Ridiculous Lab

A Face I Love

2012-02-15T20:50:00.000-05:00

I have been dabbling in photography, a bit, as you know. Or maybe as you don't. But I don't usually have people as my subject matter because 1). I'm not very good at the portrait taking and 2). the people around me reseent having a camera in their faces all the time. The family is not so excited to be photography subjects, is what I'm saying. But yesterday was Valentine's Day and my adorable son humored me and allowed me to take a couple of shots of him. Here's the handsome devil:

Look at that strong jawline, those soulful brown eyes, that wild need-a-haircut hair. Now that is a face I love.

Hearts and Flowers Day

2012-02-14T01:13:00.001-05:00

Today is Valentine's Day. A day to send hugs, kisses and love to all those who mean so much to us. A day to share an extra smile, a warm hello, a compliment with those around us. A day to shower a little extra kindness on everyone we meet. Not just a day for husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, but also for parents and children, friends, co-workers, neighbors, the mailman, the grocery store clerk, the jerk holding up the line at McDonald's while he's trying to decide what to order.

Thank goodness it's my day off and I don't plan on leaving the house.

Wishing you a wonderful Valentine's Day - however you spend it!

Nothing to see here

2012-02-08T06:50:00.000-05:00

Nothing much to report here. I was a bad Weight Watchers member and didn't weigh in this week. Yes, I had good reason to avoid the scale. It's called cake. Well, at least that was part of the problem. We celebrated family birthdays the day before weigh in and there was cake of 2 varieties - mint chocolate chip ice cream cake and chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. Willpower + me = not when there's cake to be eaten.

In other news....I got nothing. I will be back when there's life on this planet once again. Meanwhile, check out some of the crafty things I've been posting over at on Life and Creating. At least there's that.

Picture Pages

2012-02-04T22:36:00.002-05:00

Amen!

The weekly wrap up. On a Tuesday.

2012-01-31T17:37:00.001-05:00

I guess I can't actually wrap up a week on a Tuesday but since I forgot to post on Sunday and I am due to post today anyhow and won't probably think about this blog the rest of the week, we're gonna call it a wrap up.

And a numerical wrap up at that.

1. Picture Pages (that should have been posted Sunday):

From my 365 photo iPhone app. Too bad you don't know what any of those photos mean. Sorry, can't help you there. At least not today. And yes, I did not start this project promptly on the 1st of Jan. So sue me.

2. Weigh in report - up 3.4. Now I know that sounds like a bad thing but I expected it. Last time I weighed in and lost 6 pounds, I knew it was from having a stomach virus and not eating for 4 days. Once I started putting anything in my mouth, some of that was due to reappear. The cookies from the Cookie Co. didn't help.

3. It is Jan. 31st and the temperature at 5:30 pm is 56. That is total insanity in NW Ohio. But it feels good.

4. When it finally does snow, it will take us three days to dig out. That's my prediction.

5. I am now the paid typist for my son in order to help him with his college papers. Getting paid doesn't mean I enjoy homework any more now than when I wasn't being paid. I'm just saying.

6. My day off was spent making a ton of overdue phone calls. Hate.

7. This weekend, we are celebrating all the family birthdays that take place in the winter months. 6 people total. With dinner and cake at my Mom's. That is the day it will decide to snow.

8. New Glee episode tonight - the Michael Jackson episode. I can't wait! The rest of TV this week lacks a lot. Like lacks new episodes. Hate. Again.

9. I am updating all of my blogs today so maybe you would like to take a peek? Or maybe not - it's up to you. Start here: on Life and Creating

10. I got nothing else. See you next week.

Picture Pages

2012-01-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

Chicago in December

Weight loss update

2012-01-17T16:52:00.001-05:00

It's Tuesday so it's time to report my weigh-in results for the week. Happy to report - 6 pounds down. Not happy to report - 6 pounds down due to the flu. Three days of nothing to eat but jello and a piece of toast will in fact help the weight loss. Of course, I expect it will creep up a little for the next weigh-in. Now that food and I are getting along a bit better.

In other news, I didn't post a new Picture Pages this weekend either (see flu info above). But there is a Photo Throwdown challenge still open and waiting for players so if you have a photo to contribute, I'd love to see it! A new challenge will be posted soon.

In other other news, my son is headed back to the books tomorrow. He has this semester, an internship in the summer and one more full year and GRADUATION! Yippee! I only say yippee because I can then say I am officially retired as homework assistant. I. can't. wait. But then we enter the work world and Lordy, Lordy, I am not ready for that! A year and a half is plenty of time to prepare though, I think. I hope.

And that is all that is new here. What's new with you?

As promised

2012-01-10T23:53:00.000-05:00

Tuesday is not quite over and as promised, I am reporting in with my weight loss for the week. 5.6 pounds. The same amount that I gained over the time that I played hooky from WW. Thankfully, it only took a week to lose it. May it be gone forever.

In other news, work just became a little suckier yesterday as my pal, confidant and blogger/photography buddy resigned. I need a new job. Better yet, I need to retire. If there was just some money in that!

Ok short and sweet for me as it is now going into Wednesday and if I don't get to bed, I am REALLY going to be cranky at work tomorrow. Uggh. See you again soon.

Picture Pages

2012-01-08T22:23:00.001-05:00

We have had very little snow so far this winter. We had a light dusting shortly after Christmas - not even enough to shovel. I took a stroll at the park to try out my new 50mm lens and found this tiny snowman perched atop a post in the parking lot. New snow, new lens, great photo op.

Come play along with my current photo challenge at Photo Throwdown. The theme is NEW.

There's a bug going around

2012-01-07T12:14:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago, I spent an evening feeling like death warmed over. I attributed it to something I ate. That seems to be what usually makes me feel all crampy and gross. And by the next morning it was gone. But yesterday, my son started with "issues" - first, bathroom-related things that I simply won't go into detail about and then aches, chills, and other assorted bleckyness. Yes, bleckyness is a word. I just made it up. Poor thing couldn't decide if he had the energy to sit up, or just to lay down most of the day. So he laid down the most of the day. Wise choice, young Padawan.

By bedtime, he was feeling a little better. Thank goodness, maybe this is just a 24 hour bug going on in our house and maybe it's now run its course, I thought. Goodbye bug! Don't let the door hit you in your buggy behind on the way out.

And then this morning, as my husband leaned in to kiss me goodbye, he said "My stomach feels pukey today". Great. Apparently the bug hasn't found the door yet.
How's everyone feeling in your house this winter?

Back on the diet train

2012-01-03T18:35:00.000-05:00

I have taken a few weeks off from Weight Watchers but now that we're into a new year, it was time to face the music. Overall, the music wasn't as bad as I expected. I did gain but not an inordinate amount. Probably can lose it in a week. If I'm good. So the diet train is rolling again and my plan is to post here every Tuesday (Monday is weigh-in) and record my progress. There must be at least one reader out there that will hold me accountable, right?

Off to track dinner. See you all again soon. Weighing less. I hope.

Welcome 2012

2012-01-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

Can I just take a moment to say Whew, I'm glad 2011 is gone. Over and out. It was a year that brought great sadness to our family with the passing of our grandbaby, Liberty Ann. It's a sadness that has clung tenaciously to me through the year. But while this loss has brought many tears and much pain, it has also made me realize how grateful I am that I had the opportunity to be a part of this tiny baby's life for 20 short days. To see her, and touch her and be there for her. And I wouldn't change that for anything given the alternative that I may have never met her. That I may have lost my daughter in the process as well. I will forever cherish what precious little time I shared with our angel baby and she will always have a very special place in my heart.

When asked by a Facebook friend the other day what one word I wanted to use as my defining 2012 word, I chose Peace. Peace in the day-to-day craziness of life. Peace inside and out. Peace for my family in whatever way they need to find peace. Peace between myself and my God. Because that moment in 2011 broke a lot of that peace and I hope to find a little of it again. Or at least work toward it. That is my resolution. One day at a time.

So farewell 2011. It's time to move forward. 2012? Here's hoping you have better days on the horizon for me. For all of us.

Picture Pages - end of the year

2011-12-31T13:02:00.001-05:00

Do you have any resolutions for the coming year? I have a few including the standard eat healthier, exercise more, eat out less. In addition, I hope on blogging on a more regular basis and bringing you more artwork, reviews, photos and "stuff". I am hoping that 2012 will be the yer of renewal in my life, in many areas. Finding peace and happiness and sharing that with others. So with that thought, I leave you with one final photo from 2011 and wish you and yours a wonderful New Year -

For God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son. For me and for you. Wishing you peace in your life in 2012.

Italian Chicken Casserole

2011-12-27T21:37:00.000-05:00

I experimented in the kitchen tonight. Call it a recipe mash-up. Luckily, one that was a success. So I feel obligated to share it. Sorry no photo. I didn't think that far in advance and poof! Dinner was gone.

