Thank you!!!

Thank you to all of you for your prayers and good thoughts through all of the events of the past couple of days.

Ryan had so many friends. His friends at digital gangster has set up a memorial fund to help his family cover funeral expenses. I am not sure how long they are taking donations, but I was totally overwhelmed at the amount they are collecting.

The link to the forum on digital gangster on my left sidebar. It gives you a lil more insight into the friend we have lost.

My brother sent me this this morning and it seemed an appropriate post for today....

Yeah, it's an easy repost - and you have probaly seen it before...

So maybe I am a cheetah.....at a snail's pace...but we're on the same boat:)

Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark

ONE: Don't miss the boat.

TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat!

THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

SIX: Build your future on high ground.

SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile.

TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

ELEVEN: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

Most people walk in and out of your life......

....but FRIENDS leave footprints in your heart.

Thank you all for your friendship!!!

You have no clue....

Yesterday was emotionally draining....

To say the least.

Internet entrepreneur dies in Akron house fire

I had no clue what was happening when LDBoy first called me a lil after 2:00 AM to come to his house...

As I neared the place and saw all the Emergency vehicles, I still had no clue.

But I knew LDBoy was ok for the most part because he had called me a few minutes before to make sure I was on the way.

LDBoy would not say anything about why he wanted me there over the phone.

All the way there (for over an hour) I worried about what was happening.

I realize now that he was pretty much in a state of shock at what was going on around him.

As was another friend who was at the house with him throughout the ordeal.

I did not realize for quite a while the extent of the situation.

Yeah the house they loved was burning down.

But, the Police blocking the street told me they got everyone out of the house before they let me through, so I was not too worried about the boys' safety...

When I got to the house, LD just started telling me things to do....

He wanted me to put Buddy (the half pit bull, half boxer who is mourning on my couch as I write this) into my car so they new where he was.

And they needed to try to get the FD to let them in to get Boa out.

And they needed me to help get hold of Ryan's Mom.

That is when I realized that Ryan was not there.

They had taken him to the hospital....

The situation became crazier when they called the hospital and could get no info because they were not family.

Panic set in as we realized Ryan was not in good shape...

Getting hold of Ryan's Mom was an ordeal that should not have taken as long as it did.

None of us knew her first name or had a working number...thank you Ryan's Mom for having been there for him all through the years...

His sister was in Florida; his Dad in Utah....

The boys were telling the hospital to check Ryan's records from previous visits at another local hospital for contact info...we do not share records, they said....

WTF...

My calls to 411 were useless...

We do not have a listing for a Johnson on that street...

We cannot put you through, it is unlisted....

Get the local PD to put you through...

Yeah...good luck with that...

We had a last name and a street in a local city...how hard can it be...

The boys could point to her house on a map - get someone there....

Finally, through friends of friends of friends on Facebook...

But it was too late...

LDBoy had to break the news to Ryan's sister...

If you read the article and comments above you get a very skewed picture of Ryan.

Not that he was not "eccentric" or that he did not have any mental issues.

He did. We all know that.

But to all the negative commentors, I want to say.....

You have no fucking idea....

Yeah, Ryan made it big young. He did not handle the wealth the way you or I might have handled that much wealth at such a young age. But who knows...most of us did not have to worry about it, did we???

He may have not made his money doing things you or I would not have done, but quit casting stones...

You have no fucking idea....

You did not know Ryan....

Not like my son knew him....

Not like his other good friends knew him....

His good qualities out-weighed his eccentricities a hundred fold.

He could have given money to a charity??????

You have no fucking idea....

He was one of the most generous people I know.

He had a love for life most of us will never have....

And who cares what the house was worth....

It was where they lived....

That house in West Akron, as was the glass house in Bath, was welcoming to all who passed through their doors...

Because Ryan and his friends (my son included) made it that way....

They shared everything they had....

With their friends and families....

You have no fucking idea....

If smoke detectors would have helped....

You really have no clue....

So get off your podium....

Let us mourn the passing of a good person...

Let us mourn our friend's untimely death.

Ryan...I love you, man.

Thank you for your friendship and inspiration to my son.

I am so sorry that not everyone (myself included at times) was always willing to look past the eccentricities to see the the real Ryan.

I know you are with angels now and I hope to see you again someday...

My last fun memory of you Ryan, is New Year's Eve...shortly after midnight...

The tramplone is full of balloons to discourage partiers from using it....

