My Favorite Stall

I know everybody has one. Everybody that work's in a business like and even a regular 6-8 hours shift environment, has one. It's my favorite stall. Yup just imagining having the feeling to pee and then "Oh, better go to my favorite stall".

Anyhow But just imagine this. You are having that anxious feeling that, "uh oh, potty time". No big deal, and then you get to the bathroom, open the SECOND bathroom door, your stall is taken.

And in your mind you scream, "HOW! WHY! WHEN!" How could this have happened, someone else is sitting in my toilet. On my greasy toilet! This is unfair, protest is now under mandate.

So now you have two possible options.

Find another stall that you can do your duties on. Or knock on the stall to see if anybody is really in there. Well I normally wouldn't vouch for option number two, only because that there probably is someone in that stall. I could wait until they were finished. That might be a little awkward since there are 4 other stalls available, perfectly ready and waiting for action.

But whats worst of all, is if you walk in and then you see someone coming out of your "favorite stall", and you see who they are, and if you walk into the stall, you REALLY know who they are, that to me is the worst part of it. Actually smelling the person before you who used the stall. If its any worse than this picture below, I would recommend that you use a different stall unless you have the appropriate cleaning tools to scrub this sucker down good.

Spaghetti Straps

I stayed home today because I had a bad headache. I did not go to the train park, but I intend to tomorrow.

So since I stayed home I was just watching TV. And fell Asleep. I must, not watch reality shows anymore. It is giving me nightmares literally. The television show I was watching before I fell asleep was called "From NY to Hollywood". One awful awful show about some woman and her boyfriend and how they broke up because she is a bitch. She never gave her boyfriend a chance to speak or she never gave HIM the attention he needed. It was always about her. Always.

Anyhoo, during this awful episode she was participating in some theater lessons and acting lessons. Ok. Good shes trying. But, will never succeed. GO HOME TO NY!

So then I fell asleep after the horror was over. I was dreaming I was in a theater of all places. Hint Hint. And then some acting was going on stage. I was trying and attempting to find my seat. After I realized that there were no assigned seats, I tried to find the seat my husband was in so I could sit next to him. No problem.
Once I found him I told him I wanted to sit with him and there were too many people around him. And keep in mind, the acting is still going on stage and people are trying to shuush me. Nobody would move for me so I said "fuck you" to all of them and made a loud crashing sound and went to go sit in the front of the theater where there were seats. As I went to the front of the theater I noticed that this was being video taped. I tried to be quiet and then I had realized who was on stage. It was the same girl from that show "From NY to Hollywood". I saw her acting and it was too fake. Throwing up fake. So I said, you stink, in my head and made even more noise. Draging, my purse around, taking some photos. Being interesting!

Finally the show is over and we are leaving outside. For some reason, I am now in the lobby. And there is some coffee and cake. I am talking with my grandmother for some reason. We are just chatting about normal stuff. Then I see this guy, cute guy. Nice face. Curly black hair. about 5'10". Broad shoulders and arms. He come over and says hey. And I say hey how are you back. He looked oddly familiar.

Then he come over and give me a hug and says, "How are you whats going on? How is everything going along ?" I tell him everything is going along good, how about yourself? Honestly, I don't even know this guy. And why would he come over and hug me? Do I know him from high school, elementary school? Who the heck is he? And what right does he give me a hug? I didn't give him permission to do so?

So then he starts to get his coat and starts to chat with me a bit. I am dreading this chat because I don't know his name who this guy is, where he is from. So, I try to lead of the chat and my grandmother starts to talk to him and so forth. Ugh, grandma bad move. I love you and all, but mad move.

As we go outside, I feel as I am being pulled into a tunnel. Something like that or some sort. Anyhow, I am outside and they are looking for something inside a tunnel. I am helping some people find this something inside the tunnel. We are using speical cameras. As we go down under the tunnel we are continuing to use the cameras to search for this something. As I listen in over the radio to the other people on the ground, they are looking for some artifact. Now comes the fun part.

Supposedly this artifact is very dangerous, and can take control over peoples minds and portions of the world. But its important right now and important to find it and put it away in a safe place. We continuing searching through the tunnel. And now we find out that a bomb is going to be set off in the building and we must get out immediately. We start to run out and again hear over the radio that the bomb is going to go off in about 2 minutes. We are deep in the tunnel and begin to run like everyone else in the tunnel.