Italian Chicken Casserole

5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (could use breasts too)
8 oz cooked and drained elbow macaroni
1 envelope of Tastefully Simple Irresistible Italian Dip Mix (need a consultant? Contact me)
1 1/4 c. milk
4 oz. cream cheese
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1 c. frozen chopped spinach (you can use more if you want it more spinach-y)
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
bread crumbs

Cook the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic in a skillet until cooked thoroughly. While the chicken is cooking, put cream cheese, milk and Italian dip mix packet to a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to blend the ingredients. Reduce and cook on low while chicken finishes cooking. Throw the frozen spinach in with the chicken and continue cooking until the spinach is thawed. Put in casserole dish (9 x 13) the chicken and spinach mixture, the cooked, drained macaroni and pour the sauce over the top. Mix all together slightly. Sprinkle cheese and bread crumbs over the top. Cover with foil and put in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. I put mine in the microwave for about 10 minutes and that worked out just fine. Serve with some Parmesan cheese if you wish.

Husband and son both liked it so I think it was a success.

Bonus - you will still have 1 packet of Irresistible Italian Dip Mix to use in the future!

Jacobmas

2011-12-21T23:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening, we celebrated a new holiday - Jacobmas. This was the day in which all of the Jacobs of the world, or at least of this house, received their Christmas gift. Because on the 20th of December, 2011, a Star (Wars) game shone down on the people and the fan~~atic~~s came from a galaxy far, far away to worship at the altar of Bioware. In "layman" terms, the Star Wars: The Old Republic game was released. Now that may not seem like a big deal to you (*gasp*) but let me tell you, we have heard about this game for years. YEARS, I say! That's because it has literally been in production for the past 4 or 5 years (feels like 20). And the Star Wars gaming fan in the house - a.k.a. Jacob - has been virtually chomping at the lightsaber to get his hands on the final version (yes, he did get to play the Beta version and the Early Access version but this - THIS - is the final, all-wrapped-in-a-bow, I've-been-waiting-a-lifetime version). It was a day of great importance, is what I'm saying.
So it could not wait 5 more days until Christmas! NO! It had to be celebrated on its own special day. The day we dubbed Jacobmas.

And there was much joy. $150 super deluxe version complete with music CD, authentication key (whatever the heck that is) and statue of Darth Malgus (jealous, aren't you?) = joy. And I heard him exclaim as he wheeled out of site, "Merry TOR game to all, and to all - game on tonight!"

A late Picture Pages

2011-12-12T23:53:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure why I forgot to put up a Picture Pages post on Sunday. Could it be that I spent the whole day either baking or decorating a ding dang tree? So here's my offering for this week, speaking of the upcoming holiday:

Added to some of our Christmas cards this year. Is she not the cutest Santa dog ever?
Oh, I love Photoshop.

Finally a break

2011-12-09T22:23:00.000-05:00

Fall semester is finally at a close. No, I'm not a student, or a teacher. I'm a mom, and a helper. My college age son requires physical assistance with paper typing, and the like. So, when I'm not working at a "normal" job, I'm a part-time school aide. Luckily, he's a brainy guy. The legs and arms don't work so well but there's nothing wrong with the cranium. It's just that he can't type as fast as he can think so I help out. This semester was chock full of writing. He had project after project so we were often up to our ears in notes, Word documents and Works Cited pages. Blech. Double blech actually. But we finally started to see a light at the end of the tunnel earlier this week and I am ~~happy~~ ~~thrilled~~ overjoyed to say that we're now into holiday break. WHEW!

So now that I can breathe maybe I can finally:
Get caught up on housework
Decorate the tree
Cook a meal
Make a few long put-off phone calls
Catch up on blogging
Bake a few Christmas cookies
Watch everything I have DVR-ed
Put away laundry
Pet the dog
Get Christmas cards out in the mail
Get to bed at an earlier time
Respond to some forgotten emails
and on
and on
and on.....

Thank heavens for breaks. Now if I could just get a break that doesn't require a lot of catch up! But then again, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

See you again - soon!

Picture Pages

2011-12-05T00:46:00.000-05:00

Um yep, yep it is.

Picture Pages

2011-11-27T15:26:00.000-05:00

Today's Picture Pages is a video from our recent trip to the Toledo Zoo's Lights Before Christmas(featuring a brief look at hubby - in Lions jacket - and son sitting next to me). To read my review, head on over to Are You on the Fence?

Thanksgiving at our house

2011-11-24T00:19:00.000-05:00

For the last few years, I have hosted Thanksgiving dinner. This year will be no different. Luckily, I have a 5 day weekend to enjoy the holiday - three of which will be geared toward Thanksgiving. The holiday weekend will look something like this:

Today (I can tell you exactly how today looked because, well, it's midnight and the day is over):
Sleep in till 10:00
Make breakfast
Run a last minute trip to the grocery store
Bathe the dog (no one wants to smell a stinky dog while trying to enjoy turkey)
Clean house
Take a break to check email (oh c'mon, you do it too!)
Clean more house
Make dinner
Make mashed potatoes for tomorrow
Make "acorns" for tomorrow (see below)
Mop kitchen floor
Vacuum
Make a card to post on blog here
Go to bed when this post is done

Made from mini Nutter Butters, Hershey Kisses, and butterscotch chips. Aren't they cute?

Thanksgiving:
Make stuffing
Put stuffing in bird
Put bird in oven
Get dressed
Oh yeah, maybe take a shower too
Get the rest of the food started
Set the table
Cook
Cook some more
Watch 5 minutes of a parade
Probably the worst 5 minutes
Cook again
Eat (finally)
Clear the table
Eat dessert
What dishes?
Read the paper for Black Friday specials (not sure why I do this as I never shop on Black Friday but it's tradition)
Try not to fall asleep
Put out leftovers for sandwiches
Eat pie (maybe by now it's my 2nd piece - so what?)
Drive my Mother home
Watch a little TV
Check my email
Go to bed

Black Friday:
Sleep in till 10:00
Finally tackle those dishes
Sit on my butt. A lot.
Check my email
Order pizza for dinner
Resume butt sitting
Go to bed

The rest of the weekend I will be back to the normal routine of helping son with homework, laundry, picking up the house, running the dog outside and maybe, just maybe, I might squeeze in a little time to put up a few Christmas decorations.

How's your weekend looking? Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Trying to catch my tail

2011-11-16T23:38:00.000-05:00

Like that title? I thought it was appropriate being that this blog is named after a dog. Also appropriate as it is spot-on how I've been feeling lately. Crazed. Or more crazed than usual, I should say. So what's been going on, you ask? (What do you mean, you didn't ask?) Well, let me tell you, sister (which is not at all accurate as I don't think my sister ever reads this blog).

I'll number, just for your convenience:

1. My dryer stopped heating. Took a week before a repair person could get out here. That's a lot of dirty laundry hanging around waiting for a dryer.

2. We had a bathroom modification completed last week. Took three days. Three days of asking to use my own bathroom. Three days of noise. Three days of a dog penned into a room with me and a sick, coughing kid. Oh, it was delightful. At least the end result was worth it.

3. Homework. End of semester homework. I'm surprised I even found the time to blog to you about homework. I can't wait for break. Son agrees. After all, it is his homework.

4. And what is with professors giving so much homework anyway? And all due at the same time??
(And can I just say that I will need to write about college and students in general someday because sad, is what it is).

5. Got the new iPhone 4s. Finally have all my apps back to where they should be. I think. And the most fun I've had all week? Teaching my husband how to use his new (my old) iPhone. God help me.

6. I have had no time to post anything creative or photograph-y lately (did you miss Picture Pages on Sunday?) but tonight's the night - it's gonna be allll right - I will be posting at ALL my blogs. So make a hop out of it, why don't you? Stop by on Life and Creating, Are You on the Fence and, well, you're already here, so it'll be a short hop. Lucky you.

7. And here is my (belated) picture for Picture Pages (also for my entry into the Photo Throwdown challenge of the week: Green.

I took this photo a month or so ago when plant life was still green around here. I'm not sure what kind of plant it is but I thought it was interesting and photo worthy. Can anyone identify it?

That's it for me. I do need to sleep sometime. Right after I catch up on Words with Friends.

And that's not all....

2011-11-10T23:59:00.000-05:00

I'm making a list. We'll call it Five on Friday. Best way for me to sort through the past few days.

1. Bathroom modification is finished. There is now an entry way into the bathroom from my son's room (and one of his 2 closets is gone). Bathroom looks huge! Three of us were in there tonight. Just standing there. But we couldn't have done that in the old bathroom. Now all that's left is to paint and paper. Any takers?

