I hope everyone will share this with there kids...this could happen to any child...male or female.  Different stories and different circumstances.  But they can use the same tactics to lure them in and to find them...


After tossing her books on the
sofa, she decided to  
grab a snack and get on-line. She
logged on under  
her screen name ByAngel213. She checked
her Buddy  
List and saw GoTo123 was on.
 
She sent him an
instant message:  

ByAngel213:
Hi. I'm
glad you are on! I thought someone was following me home
today. It was really weird!

GoTo123:
LOL You
watch too much TV. Why would someone  
be following you?  
Don't you
live in a safe neighborhood?  

ByAngel213:

Of course I do. LOL I guess it was my imagination
 
cuz' I didn't see
anybody when I looked out.

GoTo123:
Unless
you gave your name out on-line.  
You haven't done that have you?


ByAngel213:
Of course not I'm not stupid you
know.

GoTo123:
Did you have a softball game
after school today?

ByAngel213:
Yes and we
won!!

GoTo123:
That's great! Who did you
play?  

ByAngel213:
We played  2-0
the Hornets. LOL. Their uniforms are  
so gross! They look like bees. LOL


GoTo123:
What is your team called?


ByAngel213:
We are the Canton Cats. We have
tiger paws  
on our uniforms. They are really cool.
 

GoTo123:  
Did you pitch?


ByAngel213:
No I play second base. I got to
go. My homework  
has to be done before my parents get
home. I  
don't want them mad at me. Bye!
 

GoTo123:
Catch you later. Bye
 

Meanwhile........GoTo123 went to the
member menu  
and began to search for her
profile. When it  
came up, he highlighted it and printed
it  
out. He took out a
pen and began to write down what  
he knew about Angel so far.
 

Her name: Shannon
Birthday: Jan. 3,
1985
Age: 13
State where she lived: North
Carolina

Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and
going to  
the mall. Besides this information, he
knew she  
lived in Canton because she had just
told him.  
He knew she stayed by herself
until 6:30 p.m. every  
afternoon until her parents came home
from work.  
He knew she played softball on Thursday
afternoons  
on the school team, and the team was
named the  
Canton Cats. Her favorite number 7 was
printed on  
her jersey. He knew she was in the
eighth grade at the  
Canton Junior High School She had told
him all this in  
the conversations they had on-line. He
had enough  
information to find her now.
 

Shannon didn't tell her parents about the
incident on  
the way home from the ballpark that
day. She didn't  
want them to make a scene and stop her
from  
walking home from
the softball games. Parents were  
always overreacting and hers were the
worst. It made  
her wish she was not an only child.
Maybe if she  
had brothers and sisters, her parents
wouldn't  
be so overprotective.  

By
Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the  
footsteps following her.
 

Her game was in full swing when suddenly
she  
felt someone
staring at her.. It was then that the  
memory came back. She glanced up
from her second  
base position to see a man watching her
closely.  

He was leaning against the fence
behind first base  
and he smiled when she looked at him.
He didn't  
look scary and she quickly dismissed
the sudden fear  
she had felt.  

After the
game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked  
to the coach. She noticed his
smile once again as she  
walked past him. He nodded and she
smiled back. He  
noticed her name on the back of her
shirt. He knew he  
had found her.  

Quietly,
he walked a safe distance behind her. It was
 
only a few blocks
to Shannon 's home, and once  
he saw where she lived he quickly
returned to the  
park to get his car.

Now he had
to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat  
until the time came to go to
Shannon 's house.  
He drove to a fast food restaurant and
sat there  
until time to make his move.
 

Shannon was in her room later that evening
when  
she heard voices
in the living room..

"Shannon, come here,
" her father called. He  
sounded upset and she couldn't imagine
why.  
She went into the
room to see the man from  
the ballpark sitting on the sofa.
 

"Sit down," her father began,
"this man has  
just told us a most interesting
story about you."

Shannon sat back. How
could he tell her parents  
anything? She had never seen him before
today!  

"Do you know who I am, Shannon ?"
the man asked.  

"No,"  Shannon
answered.

"I am a police officer and your
online friend, GoTo123."

Shannon was
stunned. "That's impossible! GoTo is a
 
kid my age!
He's 14. And he lives in Michigan !"

The man
smiled. "I know I told you all that, but it wasn't
 
true. You see,
Shannon , there are people on-line  
who pretend to be kids; I was
one of them. But  
while others do it to injure kids
and hurt them, I belong  
to a group of parents who do it to
protect kids  
from predators. I came here to find
you to teach you  
how dangerous it is to talk to
people on-line. You  
told me enough about yourself to
make it easy for me  
to find you. You named the school
you went to, the  
name of your ball team
and the position you played.  
The number and name on your jersey
just made  
finding you a breeze."
 