We reach the top and are out but we know we will never get away in time. I still see people running, running away from the site. Then to my amazement you will never guess what happens next. There are about 10 or 12 people in the circle around me just holding our breaths just hoping it's a failure of an explosion.

Just then superman shows up. Yup superman. He holds his arms out above his shoulders and tells everyone to lock their arms. He locks his arms with ours and then we are flying. As we are ascending from above the ground, I see people running from the building. I see it explode and the whole ground shakes. Superman lets two people go from his arms for safety. He is struggling from the force of the blast which is pulling us downward, and struggling to pull 10 people upward into the sky.

He lets us all go and we are saved, by superman. Yay. We are let down in some other building that is again abandoned. We are on one part of the rooftop where the roof is leveled in about 4 sections with grass growing on it. There is a huge mural on the wall of one of the rooftops. There is a table and chair, and a Chinese man sitting in the chair.

Sammuel l Jackson, shows up. And tells me do I see the wall. I tell him yes I see it. Then he asks me again, "Do I really see the wall". Now thinking that he might be pulling one of his acting stages, I tell him. No, I see the wall as it is right now. I don't see anything special about this wall. I sit with the Chinese man, and he hands me some needle, a wrap and some drugs. In a bottle. Everything was clean, non used so, well germs maybe, but no disease, still I was worried. He tells me to take this so I can ultimately see the wall, as it was meant to be seen, as the colors were meant to be seen. And I must do it, or all else will fail.

So I do it, only becuase there were men staring down on me. Afariad of what they might do to me, I do it. I've never injected myself with anything, and afraid how to was a concern. He tells me just to take the wrap put the drugs into the needle and push it into you. Yeah.... ok.

Just then a blast goes off near this building. Everyone runs in and I run in as well. I am sitting in some sort of office, and all the lights are off except the emergency lights. They scream at me to take the drugs so I can see the real mural, and I am struggling to do so. I ask for help, and they tell me I must do it on my own and do it fast.

I try to do as they told me with the wrap, and the drugs, and pushing the drugs into the he needle which goes into me. I put it up against my arm, and start crying because I am afraid. I am afraid of what the drugs might do to me. I am afraid of I will live through this scary moment. I push it into my arm, and another bomb goes off closer this time to the building. The needle moves, but no blood comes out. I try all the meanwhile to still push the drugs into my arm, and can't do it. Too scary, to unpredictable. Not for me. I pull out the needle and these wires or something else comes out along with it. It's like its attached to the needle. It looks like DNA colored red strands. It is hurting like a sob, and I don't know what to do at this point. The strands are intertwined like DNA strands or Spaghetti Straps. Still crying and now in panic level.

Then I wake up. I am not crying, I am not sweating, or have my headache anymore. Now I vow not to watch any more reality shows for a long long long time.

My Farewell....

So I have finally finally decided to quit wow, or World of Warcraft. I was getting to the point where it was dragging on so long, I was having trouble doing my daily tasks. I can say it was a very fun experience, and a very good way for me to bring my gaming experience to a new level. But with the way my life is turning around now, there is no way I can continue to play and raid every night. And with me and playing a computer game as fun, as addictive as that, it's either all or nothing. There is no in between.

I could not raid any longer. The pain and the hurt I was feeling not only through myself but through my family, my husband, my doggies, I was mistreating all of them. Giving all my attention to the WOW game, and nothing for anyone else. I was forgetting peoples names at work, forgetting work that needs to be done on a daily basis, such as laundry. My eating habits worsened and knowing that eating Wendy's 3 times a week is not very mature, or healthy.

This "I quit" post is for real. I sold my dwarf priest to a friend of mine that was in our "Rapture" guild with us. I am beginning to forget the dungeons, the zones, fight scenes and how to play. Forgetting how to farm, leveling, and the fun quests where you have to find a bucket in the middle of a forest.

It just stopped being fun. It stopped being worthwhile. Honestly, what was it really going to get me in my lifetime. Maybe if I was retired, or had no job and a but load of income coming to me, that would be a good reason to play, or continue playing. World of Warcraft just got old. I know may friends that quit too, for my same reasoning.

