been crying. UNTIL TODAY - someone forwarded a copy of your auction and blog today and she forwarded it to me. Before she did, she called me LAUGHING and said I had to read this.

I can't thank you enough for bringing a little laughter into my sister's life today.

Very grateful,
XXXXX

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normally, i'd never email but tonight it's a must. i feel compelled to share with you. i have 5 kids 12, 10, 8, 6, 4....breastfeeding seemed to have spaced them that way......ha.....that and my hubby's deployments.....he's a Marine and in iraq since jan. so, tonight i was absolutely ready to LOSE it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was in tears after the kids went to bed.......really bad evening......and sitting here wondering what am i doing??? what kind of mother am i and how am i raising my children???? and no, i don't beat them senseless or anything......just let them get their way waaaayyyyy too much i guess. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! somehow typing that makes me feel better.......i had just emailed my husband to tell them what an evening it's been, feeling kinda guilty for having to send that from the homefront. anyway, i was going to delete the fwd (your ebay thing) that i got from a friend because i just don't have time for it........and popped it open anyhow. even though i am totally wiped out and it's a school night it was too good so i had to check out your blog......

now you have me sitting at my computer in a full on cry.......all i have to say is that God led me to your crazy blog.....crazy and so beautiful. hooray for another mom out there with the greatest perspective on things. you really gave me my jolt that i needed to put my boots back on and get back to the joy and humor that i seemed to have misplaced, along with my purse in the past few hours. thanks. your life is cherished and appreciated. you're really great. like i said, i never read these things but i'm so thankful i did tonight. i know that God answered my prayer through you and my smile in my heart is back. thanks for getting me through a really rough night. God bless~ XXXX

Doesn't it make you cry?

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Creative title, no? I'm just speechless. And anyone who knows me, knows that NEVER happens. I'm still working my way through mail that's coming in faster than I can read, let alone respond to. I thought I'd just post a couple quick highlights from the thousands of comments I've received.

QUESTION: Are they all yours?
ME: That is SO funny! ROFL! Did you just come up with that?

QUESTION: Maybe I just didn't catch the sarcasm, but your feet aren't really amputated, are they?
ME: Yes, they are. Did you catch the sarcasm that time?

I've had numerous comments from people who'd had a bad day, who'd just received bad news, who had recently had surgery and were in pain, or who had just gotten home from a horrid shopping trip with their little ones. They thanked me for brightening their day and giving them a laugh. They thanked ME. Little ole me. Plain, ordinary me. Wow what a boost! Let me tell ya, it feels great to know I made someone feel better.

I've also had countless people write to tell me their own shopping experiences. (I'm saving those to read later.) Thank you for sharing!

I've had innumerable emails from moms (and dads and grandparents and teenagers) telling me that they could totally relate to my story and thanking me for letting them know they are not alone.

I had one (literally ONE out of the thousands of emails) person write and tell me that her kids always behave perfectly in public and are never a source of public humiliation. To her I said-
:::sound of crickets::: OK, that about sums up my response.

For anyone interested in numbers -

As of right now, I've had 18,417 people hit this blog today (despite the fact that the traffic had it down for a while there this morning.)

I've had 149, 023 people hit my auction.

I have 2,736 watchers on this auction.

I've had 1/2 a cup of coffee instead of my usual 6 because I feel like throwing up from all this attention.

I had to call in 2 reinforcements (ie grandma and grandpa) to watch the little ones today so I could sit on my butt reading mail.

I've had 18 finger cramps from typing too much.

I've had 3 job offers.

And we've got about 2 hours to go on this auction!

Overwhelming Email from the Globe!

Remember when I had 500 hits to this blog in one day? :::sigh::: Yep, those were the good ole days. Today I've had almost 11,000 and the number is still climbing. No, that's not a typo. ALMOST ELEVEN THOUSAND! Yesterday I felt so popular and loved. Today, I'm sitting here, staring at this screen, glazed expression on my face, drooling, sweating and starting to hyperventilate.

I so wanted to reply to each and every comment because first off, you took the time to write and I appreciate it. And secondly, there were some really wonderful, humorous comments in there. However, I can't even keep up reading all the comments, let alone replying to them. I've had over 1000 comments on this auction. They're literally filling my box faster than I can read them (and I'm a speedy reader!) What this means is - there are a whole lot of people out there who can relate to the trials and tribulations and joys of motherhood! We're not alone! In fact, there are so many of us, we may be able to take over the world if we play our cards right. ;)

A couple people suggested I post some of the comments on here and I think it's a wonderful idea! Give me a couple days *read a year and a half* to compile a list and check back for them. In case you're interested, I've had visits from the following countries...

US
UK
Canada
Chile
Australia
Germany
Hong Kong
Netherlands
Mexico
New Zealand
Mauritius
Czech. Republic
Austria
Ireland
Sweden
Belgium
Norway
Colombia
Italy
India
Denmark
Greece
France
Panama
Saudi Arabia
Portugal
Philippines
Japan
Republic of Korea
Singapore
Brazil
Macao
Serbia & Montenegro
Turkey
Argentina
Peru
Switzerland
Indonesia
Malaysia
Virgin Islands
Uruguay
Puerto Rico
Costa Rica
Jamaica
Wales
Iceland
Kenya
Sri Lanka
Croatia
Guatemala
Estoria
Armenia
South Africa
Bermuda
Kuwait
Lithuania
Slovenia
Bangladesh
Finland
Thailand
Maldives
Poland
Cyprus
Romania
Russian Federation
United Arab Emirates
Isreal

Whew! It's like I'm an announcer for the Olympics!

About a million people have asked me how to subscribe to my blog. I have NO idea! I'm completely computer stupid. If anyone has a clue, I'd be much obliged if you could clue me in.

So many of you have made wonderful comments on my blog as well. I'm trying to put them all on here. I want to return the favors and visit your blogs and websites too. I'm a little inundated right now, but will make every effort to do so in the next couple weeks.

I took my daughter to the doctor this morning and was all prepared to come home and post about my visit to the doctor when I logged on to a billion pieces of mail. (Notice the numbers keep climbing?) :D Anyway, that one will have to wait.

Thank you again to everyone who has read, commented, and passed this on to friends!