2. Speaking of son, he's been sick this week. Not much fun for either of us as he's also been displaced from his room and his computer (see bathroom remodel above). Three days of looking at each other is 2 days too many, I can tell ya. Especially when one of us is coughing all the time.

3. I ordered an iPhone 4S tonight! I actually just got an iPhone a couple of months ago and then was sad when they came out with a newer version. But, here's where my luck turns around. Hubby finally decided to jump on the iPhone bandwagon too but being a ~~cheapwad~~ frugal, he decides not to buy the newest version and purchase the cheaper, now older iPhone. One like mine. So hey, he buys mine, I get a new one, we're all happy. Actually I'm thrilled and he's still grumbling about having to pay for a data package.

4. Saturday I am participating in a Holiday Vendor Fair in West Toledo - you can read about it HERE. If you are in the Toledo area, please stop by and see me. The event is raising money for Ronald McDonald House and the Danberry Treasure Chest children's charities so it's a great reason to check it out. Shop local this holiday season!

5. There's a new challenge up at Photo Throwdown. The theme is "green". Anyone with a camera can enter so why not give it a try? Now I have to get out and take some photos of something green, before eveything around these parts turn white!!

Have a good weekend!

Picture Pages

2011-11-06T11:17:00.000-05:00

Halloween costume 2011 - kinda hard to see so I'll describe: black turtleneck and jeans, glasses, scruffy face, iPad, iPod.....

Hello Steve Jobs.

Leia turns 5

2011-11-03T23:20:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that 5 years ago today our furry, loveable lab Leia started her doggy life. And a pretty good life it is, too! We brought her home to live with us in December but her actual birthday is Nov. 3rd. So a big shout out to my couch buddy! Happy Birthday Puppy-chow!

This photo (while definitely not the best) shows our girl in one of her favorite places, in the family room with me, late in the evening, hanging out while I'm blogging. And in her usual style, she's always a lady with her crossed paws.

I took this photo at the end of her birthday day because she actually didn't have a very good day. Leia is prone to having stomach issues which we have pinpointed to her acquired taste for leaves, twigs and other yard growth. For some reason she loves to munch on the foliage and then she pays for it later with a grumbly, upset tummy. So most of her birthday was spent lying around, being lazy - well, being a dog! She only ate one meal today and she wasn't allowed any of the treats I bought for her special day - those will have to wait until tomorrow when she is sure to be back to her old self. But a year older self. Middle aged, actually. Hard to believe how time flies.

Leia has been with us through my daughter's marriage, my son's high school graduation, the loss of our three grandbabies, my husband's hernia surgery, a tree falling on our roof, and so many other moments, big and small. She's my constant companion and knows only how to show unconditional love and offer a sloppy kiss every now and then. She cuddles when I need a snuggle buddy and lays quietly beside me when I need time alone. Leia has brought so much joy into our lives and I am happy to celebrate her birthday, even if she doesn't have a clue. To her, it's just another day. To me, it's a chance to remember how grateful I am for my sweet furry friend. May you have many, many more birthdays to come, Pippi.....

Picture Pages - a day late

2011-10-31T14:24:00.002-04:00

Cleaning the garage took all my concentration yesterday so I forgot to post. To make up for it, here are 2 photos to suit today:

Happy Halloween!

Where sleeping dogs lie

2011-10-25T23:36:00.000-04:00

"Can't you see the dog is trying to sleep here, lady?"

One of my favorite things about the cooler weather is having a furry cuddler to share the evening with, all curled up next to me on the couch in the family room. I don't mean the one I've been married to for 31 years. I mean our loveable canine baby. Leia doesn't like to snuggle in the summer and that's ok by me. Really don't need the extra heat from a warm dog body when it's 90 outside. But on these cool, rainy Fall evenings, a little lap-lab is more than welcome.

Usually I sit at one end of the couch and hubby sits at the other and there is just enough room between us for a 70 pound lab to curl up nicely, although occasionally she has to stretch her back legs onto "daddy's" lap. Luckily for me, she likes her head in my lap. Probably has something to do with all my extra padding. And then while she is hanging out with me, she does the cutest thing. Every once in awhile, she turns her head to look right at me, with her nose as close as she can get it to my face, and she just stares. Like she's telling me how happy and comfy she is.

She's a good dog, keeping her mom cozy all evening. These are the moments that remind me what a treasure and companion a pet is. I wouldn't miss these moments for anything.

And don't worry, Leia - I won't bug you with the camera every time you're in the mood to cuddle.

Picture Pages

2011-10-22T23:21:00.002-04:00

Weekly Weigh -in

2011-10-20T10:10:00.000-04:00

I could tell you about the cold and rainy weather we're having here in the Toledo area. Or I could tell you about my plumbing/drain issues which are resulting in having water back up into my tub every time I flush the toilet. Or I could tell you about the massive amounts of school projects my son needs assistance with over the coming weeks. And I could tell you about the migraine I feel coming on but I won't. Instead, let me depress you with a story about my weekly weigh-in.

I have been a Weight Watcher member for over a year. By now, you would guess that I have lost a bunch of weight. I mean, how long should it take a person to lose weight, for heaven's sake? Well, if you're me, a long time. Because I'm not very dedicated. Because I go in streaks. Because I fluctuate between sticking to the program and pretending I never heard of the word diet way too much!

In the last few weeks, I have just started to feel tired of the whole thing. Dieting just requires too much thinking and my brain is pooped. I want to be able to have food be one area that doesn't take concentration. Planning, measuring, calculating points - it's just all weighing me down. Literally. I know because the scale has been moving in the wrong direction! But I know I need to do this. And I know I feel better when I do. So to keep me a little more honest and dedicated, I am going to start a Weekly Weigh-in post in which I tell the whole two people who read this blog how my dieting week is going. Hold me accountable, friends! I'm counting on you. Both.

This week I was up one pound at WW. Next week, that pound better be gone. And it can take a couple of its friends with it.

Now I am off to eat a banana. Have a good day.

2011-10-17T09:07:00.000-04:00

I am not a hot weather person. I don't like to sweat. I like to wear sweaters, and shoes that don't show my toes. But can I just say, I am not ready for cold weather quite yet. Not that I really have any say in the matter. Doesn't seem as though the man upstairs ever listens to what I say anyhow so He's really not going to pay attention to my gripes about the weather.

But there is one nice thing about the cooler weather. Soup Saturdays. Every Saturday through the fall/winter months we enjoy homemade soup for dinner every Saturday. Well, maybe not every Saturday but as often as possible. This past Saturday kicked off the season with my homemade chili. Mmmm - so good. Now I know there are a lot of different versions of chili (my daughter and son-in-law likes theirs extra spicy) but I like a chili that has just enough heat without burning my face off. So if you'd like my recipe, here you go:

Cook up 1 - 1 1/2 pounds of ground chuck with 1/2 diced onion. Drain.
Add to the pot 2 cans of diced tomatoes (home canned are really the best if you have them).
1 large can tomato juice
1 can light kidney beans
1 can Bush's regular chili beans
salt and pepper to taste
some crushed red pepper flakes - add whatever suits your tastes.
That's it. I put it all in a crockpot and let it cook for a few hours. (My crockpot cooks kinda hot so this works really well and makes the soup all nice and bubbly). Serve with crackers.

And for dessert, Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. Oh yeah, Soup Saturday was delightful. More recipes to come through the season. Hope you find some to try. You won't regret it.

Now I'm off to find a sweater cause this short sleeved shirt I'm wearing today is just not cutting it! Dang weather.

Picture Pages

2011-10-16T18:21:00.001-04:00

Fall comes to Toledo.

Picture Pages

2011-10-09T20:19:00.003-04:00

77 days and counting.

To see the rest of the photos, click here.

Birthday Girl

2011-10-08T10:28:00.003-04:00

Today is my 51st Birthday (wasn't I just blogging about my 50th birthday 2 weeks ago? Where does the time go?)

This Birthday:
~ isn't a monumental one - except that I am still alive and kicking so I guess that makes them all monumental from here on out, officially on the other side of the hill.
~ isn't sad because I'm getting older - it's just sad that I can't go back to a time when my heart hadn't been through so much sadness and pain over the loss of my 3 grandchildren. And it's sad that even if I could go back, it still wouldn't be in my power to change things, anyhow.
~ isn't going to be a day full of parties and gifts - but I will be spending the day with my favorite people and that's all the gift this girl needs.

It is, however, a day to look forward, to hope for the future, to enjoy every minute and to live without regret. That's easy to say and unquestionably hard to do but it's what my Birthday means to me. A chance to start fresh. Every year. Like clockwork.

Happy Birthday to me!

Are you sure it's not Saturday yet?

2011-10-07T00:05:00.000-04:00

All day today it felt like a Friday. Not sure why - it's not a holiday week or anything. Those holiday weeks always throw me for a loop. But this is a regular old week and today felt like a Friday. Which is sad because it was only a Thursday. So tomorrow is going to really suck when it's Friday all over again.