It is funny when you think about it. You are joined together with about 25-40 people every night for about 6 days a week. More than likely, you will never meet these people in real life, you will never see their faces other than a few pictures on the web. You could never high-five them, or go driving with them to a late night snack at Wendy's or IHOP. I am just sending plain examples out there that most people, that communicate in a common-friendly type of manner. It does seem awkward, but this is the way our future, our voice of communication is headed. Being involved with 50 other people around the world you will never see or even hear much less, is strange, strange to me and I am involved in computers everyday.

So I am sending out my farewell to my Warlock, My hunter, My priest, My druid, and my bank alts. I am most likely going to sell my account. I want to sell it all in one shot. Even if I have to pay someone to sell it. My life does not require 50 people to tell me I am doing a good job or a bad job nightly. I can handle that myself telling myself I am doing a good job in my life, and it's work, but such is life.

I still check the forums, I still check the progress. The daily mundane tasks. The daily farming for potions, and preparation for the nightly raiding. Watching everyone else's dkp and making sure that you put all in for blankety blankety item. I still think about warcraft when I see the "Mr T: Night Elf Mohawk" Commercial.

And yet I still miss it.

We really are competing with our peers around the country

I was sitting at work today hoping the pains in my neck and shoulders would eventually disappear, and pondering over google news. The headline read "California still lags in student writing skills". Due to the fact that I currently work in education, and within that at a College, I was curious enough to investigate the article. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-writing4apr04,1,867332.story
I read most of the article, skimming through some of the monotonous parts. the author at least had some courtesy to put in the portion about Cleveland being the lowest in the testing scores. Most of the article explained the fact that there are many immigrants and non-english speaking students from grades k-8 or students learning English as a second language. Granted, the fact that Cali is next to a major boarding country, but does it give it right to say that about the entire state? I don't think all of California has problems with ESOL students. Not to mention what happened in Cleveland? Who knows there.

And then I came to this portion of the article ""We really are competing with our peers around the country," said Jessica Valdez, the California coordinator for the National Assessment. ""
Well that is pretty obvious when you are comparing yourselves to Cleveland. We understand Ms. Valdez the fact about California and its ESOL students, and the low paying income of immigrants, low pay of teachers. We know about that. Where do you think most of your lottery money has gone Ms. Valdez? Back to the schools? They take it from the schools. Ms. Valdez, if we are working with the rest of the country who are we working with? Who are we working against?

These students, the 8th graders, in particular, we are preparing them for high school and then college. A student should know how to write an essay in English, in a English writing class. Otherwise they do not graduate, they do not pass go and collect $200, they do not get the weekly allowance. If these students are not ready to pass the grade, write the paper, they should not graduate. Maybe that is the problem. The teachers are so concerned with the no child left behind bill, they just pass the students irregardless.

2008 Tax Refund? S4E16

Well This is quite honest interesting once again. I feel as though I'm back in the Futrama Episode called "Three hundred Big Boys". I will reference this from Wikipedia since it is the most up to date. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Hundred_Big_Boys

In this epsoide, the current president, President Nixion gives away $300 or a “Tricky-Dick Fun Bill” as a tax rebate. Now this episode was created in conjunction with the idea from Preside George W. Bush, giving away $300 in 2001. Now once again, our Preside Bush is giving away a $600 rebate in 2008. Nine years later to help boost the economy and hoping Americans would go out right away and spend the money.

I wanted to write this blog just to show how stupid American's can really be. I am still in the process of searching for some information on what American's are going to spend their $600 rebate on. So if you have an idea post it below in comments. I would like to know what America is spending.

Now for the gloomy news. I know and many Americans know that our outlook is headed towards a recession. Look at our gas prices, housing, economic downfall. I retrieved this image from CNN's Webpage. Mind you this story was written in January 18, 2008.















