How Re-Uniting With My Son Impacted My Life

Last week, I told you my true story about how I nearly died last summer. I am now going to tell you how reuniting with my son, J, has impacted my life for the better.

Re-uniting with him has literally changed my life!

This is a picture of the book that changed my life after re-uniting with my son.

This is a picture of the book that changed my life after re-uniting with my son.

Once We Re-united

One phone call led to another and we began talking on a regular basis.

Not arguing, but talking.

It was wonderful! Slowly, J let me back into his life.

We talked, we laughed, we cried.

I had always tried to be a good mother to him, and I must have done something right, since J is a non-smoker (I smoke), a drug-free person (he experimented a few times, with a few things, and so did I), a health and fitness nut who watches what he eats and works out all the time (my idea of working out is typing, and I love eating, as noted in my guest post on Hunger for Happiness), and a rare drinker (this he got from me; I am not big on booze).

J also is a positive person who somehow motivates me to want better things for our future. He truly is amazing.

He’s also tall, dark and handsome, since he’s half Spanish (I am a white, Canadian girl with Czech roots… so basically I am a white, Canadian girl!) and he’s pretty muscular, too, from hitting the gym on a constant basis. He won’t let me post a picture of him; he is a private person (I’ve mentioned this before). Anyway, when December rolled around, I asked him what he wanted for Christmas. I’m his mom; I wanted to buy him a gift. (I like giving presents!)

He told me that he didn’t want anything. Huh? Nothing?

Nope. He told me to save my money.

What My Son Wanted for Me

When I pressed him, he told me that he didn’t need anything, but that it was nice that I wanted to get him something. Instead, he said, it would mean more to him if I bought myself something that I needed. That’s what he wanted for Christmas – for me to buy myself something! Read More

My True Story About How I Nearly Died

THIS IS MY TRUE STORY OF HOW I NEARLY DIED.

I’ll never forget the weekend of August 24-26, 2012 as long as I live. It was the weekend that marked a major, life-changing event. I nearly died that weekend. The weird thing is – I’m actually grateful for this experience, because it led me to my son. 

Let me tell you about it.

This was taken last Halloween but it pertains to the story in this post, so I am using it here... I love colours (as you may know) and this love is evident in this picture! I line up my dabber lids following the colours of the rainbow! (Notice the Certs? I love Certs, too!)

This was taken last Halloween but it pertains to the story in this post, so I am using it here… I love colours (as you may know) and this love is evident in this picture! I line up my dabber lids following the colours of the rainbow! (Notice the Certs? I love Certs, too!)

What happened in my life and how I nearly died:

On Friday, August 24, 2012, I went to Bingo. I ordered and drank iced tea that evening, and began feeling a bit weird. I got a stomachache, and began feeling nauseous. I hadn’t eaten anything, so I knew I didn’t have food poisoning. I thought that maybe the iced tea was tainted. I don’t think I will ever know if it was, for sure. I just know that I felt fine beforehand. Read More

Praise…Please?!

Here’s a totally relevant song to listen to while you read this post:

I have been doing some wondering lately. I’ve been wondering if I should write posts more often, or less often, or if I should write whenever I want. Now that people are actually reading my writing, I’m at a different place in my mind than I was when I first began this blog. At that time, I didn’t think anyone would really be interested in what I have to say (my depression at work). Now, I am a blogger, and people are reading and sharing some of my writing! (I love you for doing this, by the way!) I’ve also been wondering if I should do another survey. I got some very good feedback the last time I did one.

To prove that I’ve actually taken a look at the results, and have learned that the majority of you want to hear the honest-to-goodness truth about some of the things I go through, this post is one that will let you in on some of the behind-the-scenes thoughts and actions of my mind, my experiences, and my life. Read More

The Irritating VisualBee (VB) Toolbar is Malware!

This article tells you, specifically, the best way to remove the VisualBee (VB) toolbar from your computer. It tells how I got it on mine, and how I successfully removed it. It also tells you how you can remove the toolbar that’s troubling you!

My story:

Recently I downloaded some malware accidentally.  I had been reading different articles on improving the performance of my laptop’s battery and came across a program that would count the number of cycles my battery went through and notify me when it was time to calibrate it.  (Boy oh boy, just listen to me, the non-technical person, sounding all technical!) Figuring it would be handy to have, I downloaded it.  It is called BatteryCare, and I got it from CNET.com.  

The first step:

Once I realized I had some possible malware on my computer, I went into my computer’s control panel, went into Programs and Features, found anything related to BatteryCare and VisualBee (VB) and uninstalled them.  Then I went to the recycle bin and emptied it.

I thought this would do the trick.  It didn’t.  My google chrome browser was hijacked by this malicious toolbar.  It would not let me do what I wanted.  Fortunately, I was able to open Internet Explorer and do a search on how to uninstall the VisualBee, or VB, toolbar.  I ended up at mybleepingcomputer, where I read the problems and testimonials of others who had experienced similar problems.  My solution was ultimately found here.

Although I did not trust anything at that point in time, and was extremely upset for having malware on mybaby (my new laptop’s name!), I had to do something.  Since several people vehemently claimed that adwcleaner removed this toolbar successfully, I had no choice BUT to trust them.  So I did.

My next step, which worked: 

I had to download adwcleaner in order to get rid of the VB toolbar.  When my computer asked me if I allowed THIS program to make changes to my computer, a big yellow exclamation point popped up and asked if I was sure when I said YES, even though I was not sure of anything anymore.  However, I gave it permission, and then followed the steps I was told to follow in the posts I read at mybleeping computer.com and I WAS SUCCESSFUL at removing this unwanted toolbar.

If you decide that you want to remove the VB toolbar, also known as the Babylon toolbar (it probably goes by other names, too) then I would advise going to the link I provided, which is mybleepingcomputer, and then scroll down about halfway until you see the #7 posting by boopme, which has the link for adwcleaner, as shown below, and then follow the specific instructions that boopme gives beneath this link. I guarantee that this will work, and is the best way to remove the VisualBee (VB) toolbar. It worked for me!!!

remove vb toolbar

What I did next: 

I then did some further research.  I found that most people who downloaded stuff from CNET.com  got the present of malware that I did.  My conclusion, therefore, is to not make the same mistake twice, and to NEVER DOWNLOAD ANYTHING FROM CNET ever again.

I am writing this to warn you not to go through the hassles I went through regarding this malware.  I have also posted warnings to my friends on Facebook.  I would like to shout out to the whole world that I hate CNET for causing me all this grief, and warn you to ALWAYS LOOK AT THE URLs  of the pages you visit when surfing the net.  Forewarned is definitely forearmed.

Until next time, happy surfing!