Maybe I just want the weekend to get here quickly because it's my birthday and I want cake. That would certainly explain why I want Saturday to show up sooner rather than later. Or maybe because I just don't want to work another ding dang day this week. I have other things that need to be done. Like clean out closets. Get caught up on my blogging. Eat cake. Yes, I am obsessed with cake, why do you ask?

12:04 am - time to hit the sack. Will be morning before I know it. Friday morning. All over again. Nite all!

Picture Pages

2011-10-03T07:41:00.000-04:00

This is Leia's friend Miko.

Miko has cancer. Cancer sucks for dogs too.

Thinking of you, Miko (and Jacquie)!

What's Leia Eat?

2011-10-01T00:27:00.000-04:00

On occasion, Leia (our Ridiculous Lab) has a few words to say about something or other. Today she posted at Are You on the Fence? about her dog food of choice. If you have a dog, you might want to check it out. And I'll be back tomorrow for another Picture Pages. Until then, have a great Saturday!

Making hard choices

2011-09-27T23:55:00.000-04:00

Today my son had to make a tough decision. That isn't easy for anyone but it's especially difficult for someone who doesn't like to make decisions. At all. About anything. Make a decision for him and he's usually just fine with it. But this one was big. And no one else could make the decision for him.

See, he chose to take a class at another university this semester in addition to his regular course load at the college he has attended for the last three years. Wanted to try out a different atmosphere as he is not happy with his college experience so far. Won't go into all those reasons but he has them. And whether I agree with them or not isn't the issue. Things just have to feel right if you are going to like - and hopefully even enjoy- your situation. His college experiences so far just haven't felt right so he decided to explore greener pastures. One class as a trial. And then maybe a permanent switch.

Thing is - those greener pastures never turn out to be as green as you think. Yes, he likes the different campus. He likes the people. He even liked the class. But, switching to a different school would add two more years on to his education. Not a viable option when you're already tired of being a student. And the class itself was presenting some problems. Like being in a small group of three in which only one of the three seems to want to participate and work and that one? Is you. No one likes to carry the load for a group. We do it if we have to, but we resent it. And this class experience was headed in that direction. So he made the tough decision to withdraw from the class. Tough because he's not a quitter. Tough because there were things he so enjoyed. Tough because he knows he can't find the answer to his unhappy college experience in the place he thought he would. Tough when you just don't like to make decisions.

But he made it. And for valid reasons. He would have been fine if he had stayed, as well, because he's a hard worker. An almost straight A student. He faces adversity and overcomes it. Having a disability has taught him a little something about that. But sometimes, you just have to know when to say when. To change course before the shit hits the fan, so to speak. He made the decision and I am proud of him for spreading his wings in the first place. Taking a chance to find an alternative path. Now settling for less than what he hoped for at this point in his life. At least as far as school is concerned. And for hanging in there. Staying the course. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I know someday, he will find his greener pastures.

This week's Picture Pages

2011-09-24T23:53:00.000-04:00

What I see 4 mornings a week - and I don't mean at home. That's why they look all sad and depressed - they're at the office.....

Picture Pages

2011-09-18T07:25:00.000-04:00

New feature on Ridiculous Lab every Sunday - Picture Pages. Some Picture Pages will be of photos I take, some will be pictures I find here and there that are just too good not to share. Words not neccessary from me. Well, except for these that you're now reading. And wishing you weren't. Ok, I'll shut up. This picture says exactly how I felt a few times this week:

Enough said. Have a good week -

Not something you see every day

2011-09-15T19:55:00.000-04:00

You know what I hate? Having to run to the store to get one or two things so I can make a complete meal. I really try to do my grocery shopping so that I have everything I need for at least a week at a time because, while I don't mind grocery shopping, I have better things to do than spend every day in grocery store aisles.

So this evening was one of those nights that I just didn't have what I needed. Dinner was going to be burgers on the grill but I had nothing to go with them. And we can't just eat a burger. That wouldn't go over in my house. Side dishes are a necessity. Plus, the dog was out of food. So I made the trek to not one, but two stores. Lucky me.

On the way home, through the back streets of Sylvania, I came across something you don't see every day in a suburban neighborhood:

A rooster.

Not one but 2, roosters. Right alongside the road just peck, peck, peckin' away. Had to stop and take a picture. They were really very pretty and colorful. Hard to tell in the photo but there was a lot of blue coloring in their body. As if you wanted to know that. What they were doing there, I have no idea. Although the house right nearby did look like it could be a place that would have roosters. I don't know why I think that, but I do.

So dog food? Check. Chips and dip? Check. Rooster photos? Check. I guess the trip out wasn't so bad after all.

Like a little heat in your salsa?

2011-09-14T20:47:00.003-04:00

We were gifted with a large bag of homegrown tomatoes the other day that were just screaming to be turned into salsa. I like the chunky, fresh kind better than store bought (although I will eat that too) so I googled a recipe and whipped up some salsa today. I did make a few adjustments so I'm calling this Mary's Lotsa Hotsa salsa - here's the recipe:
Disclaimer - I didn't measure exactly so these amounts are a little lucy-goosey. Just go with what "looks" right to you.

8-9 large ripe tomatoes
5 green onions
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 green pepper
1/4 c. of cilantro (I used a little less)
4-5 hot peppers - now the recipe I started from used jalapenos but that's not what I had. I don't know what I had. My aunt grew them and told me they were hot peppers. I didn't bite one to find out how hot so I just grabbed 5 (or 6) of them and chopped away. Next time I will use less. I don't like the salsa to burn my mouth. Judge for yourself how hot your peppers are and go from there.

Chop all these veggies up in little tiny pieces. Mix together in a large bowl.

Now whisk together in a separate bowl the following:
3 tbls olive oil
2-3 tbls wine vinegar (I used white but the original recipe called for red)
1 1/2 tbls lime juice
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Pour this connoction over the veggies and mix everything together thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour. Before serving, I drained the whole bowl of salsa as it was too juicy for my tastes. Then serve. But be warned - it's got a kick! Makes a large bowl - enough to share with the heat-lovers in your life.

And then to balance out the heat, be sure to have ice cream on hand for dessert. Oh yeah.

A quiet evening reading....

2011-09-13T22:02:00.000-04:00

We don't read often enough. It seems as though we are always busy with other things and we don't take the time for ourselves to sit down and enjoy a good book. But recently, hubby has been on a reading spree. He reads on the porch every evening before dinner. He reads after dinner in the living room, sometimes with his dog by his side. It's relaxing and rejuvenating. Exhibit A:

Hipstamatic

John S Lens

Ina's 1969 Film

Why the renewed interest in a good book? BECAUSE TV SUCKS!

I love a good craft show but....

2011-09-12T23:29:00.000-04:00

Every year I try to get to at least one or two craft shows. I'm not sure why as I rarely buy anything. I have enough decor and chachkis (sp?) to last a lifetime. Or at least awhile. But I am always interested in seeing what the new "thing" in crafts is. Remember when puffy-painted sweatshirst were all the rage? And how about light-up Christmas trees constructed from pinecones? So this past Sunday, my darling daughter and I checked out the Sylvania Arts and Crafts show at Lourdes University.

Take a look at some of the photos I was able to get before the rain moved in:

The people

The arts

The crafts

I know! How cute are those frying pan chickens?! The highlight of the show, I tell ya. Well, that and the metal skeleton but I don't have a photo to share.

But here's the downside of our annual craft show trek. About a third of the show was "art" - photography, painting, glass.... Another third was crafts - metal frying pan chickens, little girl's tutus, stuffed snowmen.... And the final third was home party vendors.Tupperware, Avon, Miche, and so on. Really? This is not what I go to an arts and craft show to see! Give me more ornaments, hanging dish towels, even marshmallow shooters! (Have you ever seen those? They sell like hotcakes every year. To the parents who brought their whiney children to an arts and crafts show!!) My overall feeling is that if I wanted Tupperware, I would have a party. If I want to sign up for the local paper, I would place a call (yes, they had a booth at the fair also - how crazy is that?) Are we just running out of good homemade trinket ideas to sell? Is that possible? Or has the table rental become too overpriced and therefore keeping good craftsmen away?

I say, bring back the handmade treasures! Lower the overhead so the little crafter can participate and sell their creative wears. Let's see the rebirth of puffy painted sweatshirts!!

Otherwise, I will be forced to buy another Miche purse next year.