Lets read what people had to say on this story

"The US economy is in a downward spiral. I lost not one, but two state jobs, one full time, one part time due to budget restraints and found out about it one day before my return from unpaid family medical leave act leave after having a baby. This is serious. I think we will see families gathering together under one roof. The rich keep getting richer and the ‘middle class and poor’ keep getting poorer. All I can say is “Save, Save, Save” any penny you can."
Posted By Richmond, VA : March 11, 2008 11:08 am

This is very frightening. I have begun stocking my basement with bottled water, canned food, whiskey, toilet paper and cigarettes. I cannot sleep at night. God help us all.
Posted By Bobby, Washington DC : January 22, 2008 2:50 pm

I definitely believe we are in a recession. I think most of the recession is due to high oil prices. I am considered a middle class citizen with a family of 4. The price at the pump and our fuel bill has drained us of any extra spending money. It makes me laugh when I hear people say they have to gain consumers confidence so we will start spending our money and boost the economy. Are they under the impression that we have extra money lying around that we are hording? Trust me we don’t, the middle class is being striped of any extra cash and we are now just trying to make ends meet. Lower the gas and fuel prices and maybe the economy might recover.
Posted By Patricia Cook Chateaugay NY : January 22, 2008 11:45 am

Sorry Mr. President. Your country looks a big gloomy now. For everyone that reads this, please use that $600 to pay your credit cards, use it to pay your savings, use it to pay your debt. Whatever you do with the $600, do not spend it. Pay off your hospital bills, pay off your loans. Do not spend it!!!

Patience Is A Virtue

I wanted to make a new post about patience. Lets look up the word patience in Wikipedia.
According to Wiki, the definition of the word Patience is as follows it is the ability to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset, or to persevere calmly when faced with difficulties

Now by definition it means not to be aggravated, upset, or irritated when dealing with problems of human nature I am assuming. But with human nature comes all kinds of problems. Not just as adults but as children too.

Do you think that dogs or cats have patience. Do you think that when they are sitting in the veterinarians office they are sitting there tapping their foot waiting for the doctor to see them and continuously asking how much longer will it take. I do not see this happen very often. When someone is working on your car and they are trying to figure out what is wrong with it, do you see the car tapping its tires on the ground saying to the mechanic "Hurry up man! I got places to drive to and I have to escort these people around all over the place!" I don't see this happening very often.

Now again, when someone is working with you say on a computer problem which many of have in our daily lives, would it be rude to be standing over someone breathing down their neck while the technician is working on the issue? I am not one to complain about people or about rudeness of people because thats just the way some people are. They are just rude. But that would be another topic for another day. In the line of work that I deal with, I have to be patient with my customers as I would refer them to, as much as I can. Even if they are crabby pattys, I will be as kind and friendly as I possibly can. As for myself, I want to ensure that before I leave my job, or any projects that I am working on, that I complete them in full. And even if it takes an extra couple of minutes to make sure that I have all the paperwork, telephone numbers, names and addresses, thats what I will do. I don't care if you have to wait an extra few minutes for me to finish this up. This is important to me.

There is one more issue I would like to bring up in this post. say when a woman is in labor, delivering a baby, do you think that she would say to the doctor, "Get this freaking baby out of me now because I have errands to run and I have to be back at work within the next two hours!"
I don't think anything like that would happen. But hay, you never never know!!

Farting Chair

Have you ever wondered? Have you ever thought?

Well I have. I have thought about it a lot of times. When I am getting up and down and moving all around. I have thought about "The Farting Chair". The idea here is that, when you sit down in your chair, will you fart on it? Will you blow whole on it? Will you peep one out?

Most likely Yes. You will fart in your chair. Think about how you would lean, left or right up or down to push that stinker out. How much noise you can make to make sure no one else in the office can hear. Oh wait the best is yet to come. And often times, if they have been NAKED in that chair. AND FARTING OOO LA LA!

And as for me, I have to sit in other peoples chairs that they have most likely farted on. Yes doesn't that sound like tuns of fun? The Farting Chairs!

There is one resolution although. You can get a small patch that prevents and soaks up your farts in the chair. This patch is called a Flat D. How it works is that it is supposed to soak up all flatulence that the person will let out through charcoals. Here is a link to their website where you can actually BUY this product. Link

But imagine this, for me. I go into someones office to do the daily or basic things that I need to do. They are there or hanging around the office, doing what they need to do. And I place this mat down in front of them. Well what in the world do you think that they will think? Oh you don't trust me enough not to fart in my own chair? Oh thats gross. Well, sometimes when you gotta go, you gotta go!! And yes it does happen when you do gotta go!