Shannon was stunned. "You mean you
d on't  
live in Michigan ?"

He
laughed. "No, I live in Raleigh It made you feel safe
 
to think I was
so far away, didn't it?"  

She
nodded.

"I had a friend whose daughter was
like you. Only  
she wasn't as lucky. The guy found
her and  
murdered her while she was home
alone.  
Kids are taught not to tell anyone
when they are  
alone, yet they do it all the time
on-line. The  
wrong people trick you into giving
out information  
a little here and there
on-line. Before you know it,  
you have told them enough for them
to find you  
without even realizing you have done
it. I hope you've  
learned a lesson from this and won't
do it again. Tell  
others about this so they will be
safe too?"  

"It's a promise!"


That night Shannon and her Dad and Mom all
 
knelt down
together and thanked God for protecting  
Shannon from what could have
been a tragic situation. 

One thing that I have learned is that you have to be yourself.  No one is going to change me so how do I figure I am going to change someone else.  Live and let live.

I am back....for a while I hope.  I have been very busy.   I think I am finally organized enough where I can slow down a bit. I am up by 6:30 a.m. and I try to sleep just a little longer, at least until 7:30. This morning I got to go back to sleep and I slept until almost 8:00 which was great. By 11:00 or 11:30 tonight it will be hard for me to stay up any longer.   I don't know how I used to do it.   I would stay up past midnight all the time...until 1:30 am or 2:00 and sometime later than that and I would still get up by 7:30. 

I know I'm boring you...it's early for me and I'm really not a morning person...especially before coffee...I'm only on my first cup.   I will be back later after I get some things done.  I have some funnies to share. 
Happy Tuesday!
(((hugs)))

What really happened in Roswell New Mexico, was there an alien cover-up?

I just wanted you to know about a special program that I think is great.
It's called SocialVibe and I hope that you will check it out.  It's a social media tool that allows people to utilize their online influence to make a real difference. Members choose a brand to endorse, which earns them opportunities to get brand perks and points within SocialVibe. The points that members earn are then turned into funds for the charitable cause of their choice.

Every time someone visits any of your network profiles with SocialVibe added you earn points. More points means more donations to your cause.  You can add a widget like the one here to LiveJournal, Myspace, Friendster, bebo, MyYearBook, Blogger, TypePad, Wordpress, and other sites that you belong too.

The best thing to do is check out the site for yourself.  I only blog about programs that I like and actually use myself.
I just thought I'd share :)
Thanks for reading.

 

 

It has to be cell phones and text messaging.  The worst is letting your kids text message at the dinner table. 

I am looking for Sonoran, southwestern, and Mexican food recipes.  Any recipes that you like that I might like with a western flare.  Enchilada casseroles, chimichangas, burritos, salsa, soups and stews, dips, your favorite margaritas and other drinks.  Some new ways to cook shrimp would be great too.  Simple but tasty is fine. 

You don't need to have the exact measurements but if you have them that is great.   All I need is the basic recipe...the ingredients.

           



     
I'm looking forward to some new recipes :)

Thank you :)

I don't think our kids know what an apron is...I'm actually pretty sure that they don't.


The principal use of Grandma's apron was to  protect the dress underneath,because she only had a  few,it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used  less material, but along with that, it served as a  potholder for removing hot pans from the  oven.

It  was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty  ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was  used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes  half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming  oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal  hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather  was cold, grandma wrapped it around her  arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a  perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood  stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought  into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden,  it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the  peas had been shelled, it carried out the  hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to  bring in apples that had fallen from the  trees.

When unexpected company drove up the  road, it was surprising how much furniture that  old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When  dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch,  waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to  come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a  long time before someone invents something that will  replace that ' old-time apron' that served so  many purposes.


REMEMBER:
 
Grandma used  to set her hot baked apple pies on the window  sill to cool.

Her granddaughters set theirs on  the window sill to thaw.

They  would go crazy now trying to figure out how many  germs were on that apron.

I don't  think I ever caught anything from an  apron.  


Share this with those who would know  (and love) the story about Grandma's  aprons.

My nicknames have been Dot, Dottie, or Dodie, and now Doddee. Pronounced either Dodd ee or Dode ee.   I had a cousin named Jodie so growing up it was Dodie and Jodie.  As I got older my parents started calling me Dottie.  My dad was a Dorothy Lamour fan and Dottie was her nickname.   When I first had to come up with a user name I didn't want to be  dottie or dodie10999 so I came up with doddee.   I've had that name for years now.  Family and friends still call me Dottie and Dodie....but I spell both the same...Doddee.