Remembering 9/11

2011-09-11T01:32:00.000-04:00

Do you remember where you were 10 years ago today? I do. I was on my way to a new, net-yet-open-for-business local scrapbook store to help my friend (and store owner) set up stock in time for her grand opening. On my way, I stopped at the gas station. When I went inside, the clerk had the radio on and mentioned that a plane hit a building in New York. Hmmm, I thought, and went on my way. When I got to the store, I relayed the information I had heard at the gas station to everyone working and we found a radio to turn on so we could see if there was any more to the story. By the time we tuned in, the second building had been hit. Ok, now this was starting to sound a little strange. And then the plane hitting the Pentagon - and one down in PA - well we were more than a little freaked out, I can tell you!

Leaving earlier than I had expected to, I picked my son up from school and headed home where I sat transfixed in front of the television for hours. Barely believing the horrors that were being broadcast. Seeing, live, the buildings actually fall. Hearing the people. It was so overwhelming and so scary. I remember thinking how grateful I was not to know anyone personally involved in the tragedy and yet feeling completely connected to the people who were in the midst of the country's worst nightmare. They were my family and I felt their loss, though I am sure not as profoundly.

It was a day and an event like no other. And one that we should never, ever, have to face again.

I do not know if I agree with all of the decisions and actions made by our country as a result of that day but I hold the military in the highest regard and owe them a debt of gratitude beyond measure. I am grateful that, on my behalf, they suffer to ensure my continued safety and freedom. I pray that this country never again faces terrorism as we did on that September day. And I will never forget where I was when history unfolded on 9/11.

In love

2011-09-09T12:27:00.000-04:00

I have a new love in my life. It's my iPhone. I know - I am (close to) the last person in the world to get a smartphone and now I don't know how I lived without one. Well, I do know how I lived without one. Let's face it - a phone really only needs to make calls. It really doesn't need to function as an entertainment device. Or a resource collection. But I love that it does all that and more!

In the few days that I have had the phone, I have loaded a bunch of free apps on it - free because I'm cheap, apps because I get bored easily and want to try out everything! I'm a techie nerd like that. Some I know I will almost never use but I had to check them out anyhow. I mean, I rarely go to Starbucks, and I don't drink coffee, so do I really need their app? Probably not but I have it! Plan on playing Big Brother cornhole for the rest of my life? No, but it's been fun for a few days.

I think my husband is on the verge of strangling me as I have an "app a day" show-and-tell habit. But I know deep down he's impressed. He can't fool me. I am sure he is secretly wishing he had a cool phone that would allow him to play Tap Tap Glee.

Ok, I have to go - I have to find a place to get lunch with my Poynt app and then play a little mobile Words with Friends. Be sure to check out my iPhone review at Are You on the Fence. I'll share some more great apps with you there. I know you can't wait!

It has begun

2011-08-25T00:04:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow at this time I can officially say that week one of Fall semester is done. Over. Finito. Yay. I really don't mind the school season. At least not entirely. There's something about the routine that soothes my OCD soul. And even though my son is a college student, he doesn't work so the long summer can get a bit boring for him. He needs to be in school so he feels a little productive, even though it's not productive in a manner that he particularly enjoys. He knows school is a necessary "evil". And he knows he's got to finish, no matter what. He's committed that way. Oh, and lest you think he's just a slacker by not having a job, he's disabled and honestly, I prefer he have ample time to devote to his studies and not try to juggle a job as well. And I don't need to juggle anything else either. Frankly.

The part I don't like about school - well there's a few of them, actually - is first of all, homework. Again, college age kid should equal doing homework on his own. Fact of the matter is being disabled means he has limited physical abilities so he needs assistance with things like typing. A 5-7 page paper would take him 5-7 24-hour days to type on his own, one finger stroke at a time. Not efficient. So on top of a part-time job, household responsibilities, crafting and blogging (yes, I consider those things a necessary part of MY daily routine), I also help out with typing, scanning materials, collating, etc... But even worse than the homework is all the complaining. The whining. The carrying on about the homework. And that's just from me. I have to keep telling myself to knock it off! However, the perfectionist in me (see above = OCD) tends to make a mountain out of a molehill and creates more work than there needs to be. Much to my son's chagrin. Which in turn makes a madwoman out of me. It's not pretty. Trust me.

So this year, I have a motto. One I am going to try to stick to, no matter the consequences. Take a backseat and let junior take the reins. Decide on his own if he should or should not read the next chapter in Multicultural Diversity. If he should or should not re-word paragraph 7 in his Political Science paper. Take it upon himself to ask for help when he needs it - not have Mother always checking in on his progress. He's a big boy. He has his big boy pants on (I think). He's gonna be a little more independent if it kills both of us. Which it might. So if you don't hear from me in the near future, you'll know where to look.You might just find me lying face down in a pile of notes and syllabi.

Meanwhile, I'm off to scan another chapter of Marketing Management before bed and email a few reminder dates to him. Old habits die hard.

31 years ago today, I married my best friend

2011-08-16T17:07:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that 31 years ago today, I married my best friend.

We were just babies, almost 21 and 20, respectively. We had no idea where the road was going to take us but we were ready for anything. Or thought we were. As much as anyone in their early 20s thinks they're ready for the road ahead of them.

We never expected so many bumps to appear in our road. I guess that's why those moments are called unexpected. We certainly didn't think we would experience some really lean times. We didn't think that we would both lose our fathers at a young age. We didn't think we would be the parents of a disabled child. We didn't think we would say goodbye to not one, but three, grandbabies before they were ever held in our arms.

But despite the bumps (and the twists and turns and valleys) along the way, we have also been blessed with a lot of smooth sailing. Like the times that weren't so lean and allowed us to enjoy the fruits of our labors. Like the continued health and well-being of both of our mothers. Like the greatest lessons we have learned from both of our beautiful children. Like the seeds of patience, compassion, and love we have sown and nutured and harvested along the way.

In good times and in bad. In happiness and in sadness. Thank you for traveling this road with me, Tod. You are my light and love and always my best friend. Happy Anniversary - here's to 31 more!

My painting days are over

2011-08-07T23:55:00.000-04:00

My daughter and son-in-law moved into their first home almost exactly a year ago. Remember your first home? All the things you wanted to do to make it your own? Well, they are still in the process. Still deciding on lamps for the living room. What to do about the kitchen. Carpet or wood? I have to say, overall they have come a long way since moving in. Two of three bedrooms are painted. Living room is painted. Furniture purchased. Yard has been freshened up. New windows in the back. Well, you get the idea.

I have tried to help - a bit - but also know that they need to do it for themselves. Pride of ownership and all that. So I have only helped out when asked. Except for flowers in the front yard last year but let's not go there. I did help out with the living room painting but when it came to the dining room, they jumped in and did it themselves.

Well that is until I saw where the wall meets the ceiling. The dreaded top edging. And here's the thing - the room was painted burgandy. Sounds easy. Really not easy at all. Every.little.boo-boo.shows. I know this because I foolishly offered to help out and trim the top edge for them. The results are ok. Not great. I could keep touching up forever but I think I've convinced them that crown moulding is the answer. Hide a lot of imperfections. Daughter loved the idea. Yay me.

So yesterday, instead of touching up any more top edge in this room, I offered to help paint the baseboards. This is top edging all over again, just at the bottom of the wall! And to make matters worse, hello? Have you met my bad knee? The one I can't crawl around on? Or the bad hip that doesn't like sitting in any position if it's on the floor? So for 4 hours, on a Saturday afternoon, I dragged myself combat style along the dining room carpet (yes, I have the rug burns to prove it) in an effort to paint baseboards. The results? Is there crown moulding for the bottom of the wall? No? Well, I will say that it looks better than it did. Not perfect but better.

All I know is, I believe I am hanging up my paintbrush. Next paint job will be one done by hired help. Or not done at all. That's what my knee is telling me today. And I am taking its word for it.

My "baby's" birthday!

2011-08-01T00:08:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that my baby, Jacob, is turning 23 years old today! It seems like only yesterday that I was expecting the little bundle of joy. And when he made his entrance into the world almost 2 months early, we were surprised, delighted, scared but so thrilled to have another child bless our lives. To this day, he continues to surprise, delight and sometimes scare me but I am still thrilled that he is my son, one of the true joys of my life. Despite any obstacles he and I (and our family) have faced, we have faced them together and have come through to the other side stronger and wiser. This beautiful child of mine has taught me a lot about life, and determination, and compassion and down-to-earth goodness. I wish that all of his dreams come true as he continues to find his place in the world and I hope he knows he can always count on me to be there for him, no matter what life hands him.

I love you, Jacob - Happy Birthday!

Hot Stuff

2011-07-20T23:43:00.001-04:00

It's America's favorite pasttime - complaining about the weather. We're not happy when it's snowy and cold, we gripe when we get too much (or too little) rain. And now it's the heat. Ugh. Double and triple ugh even. When the temperature hits more than about 85, all I want to do is stay inside with the AC. And tomorrow, it's expected to reach 100. And I have to leave the house to go to work. And then leave work to come home. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh and a half.