There were a few more pictures from the website that is offering this small product that I wanted to share.

Basically this small pad is portable. You can take it where ever you go. You can store it in your wallet, your purse, your back pocket as depicted in this picture. Yikes you actually have to touch it. Gloves please!

The best part about this whole situation is thinking about this next part I will bring up.

Airplanes and Flatulence. Just imagine who has been sitting in that seat before you and before that person. Are you sitting in their flatulence? And the person before them? Yeah you know you are, and you are trying not to think about it. But we can still "Ha Ha" at you for doing so.

Then again I guess that this little Flat-D Piece would come in handy at this point in time. Does it really work? Couldn't tell you. I think I will stick in my own chair for the time being. Besides, who's going to be sitting in my chair and farting besides myself. I could care less if some flatulence gets on someone else's pants or legs or skin or muscle or hair or nose.

Thats their problem for not wearing a gas mask.

http://www.flat-d.com/chairpadblack.html

Shopping Cart Bells (Ding Ding)

You ever get stuck in the grocery store and having problems finding your way out? How about having to PUSH your way out. Well I have come up with a new concept.

A Shopping Cart Horn. (Or Bell)
The idea here is that if your stuck in some of the more crowded isles in the grocery store, well some people don't like to move. Not to mention to move their buns or the cart itself. What I have been doing in the past is doing the usual "Excuse Me" routine. That doesn't always work. Well, in my concept, we would have a small bell, like you would on a bicycle or a trike. Hey easy to put on and assemble right? Well where I live a lot of people are hard of hearing. So in this case a horn would make more sense. They would be able to hear the horn as I am continuing to say "Excuse Me" routine over and over again. Oh wow you have moved out of the way. Hey that sounds like a good plan, lets roll with it. Trust me, a lot of people can't move out of the way for whatever reason or another, but if you BEEP or DING at them, I think they would get their buns moving.

And for some of the more scary folks out there, they might need some helmets to go along with the bells, for safety purposes.

Snakes On A Plane!! Oh Wait! It's Just Mice!

I thought that this article was hilarious. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22591304/)

Not only because it was mice, but on a plane. THAT GOT LOOSE!! HA HA!. So I have linked the article below for fellow readers to read and comment on.
The only difference I see between the hungry flesh human eating snakes is that they are mice. I suppose they aren't hungry flesh human eating mice either.


It is kind of funny when you do think about mice being on an airplane. What kind of images would your mind draw up? I checked Google and found a few that might interest my readers:









Next thing you know, it will be cats!
EEEKKK!

New Years Resolution

Well You know how everyone decides to make new years resolutions and never keeps them.
Dieting, smoking, "I swear I will quit today and this year never to do it again!"
Drinking and driving" I swear I will quit today and this year never to do it again!"

So I have decided myself to make my own new years resolution

Yup you guessed it, never again and always this year!!

So this year you can call me corny all you want.

I have decided to give back, as much as I can this year. So my new years resolution has been more of that flavor, a pay it back. I will be nice this year. I will be polite and courteous
Think about when your driving and someone has their signal on and boots right in front of you, or cuts you off while driving maybe. Hey thats ok. no big deal

Increase in Oxygen

I found this interesting article about how you can offset the reduced amount of oxygen on a airline flight by drinking carrot juice for several days.
Interesting thoughts

Carrot Juice

UK: Carrot juice and bananas - new antidote to jet lag. - Global travel is now a normal part of corporate life, with many company managers now taking it for granted that their portfolios stretch to faraway shores. Managers are able to nip off to Singapor

Global travel is now a normal part of corporate life, with many company managers now taking it for granted that their portfolios stretch to faraway shores. Managers are able to nip off to Singapore or Australia for a couple of days and still be back in time for their weekly meeting.

And yet the effects of jet lag on personal performance are rarely admittted openly by the globetrotting executive. When asked for their views, many executives were terse on the subject, others openly hostile, while yet others obviously considered the whole subject too frivolous.

Frivolous it is not. Perhaps it is a stiff-upper-lip culture that stops jet lag being acknowledged as an issue. This may be a mistake, if dismal reports of the health risks of constant long-haul flying are to be believed.