I see you smiling as you walk toward it....across the top of the closets (hard to explain) and you just keep walking right off the walkway and into the trampoline....

You will be sooooo missed.

More prayers please....

No humor here today, blogger friends.

I got a call early this morning from LDBoy to meet him at his house.

A fire at the house he was renting with a friend took his friend's life.

Ryan and LDBoy and a few more guys have been close friends for years - since kindergarten.

This is so tragic for all of them.

They need your prayers and good wishes to get through this.

I was Jonesin'....

I was needing something to read....

A book...

The old-fashioned kind...

That I can read while my computer is booting up...

Or I am in the waiting room...

Or I am curled up on the couch with my Snuggie (more about that later)...

So I made sure I left the office Monday night in time to stop at the local library.

As I am walking in the cute (as in curly-haired, freckles college kid cute) desk guy is announcing that the library will be closing in 20 minutes and everyone should bring their selection to the front desk...NOW...

I assumed NOW meant in 15 minutes, so I took a quick scan for a few books on my list (yeah I have a list)....

I think they rearranged the library since I was there last a few weeks ago....

Really...

How do you go from Sanford to Hoag and then to Patterson on the same shelf....

So I said F-this and decided to see if there was anything by my new favorite author: Christopher Moore.

Ding...Ding...Ding...Jackpot!

Or so I thought.

Blood Sucking Fiends....A love Story

About vampires????

I dropped that sucker right back on the shelf...

No vampires allowed on Phillipia's bookshelf.

One of my unwritten rules.

But then I got to thinking - sometimes I do that....

I do not have a Bible on my shelf of favorite books either...

But Lamb was pretty entertaining...

In an irreverant sort of way...

So I grabbed Fiends and headed for the front desk.

Just as the 5 minutes before closing light blinking charade started ...

I headed home, made dinner - just 'cuz G-Man asked real nice-like, and then headed up to bed with my book.

I gotta tell ya - I was laughing out loud most of the night.

Or at least until the book fell out of my hands because I was just too tired to stay awake.

Thank you Mr. Moore for encouraging me to read outside of my comfort zone...

Gospels and vampires...

If you enjoy this blog you will surely enjoy the irreverance of Christopher Moore....

And thank you Knucklehead for suggesting Lamb.

Did you know....

The average American will eat 35,000 cookies in a lifetime!!!!*


I have finished my share and am now starting on yours....




*Thanks to Dave Barry's The Daily Extra for that piece of trivia....

It doesn't have to be....

I worked most of the weeknd....

Which pissed G-Man off pretty good...

Because I refused to write his senior paper for him...

G-Man: It's Sunday, Mom...you shouldn't be working.
Me: Well, yeah, but I shouldn't be writing your paper either...

And I'd rather be working...

I had to write enough of my own papers in school....

Hell, I am still writing papers...

But not yours, G-Man, because you need to learn...

Learn not to wait til two days before it is due to start it....

G-man: But they just gave it to us....

Me: Stop right there...I know you were talking about this in early December...

I will review and tweek (aka rewrite) the paper as needed...

But I am not doing all the research and stuff....

I have my own work to do....

But I did take about an hour away from work for a trip to the local Gabriel Bros. outlet to help G-Man pick out clothes for the Life Teen Winter Formal...

Me: Why are we going to Gabe's?

G-Man: They have cool stuff there cheap.

Me: I thought this was a formal dance...you have a suit.

G-Man: It doesn't have to be.

Me: Doesn't have to be what???

G-Man: Formal....I think it is semi-formal...

Me: Which means?

G-Man: Come as you want...

G-Man likes to impress...

Not sure who he likes to impress, but this is what he came up with for this semi-formal dance....

Sorry, Ames:(

I wouldn't dance with him either. ...

But you looked beautiful:)

Thank You, Yahoo...

So I was cleaning out Phillipia's emailbox the other day...

Moving stuff around....

I learned something.

When you move things around too fast, the SPAM button moves into the space where the MOVE button was just a couple of seconds before....

I kept marking all my reader comments SPAM...damn...

And even tho I am pretty quick and noticed my mistakes as I made them....

And marked the SPAM NOT SPAM almost immediately....

Some of you are still SPAM.....

Until I notice and NOT SPAM you....

But unless you change your name I may be NOT SPAM-ing you forever....

You know who you are....

But it's okay...

I still love you.