Maybe we should start to look at the weather in a new light. Appreciate what we have when we have it. If it had not been for all the rain this spring, for instance, our grass would have started the summer months already brown. Which means by now it would be completely burned out. Ok so it is completely burned out, but it could have been worse! Or without all this heat we wouldn't appreciate the blessed coolness of the first ice storm this winter. Oh wait. I guess no one will ever appreciate that, will they?

I guess there's nothing left to do then but join the crowd. And complain about the weather. Ugh. Here's a little something to keep you cool - print and hang on your fridge:

Stay cool!

When good dreams get weird

2011-07-14T00:33:00.001-04:00

The other night I had a rather odd dream. I suppose I might have odd dreams every once in awhile but I don't usually remember them. This one was crystal clear and had me thinking "Hmmm, what did I eat for dinner last night?"

So here goes. I was at an event of some type and there were a lot of people at the venue. Most were sitting at very long, white picnic tables. I was there with some friends and family members. In addition to the picnic table seating there were sofas throughout the place where you could sit and relax.

As I am sitting and talking to the people I was there with, Steven Tyler walked in.

Yep, the one from Aerosmith and American Idol. Now, a little background here before we go any further. I am not a Steven Tyler fan in any way, shape or form but I enjoyed him on AI. At least as much as I ever thought I could possibly like Steven Tyler.

So he is at this event and as the entertainment. Not singing his own songs, however. He is circulating around the room singing to whatever song is playing on the overhead sound system. And - ok here's weird number 1 - I am apparently one of his backup singers but no one knows this little fact about me.

I move away from my group and go to one of the sofas so I can be more comfortable listening to Tyler sing. At the other end of the sofa is another woman. Not someone I know. After a few minutes, ST (his new nickname), comes up and sits down between the two of us. He then turns and ask me if I would like to make-out with him. Oh yeah, weird number 2.

We're smooching (yuck, did I really just dream of kissing Steven Tyler??) and when we "come up for air" I mention to him that it's unfortunate that he missed singing along with a Barry Manilow song. Which doesn't seem to bother him. At all. And I ask him if he is aware that I am one of his backup singers to which he replies that he does not. Great impression I've made apparently! So that ends the make-out session - but not the dream.

Along again on the couch with unknown woman who is now pissed that I got the attention from ST and she didn't so she's going to circulate around the room and bad mouth me to everyone there. Upon returning to my picnic table of friends, I now have to justify my actions, telling them all that we were ONLY kissing (my hands were in my pockets) and that I am his backup singer so it's no big deal. Uh huh.
Parting shot? I see Tyler one more time, tell him the other chick on the sofa was MAD that he ignored her and he tells me he smoothed things over with her by giving her the keys to his house and telling her to go there and wait for him in his bed.

Typical Steven Tyler!

So would you agree it was a little weird? Maybe someday I'll tell you about the dream I had in which I went skinny dipping in the Reflecting Pool in Washington D.C. with Ronald Reagan. But not tonight - I don't want you to have nightmares!

Jungle Boogie

2011-07-07T18:56:00.001-04:00

Certain members of my family have recently become addicted to the bevy of Wii dancing games and have tried Just Dance, Just Dance 2, Dance on Broadway and Michael Jackson, The Experience. Have I gotten sucked into it? A little. Not as much as I should since half of the games belong to me for the purpose of exercise. Have I told you how much I hate exercise?

But I do have to admit, I like dancing. Not that I have danced much in the last 25 years. Just at the occasional wedding or two. As a child - danced all the time. Started when I was 4. My Mom needed to get me involved in something that would burn off some of my excess energy. Oh, if only I could have stored that energy to be put into use when I hit my 50s. But I digress.

This is me in my earlier days as a rising tap dance star. No, I never made it to Broadway. I always thought I would grow up to be a Rockette or a nun who taught tap dance classes. Unfortunately, neither dream was realized. I tapped, jazzed, balletted and acrobaticed through my formative years, straight through high school. Loved the dancing. And the costumes.

Then I got married, had kids and didn't think about dancing much again. With the exception of my adoration for Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance. And now these dancing games are hanging out in my house, waiting for me to forget about the pain in my knee and the crick in my hip. Waiting for me to boogie like it's 1964. Did we boogie in '64? And yes, I have played along a couple of times because there is no better feeling than getting a higher score than your daughter who is 20 years younger than you. Mom still has it. I'm just sayin'. But here's where we differ - I wouldn't be caught dead on YouTube dancing to Jungle Boogie. Unlike these two:

Yeah. I'm in the best place in the room. Behind the camera. Where I should be. Watching the young'uns dance. I'm sure it won't always be that way but I'm not foolish enough to blog my ridiculous self dancing so you'll never know if I do or I don't. And I think we'll keep it that way.

Eau de Bacon

2011-06-20T22:26:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was Father's Day. As neither my husband or myself have living Fathers any more (both passed away 23+ years ago), our celebration usually centers around my husband, best Dad in the world to my two kids and in-law kid. This year, we also "celebrated" my son-in-law as a Daddy although his babies are no longer with us either. Doesn't make him any less of a Father. But out of respect, we kept the day rather subdues and simply enjoyed family time over steak dinner and strawberry pie dessert.

My hubby grilled the steaks as he IS the master of the grill and I fixed the veggies and baked potatoes. While finishing up dinner, I placed the baked potatoes in a bowl and then into the microwave for a couple of last warm up minutes. When I took them out of the microwave, one fell out of the bowl and onto a pan that was left on the stove. The pan had bacon grease in it, from the morning's bacon and eggs. How thrilled was I that greased splattered across the counter top? Not very, I tell ya. So I wiped everything down, washed the potato off (yes, it was still edible) and proceeded with dinner.

The rest of the evening went fine. Everyone was good and full. Dinner were done. Dessert was put away. All was well. I even managed to go to bed at a half-way decent time. Unusual for me (blame it on "Bejeweled").

This morning, as I was getting ready for work, the phone rang. That is not at all the norm for 7:30 in the morning so I grabbed the phone. No big deal - just my son's aide telling me she was running a little late. Ok, I can live with that. But imagine my surprise when I hung up the phone and realized that, in all the grease splattering yesterday, the phone receiver got sprinkled as well. This being the same receiver that was just on my ear.

It's a new scent - Eau de Bacon. Available only for a limited time and only at my house.

Have a good day. I'll be the one smelling like pig.

The state of my landscaping

2011-06-16T21:56:00.001-04:00

As mentioned before, we had a tree (ok, a good size portion of a tree) fall on our house. As a result, insurance is replacing the back half of our roof. We are then completing the job by paying for the front half of the roof. This is all good as we desperately need a new roof. Have needed it for years. So with insurance paying for half it's like getting a whole roof for only half the cost.

But not half the headache.

It took a full week to get the job done and we ran into unforseen problems because that is just the way things go in our life. A lot of the boards under the roofing were warped and rotted and had to be replaced. The beam across our family room roof was rotted as well as most of the support beams so those needed to be replaced too. Cha-ching for the roofers.

And on top of everything else, the roofers did not exercise caution around my landscaping. Not that it looks like a botanical garden or anything but I have put time in making it at least presentable and I was hoping it would stay that way! It's bad enough the tree crushed some of my favorite backyard foliage but now the roofing crew damages the stuff in the front.

Photographic evidence:

Hostas - flattened. Rhododendren - broken. And a shepherd hook? Bent like an old woman with osteoporosis.

In the end it all worked out. Another unexpected expense (roof related) was not charged to us in order to even out the loss of the plant life. I'm all about saving some money but it won't help perk up these plants. I'm afraid my front yard will look like a tank ran through it for the rest of the summer. The good news is that these are pretty hardy plants that are sure to survive and look just fine next year.

I guess I can live with that. And YAY - the roof is complete. The plant mangling roofers are gone.

Now let's wait and see what leaks the first time it rains.

Seven on Sunday

2011-06-12T17:46:00.001-04:00

1. My roof is only about 1/2 fixed and no roofers showed up this weekend. Not on Saturday due to potential rain (which never materialized) and not on Sunday due to the fact that it's Sunday.

2. Wanted to go finally see "Pirates of the Carribbean" today but hubby worked later than usual so I am instead home blogging.

3. Gorgeous day today. Lower temperatures, clear skies, sunny, beautiful. Summer could be this way every day for me.

4. Not looking forward to a new work week tomorrow. But then again, am I ever looking forward to that?

5. Dinner is cooking and smells really good. My Grandma's Hungarian chicken goulash. YUM. I'll share the recipe sometime, if you're interested.

6. Watching The Next Food Network Star tonight. Really like it and at least it's something hubby will watch with me.

7. Did I already say I'm not looking forward to a new work week? Hmmm. Well I'm NOT!

Sunday, Sunday...so good to me.....