Last year, lawyer John Eaton ended up in hospital suffering from fatigue, disorientation, dehydration and irregular heartbeat after 22 trips to the Far East. Three of his business partners had died after spending most of their careers travelling overseas.

His experience, and that of others like him, has prompted a new research programme at the Aviation Health Institute (AIH) in Oxford.

Farrol Kahn, the institute's director, points out that we are only now seeing the first generation of regular business travellers approaching retirement, and suggests that a lack of oxygen in aircraft cabins can over a long period of time cause blood disorders and heart problems, while cabin pressures and enforced immobility drain the body of vital minerals, cause disorientation and loss of muscle strength.

Only one or two of Britain's bosses were prepared to break their silence and talk honestly on the subject. 'No allowance is made for jet lag. No matter how hellish you're feeling, you just have to get on with it,' complains Richard Keith, managing director of Scottish & Newcastle's international division. Keith believes that jet lag is not just a minor irritant but a serious impediment to good work performance. 'I am very careful not to make any important decisions after a long flight,' he says: 'Emotionally I can feel a bit strange at first and, coming back from the US it can be five or six days before I feel myself again. I've been conscious of going straight into a meeting and giving a report, and then later wishing I hadn't.'

It's difficult to stop or even cut down on the amount of travelling if that is what the job demands, and our more forthcoming respondents say they have tried everything as a cure - drinking water but no alcohol, alcohol but no water, eating, not eating, and an array of herbal and homeopathic cures. Kahn advises that while adequate sleep is the main cure, drinking several glasses of carrot juice for four days before a flight is a good idea, as this helps offset the effects of reduced oxygen. He also suggests drinking a glass of mineral water every hour during the flight and rejecting airline food and alcohol in favour of pasta or bananas.

This is dismissed by Sir Nigel Mobbs, chairman of Slough Estates. His antidote is to eat and drink everything that is put in front of him. 'It is supposed to be against the rules but it works all right with me,' he says cheerfully.

Mouseaphobia

I found this article that was interesting. Fun stuff

Mouseaphobia. Afraid of mice

Phony Mom

I have decided to make some posts of some
interesting stories for 2008. And I will bookmark them here and copy in the article since some news articles tend to get lost.


The following article is about a mother who has decided to lie for her child to get Hanna Montana Tickets. Hanna Montana is a popular show for children from 6-13 years of age. I have never seen the television show on Disney or ABC, wherever its aired. The television show depicts a young girl living a life of a normal girl by day and by night shes a rock star but no one knows about it because she wears a wig. Corny right?

Well mom here decided to write a phony entry to a contest to gain tickets to see Ms. Montana. She had her child write about her father being killed in the Iraq War and how she has missed him.

What happened is the girl had won the contest for the entry, and was going to get some tickets and a makeover. When the media arrived, they said hey wait lets get some dirt like we always do on people and dig it out of them. When they questioned the child, the mother had pushed the media aside. In more details, they found out that the child's father was never involved in the war, but doesn't even know where the father is in this whole picture.

I am very surprised at the mother. She first said that she wanted to win. She would do whatever it took to win the contest, lieing to the media, newscasters, her children. Then later she revoked that statement by saying that she had no intention of hurting anyone and how it was not right.

Now which statement is true. Did she intend to lie to the American public or did she want to win the tickets for herself and for her daughter? Freaking fools.

Now poor mom has been forced out of her home, her lifestyle. Her boring life. What did you think lady? You screwed up and you are now paying the price and so are your children. Your children should be taken away by child services so they don't have to deal with your stupidity. Maybe they can be favored by wolves or monkeys better.

You know if there was a contest for the best stupid people of America, you would be in the top five. I am sorry. You don't do these kinds of things to the American public, the media, or even ME! If you are going to be having children, and raise children, GROW UP!! You wanted to play the game of going through the media and you won it. GRATS!

Nice eyebrows btw!

Phony Mom
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22502162/

By Mike Celizic

TODAYShow.com contributor

updated 8:55 a.m. ET, Fri., Jan. 4, 2008

The Texas mother who helped her daughter win a “Hannah Montana” essay contest by making up a story about the girl’s father being a soldier killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq says she made a terrible mistake and hopes she can be forgiven.