2011-06-05T23:53:00.001-04:00

I always look forward to Sunday. It's one of the few days of the week that I intentionally try to do just about nothing. Today was a pretty typical Sunday and here's how it went:

7 am - stagger out of bed to bring the dog in from her morning constitutional. Go back to bed.
9 am - get up for a 2nd time. Although, this is a little early for me as I usually sleep till 10. However, the neighbors were out in full force this morning making noise and by 9, I couldn't take much more.
9:15 am - get my son out of bed.
9:30 am - head to McDonalds to pick up breakfast. This is also not normal but hey, I'm up early enough to still get breakfast at McDs so why not?
10:30 am - finish breakfast and hit the computer. Email doesn't get read all by itself, you know.
11-12 - take care of a few things around the house. Make beds, start a load of laundry, etc. An hour of this on a Sunday is MORE than enough.
12:30 pm - take a shower.
12:45 pm (I shower fast) - go sit on the porch with my dog. While here I a.) read, b.) talk on the phone or c.) wonder why I am outside sweating my butt off when I could be in the a.c.
1:00 pm - go in the house where it's cool.
2:30 pm - go with a friend for a photo shoot. This is also not a normal Sunday occurrence. After all, how many photos could I possibly need of myself?
3:30 pm - stop at the store. Doesn't matter which one, I just always have at least one store to stop at every Sunday.
4:00 pm - get home and have a little time to do nothing. A nap would be good right now.
5:30 pm - go to my daughter's for dinner. Usually it's the other way around and she is at our house for dinner but not today. We did, however, take the steaks, and the salad and the cupcakes.....
8:30 pm - home again.
9:00 pm - watch TV and eat a snack I am not supposed to eat. It's not like I don't have to weigh in or anything tomorrow!!
11:00 pm - back on the pc to check mail, Facebook and blog a little.
12:00 - bed.

Exciting huh?

Yes, more about the rain

2011-06-01T14:41:00.001-04:00

I know I keep going on about rain but I am happy to say that it is beautiful today. Low 80s, sunny, breezy, lovely. But that doesn't really make up for what the rain brought us this past Sunday -

Yes that is our house. Thankfully not any worse damaged than what you see. This is one of the main branches from the tree right outside the family room and my son's room. Came down in a brief but very strong storm. Crunched up the roof at the side of the family room. Tore down the corner section of our fence. Obliterated my lilac bush which I have been nursing along for years just to get 5 lilacs this Spring!

As my son said "not cool, nature, not cool".

At least we might get a new roof out of the deal. Blessing in disguise? We'll see....

Six on Saturday

2011-05-28T23:43:00.001-04:00

As Saturday winds down, here's some things that have been going on at the old home front. Not that you care but I haven't shared in a few days and it's time.

1. It's raining again.

2. Jacob has been sick most of the week. Sinus infection. Yucky stuff. The rain isn't helping.

3. Still have a few flowers to get planted. Not in a huge rush - they are thriving in their little flats because of all the rain. Go flowers. I'm happy for you.

4. The dog has. had. enough. of getting her paws wiped each and every time she comes in the house. See #1.

5. I don't think I have the energy to think of a #5.

6. Time for bed. Where I can lay and listen to more rain. Shoot me now.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone.

Is that sun I see?

2011-05-21T13:56:00.001-04:00

So today is the last day of the world. Or so they say. I don't agree. I believe we won't know a specific date or time when the world will end. If it ever does. Frankly, if it does, it will be due to our own human stupidity anyhow, not because God decided to just end things. It will be because people can't seem to get along. And in the end will blow each other up. Because we're not bright, is what I'm sayin'. So, no, I haven't given away my worldly possessions because hey, I just bought that Kindle, thank you very much!

Despite the fact that the world will not be ending today, I do have to say that I think we are revisiting the days of Noah, however. I mean, how much more rain do we have to get before we are all building arks in our back yards? Today, it's a nice day. The sun is shining and it's warm. But the ground is wet, muddy, and that combination - sun and wet - is creating some hair-frizzing humidity. I'm not a fan. But I am less a fan of more rain which is coming our way this week. 50% chance Monday through Friday. Don't. like. it. Send it to someone who needs it because I think I heard we are 7 inches or so over average since the beginning of the year. Send it to one of those desert countries. Where it's hot and dry all the time. Maybe some rain would cool those people down. And they'd be happy. And they'd stop thinking of ways to nuke us. And end the world. Which again, won't be today.

But just in case it turns out that it is today, I'm eating a big dinner before 6:00 pm.

Planting in the mud

2011-05-17T18:32:00.001-04:00

A couple of days ago, my daughter and I went flower shopping. Mid May is planting time and, as I do every year, I tend to go all out and load up on flowers that will invariably die by mid July. And every year I always think I have sooo many flowers and then I get them planted and think I could have used more.

This year I bought flats of pansies, begonias, coleus and a few other assorted single plants such as a peony, some English daisies and a couple other things I don't recall the names of. Everything is in shades of pinks and purples except for one of the plants I can't remember the name of. These seem to be more on the red side so I don't know what I was thinking when I bought these. They're pretty but they don't "go" with the color scheme so they might be planted in the back yard. But I digress. Well, not entirely, but a little.

Color isn't the problem right now with my planting. It's the unending rain. It's the "hey I don't care if it's the middle of May, I want to be cold, windy and wet. I didn't get enough of April". That's Mother Nature speaking. She's being a bitch this Spring. Very stingy with the sun. Holding back all the warmth. Frankly, she's a pain in the butt.

So this afternoon I started planting. In the cold, with a jacket on, muddyish dirt caking on my fingers. But it felt good to get a little dirty. And plant regardless of Mother Nature's plans. Until, of course, she decided to rain on me. Half the pansies planted - that's as far as I got. Maybe tomorrow the other half will get in the ground. Little by little, they'll all get planted. And they will look radiant in my garden. Well at least until the middle of July. Take that, Mother Nature!

How's your garden growing this year?

What's with me and the eating already??

2011-05-13T15:15:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, I was barely eating a thing. Stress and depression will do that to you. But now, the reverse has been happening. I am eating everything in sight! Weight Watchers what? I'm watching my weight - go UP! Yes, I am an emotional stress eater. But you know what? After the few weeks I've had, I'm ok with that. I needed to not think about dieting. I needed to be comforted by comfort food. I needed to eat my share of the Easter candy and then some.

But it's time to get back on track. I know I need to get back on the scale and it isn't going to be pretty. But I am allowing myself this misstep in my weight loss journey. I am forgiving myself my eating indiscretions. Because I have been through an extraordinarily stressful time. And now I need to move forward.

My granddaughter would want me to.

Kitty-sitting

2011-05-11T09:33:00.000-04:00

My daughter and son-in-law adopted an 8 week old kitty and then left for an overnight trip. Ok they adopted the kitty a couple of weeks ago. Not like they went and picked out a kitty, brought it home and then said "hey, we're outta here". But they did go away last night and I am the kitty-sitter. Now this might sound like a fun, relaxing time but here's the poop, as it is. Pippa (named after the royal sister) is not litter trained. So she has to be watched pretty closely, especially when she heads to a secluded corner of the room. On top of scooping her up every 10 minutes and setting her in her litter box, she is also on 2 medicines and if you have never given medicine to a cat, let me tell you that you just don't know whay you're missing! Fun is what it is not.

I also must mention that Pippa is a very vocal kitty and meows and meows. And she is part parrot as her favorite landing spot is on your shoulder. Although, at present she is curled up in my left arm and this post is taking three times longer than it should while I am typing with only one hand. Pretty much one finger.

Oh, but the purring makes it all worthwhile.

Yep, they don't get much cuter than this. Poop issues and all.

20 days with an angel

2011-05-09T00:09:00.001-04:00

It's been one month since I posted here. At that time, I asked that the world give us a break...stop wreaking havoc in our lives. That was not to be. On April 19th, our precious baby granddaughter, Liberty Ann, passed away. And, being as it is Mother's Day, I feel the need to remember her on this blog. In my own little way.

Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. My eyes open in the morning and her name pops into my head. I know that this is the product of powerful grief and that in time, the feelings will not be as strong as they are now. Not that I won't always love her because I certainly will but eventually I won't wake up and think of her first. And think of her often. And today, that's a thought that I cannot bear. Because right now, it only makes sense that for every. single. day. I should wake up with her name on my mind and in my heart. I don't want that to go away. Because when it does, I feel as though that will mean I've come to accept the fact that she is really gone. And I don't want to accept that fact. It doesn't seem right to "come to terms with it". After only 20 days, this beautiful baby touched my life in so many ways. And right now, I need her to stay front and center in my mind. I need to think of her often. I need to feel the sadness that her passing has caused. Anything less just isn't acceptable to me right now.