“I meant no disrespect. I just made a bad decision which I sincerely regret,” Priscilla Ceballos told TODAY co-host Matt Lauer in a prepared statement she read from Friday. “I apologize to my daughter for getting her mixed up in his mess. I wanted to help my daughter realize her dream of seeing Hannah Montana. Instead, I brought so much negative attention to my family. Please accept my heartfelt apology, and please, do not punish my child for my mistake.”

The 25-year-old Ceballos, who has two other children, said that the negative publicity and public scorn heaped on her since her ruse was exposed three days after Christmas has forced her out of her home and destroyed her life.

“I’ve had to move out of my home,” she told Lauer. “I’ve received a lot of bad — a lot of harassment all over the Internet. I’ve been forced to close down my MySpace page. I have not been able to eat or sleep well. I have been very depressed.”

“She’s been constantly harassed,” her attorney, Frank Perez, added.

“There’s been all types of shows and panels saying she’s not a good mother, when, in fact, she is. Priscilla made a mistake. Priscilla wanted her daughter, Alexis, to see Hannah Montana and didn’t have the means to do that. She used poor judgment in what she did.”

At the center of the controversy is the essay Ceballos helped her 6-year-old daughter write last year to win a princess makeover and a trip to Albany, N.Y., to see a Jan. 9 Hannah Montana concert.

The contest was sponsored by Club Libby Lu, a national chain that sells princess makeovers and pink and purple clothing to “tween” girls.

The winning entry, submitted in the name of Ceballos’ daughter, read in part: “My daddy died this year in Iraq. I am going to give mommy the Angel pendant that daddy put on mommy when she was having me. I had it in my jewelry box since that day. I love my mommy.”

Ceballos identified the allegedly dead soldier to contest organizers as Jonathan Menjivar, who is alive and well and has never been in the military.

Story unravels
More than 1,000 girls entered the “Hannah Montana Rock Your Holidays Essay Contest.” Hannah Montana is the fictional teenage singing star of the hit show by the same name on the Disney Channel. Montana is played by Miley Cyrus, the 15-year-old daughter of country music star Billy Ray Cyrus.

Ceballos’ daughter had already received her makeover and was at a Dec. 28 party thrown in her honor at a local Libby Lu salon when it all unraveled with stunning swiftness.

The media had been invited to the party, and when the girl was asked about her soldier father, her mother interrupted, saying the girl didn’t want to talk about that.

When reporters attempted to check on the story, they discovered that no soldier named Jonathan Menjivar had died in Iraq or was even enlisted in the armed forces. Confronted with that information, Ceballos said she thought the task was to write a compelling Christmas story. “We wrote whatever we could to win,” she said at the time.

The news that the essay was not true was relayed to Libby Lu CEO Mary Drolet, who later that day issued a statement that read: “We regret that the original intent of the contest, which was to make a little girl's holiday extra special, has not been realized in the way we anticipated.”

The tickets and another makeover were awarded to another contest entrant, whose name was not released.

Ceballos told Lauer that the tickets weren’t taken away from her. Rather, she said, when the deception was revealed she refused to accept them.

In the statement she read on TODAY, she also said, “I sincerely apologize to those people who feel misled because of my bad judgment. I helped my daughter write an essay that was not true. It was not my intention to mislead. I just wanted to help my daughter write a compelling story. There is no more compelling story than the struggle and sacrifices of our military and their families. I apologize to our military and their families.”

Asked how she explained the events to her daughter, she said, “I told my daughter the truth. I told her we wrote an essay and they said it was a lie. And I refused to accept the tickets. I told her there will be another time.”

Psychiatrist Lisa Clayton said that the story Ceballos made up struck a nerve with Americans.

“I think the country is very raw right now with young soldiers being killed in Iraq,” Clayton told Lauer. “Priscilla does have a young cousin who was killed in Iraq. She’s been in contact with his family. As an extended family, they know the pain of losing someone in Iraq.”

Clayton repeated Perez’s plea for forgiveness.

“Hopefully, the public out there can realize she’s a young mother who made a horrible mistake,” Clayton said. “She’s coming clean. She just wants to move on with her life so that she can raise her three children.”