But of course that's not the way it will always be. Times does heal all wounds - even the deepest of them. And I know that in time, the memories I have of her will not be so painful, they won't bring tears so easily. That's the way life works. But for now, there are too many unanswered questions, too many raw emotions, too much lack of faith, too much sadness and too much of me not wanting to let go. I need to have her here - if not physically, then mentally. And emotionally. To be my angel. I miss you Miss Libby, today and forever. Love, Grandma.

Are you kidding me??

2011-04-08T23:17:00.001-04:00

As mentioned in my last post, our world has been a little topsy-turvy with the arrival of my granddaughter 15 weeks premature. By the way, she is doing quite well. At least as well as can be expected when you're so tiny. It's hard work growing. But she is a fighter. Love that about her. Along with a lot of others things I love about her, too.

But on top of that, let's see - what else has been going on?

Well, a family friend passed away from the sucky cancer. Our son-in-law ruptured his eardrum (don't ask). And my husband got robbed at work. He's a convenience store manager so it is a hazard that comes with the job. Fortunately, it rarely happens, especially during the daytime hours when he is working. For that, I am grateful. But the other morning, someone decided to change that and stole the cash register from the store. The entire register. That is after hubby walked out of the store to call the police and locked the guy inside. Better than confronting him, that's my motto. Especially as he threatened that he had a gun. Just let him take what he wants. So he took a register and ran down the street with it, tripping and falling a few times along the way. Registers are heavy. And it's hard to run when the crotch of your pants is down around your knees.

I'm almost afraid of what might happen next. Or maybe it's over, this current stream of upheaval in our lives. At least for a little while - pretty please?

How things can change in the blink of an eye

2011-04-04T07:03:00.000-04:00

I have been so absent from this blog. Not that I meant to pull a disappearing act. It seems as the last few weeks have just been so full of "things" - helping Jacob with school work being a major one. That's how it always is at the end of a semester. Nothing new there.

Frankly I think I could blame my lack of blogging on the 365 Project that I am trying to keep up on. It takes a lot out of a girl trying to figure out what to take a photo of each and every day. Who has time to think of writing too?

And it might also be due to a fairly consistent TV schedule because I am all about the TV and as long as there is something new to watch, I am likely not thinking about blog fodder. Dancing with the Stars and American Idol take precedence here, people!

But I at least have a really big - well, rather, really tiny - reason for not blogging this past week.

Our family welcomed its newest addition - Liberty Ann. Born 15 weeks early by c-section, this little peanut has us all wrapped around her teeny, tiny finger. And for good reason. She is the third baby my daughter has carried but the first to be here with us. And she is a little fighter! Which, of course, she has to be. She is 5 days old today, weighs just a little over a pound, is 11 inches long and is doing very well. Keeping toasty in her isolette where she will be for the next few months. Growing and thriving and then coming home to a family that adores every little thing about her!

So that's what I've been busy with. At least this past week. And undoubtedly through the weeks and months ahead. And I'm not complaining one bit. Libby has my heart - she is welcome to my time, too.

Testing

2011-03-10T00:42:00.001-05:00

Working with a new-to-me computer and Windows Live Writer – checking to see what it actually does and if it’s worth my time. Would rather figure out how to import my iTunes music or my OE email but it’s too late and I’m too tired. So this is what I chose to spend a few minutes doing. And now the fun is over. Goodnight.

My car is a disco party just waiting to happen

2011-03-07T06:43:00.000-05:00

A week ago, I experienced a new phenomenon with my car. For some reason, the door ajar indicator light on my dash board turned on in the middle of my drive from work to school to pick up my son. Funny thing about it is, there was no door ajar. But, being a good and safe driver, I pulled over, got out of the car and walked around, reslamming each and every door. To no avail. The indicator light remained on. Which wouldn't have been too bad all by itself but it didn't come alone to annoy me. No, it brought its friends. That would be lighting the interior car lights and, at random, flashing the 4-way lights. I managed to take the car in for obviously needed service later that day only to be told that a part had to be ordered. And would take a week to arrive. Of course it would.

Reassured by car repair man not to worry, the disco in my car wouldn't be a problem and that I could continue to drive until the part was available, I took the car home. Pretty much let it sit untouched in the driveway all weekend. Cause where do I have to go? Monday I lucked out and didn't have to go anywhere because the sewer at my house backed up and caused "water" to come up in my tub whenever I flushed the toilet. But that's another story for another day.

On Tuesday, it was back in the car. On the way to school, another piece was added to the puzzle. Now the door ajar light was flickering on and off and each time it flickered off, the power door locks relocked themselves. Again, not so bad except the lock on one door makes a rather obnoxious noise each time it locks so now the disco has sound as well as light. Greeaaatt.

Here's another funny thing - halfway to work on Tuesday everything stopped and went back to normal. No lights. No relocking. Nothing. Just normal. And stayed that way all week. Until yesterday, when I needed to actually go somewhere fun. For once. With the whole family bundled up and ready for an outing. Then the car was dead. No turning on. Caput. Just click, click, click when I turned the key. So I ushered the family back into the house. No Polish Party for us! (Don't ask - my son loves pierogies).

Hubby later jumped the battery, which did get the car started, and I drove it to the repair shop where it is sitting, alone, with its 4-way lights slowly blinking and its door ajar light feebly struggling to stay lit, while it waits for its repair appointment. It's in a good place. Had it stayed at home any longer, taunting me with its problems, I might have taken a gun to it and put it out of its misery.

Wouldn't have been the first time a shooting occured at a disco.

365 Project - Week 2

2011-02-15T23:36:00.000-05:00

I may be a little slow at getting these photos posted but you know it's worth the wait, right? Here is week 2 of my 365 day photographic experience.

And here's a run down of all the excitement from Week 2 starting top left:

1. Dirty dishes. They never seem to go away. They multiply. They annoy me. This is why I love fast food. It doesn't create dishes.

2. Moving right - ice. Ranks right up there with dirty dishes.

3. Moving right again - A photo of my crafting area mid project. Actually doesn't look too bad. Sometimes it is much worse. But isn't that the sign of a true artiste? Eh, no? This photo makes me happy because I love squeezing a little time into my day for crafting. It relaxes me.

4. Second row - left. Eating dinner and watching American Idol together as a family. With fast food. So there are no dishes. This is contentment in its truest form.

5. Moving right again - more snow. If you take a closer look (click the photo for a larger view) you can see the flakes falling. Those little lights are going to get buried if it doesn't let up soon!

6. Bottom left. A story with this photo. On this morning, during the dog's morning outdoor excursion, she decided to dig from the snow a frozen dead mouse and leave it for me by the gate going into the back yard. Where it stayed until I came home from work because I cannot stand the thought of a dead rodent first thing in the morning. As a result, she got her teeth brushed. My motto - if you have a dead mouse in your mouth, your teeth will be brushed if you think you're ever licking me again. That goes for anything or anyone.

7. Last photo is just a typical family photo before dinner. Daughter was over for dinner and I thought it would be a good time to get a group shot. Of course, someone had to act goofy. What else is new?

Next set of photos are all themed. 1st week of February photos - can you guess what the theme will be? I'll post them as soon as I can cause I know you can't stand the suspense. Until then, have a great week -

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2011-02-14T07:50:00.001-05:00

This Valentine's Day, I decided to try my baker's hand at red velvet cupcakes. I have always heard so much about them and every cake show on TV is always whipping up a batch. They look good but not only have I never made them, I have never tasted them either. So the other day, while looking through random web articles while at work (shhhh), I came across an article about what a red velvet cake is and what it isn't. I was mistakenly under the impression that it was a chocolate cake with red food coloring. Not so. Food coloring yes. Chocolate- not so much. And the recipe that was provided was one from butter-lover queen Paula Deen (found here). How could I go wrong? And what would say love more than red velvet cupcakes?

I started mixing all of the ingredients per above noted recipe. Warning - if you try this yourself, be sure to wear something that you don't mind stained with red food coloring. It will happen.

Yes, we're talking red here, people!

They came out of the oven looking exactly as I pictured. Red. Not sure I expected anything else.

And topped with homemade cream cheese frosting that has a whole stick of butter in it, y'all. I knew I could count on Paula to bring on the trans fats. (Do you recall that I am on Weight Watchers? Yeeaahhhh).

After a wonderful dinner that included a heart shaped meatloaf (who's romantic like that?) we desserted on red velvet cupcakes. The results? They are not anything special and I'm not quite sure what the fascination with them is. They basically have no flavor. Well except for the frosting. That made it all worthwhile. But as for the cake part itself, I think I would have been better off living in my uninformed "red velvet is a chocolate cake with red food coloring" world. At least then I would have wasted all those WW points on something with flavor. Chocolate flavor. And there is nothing at all wrong with that.

Have a lovely day - no matter what you eat.

It's a Girl!

2011-02-10T23:09:00.004-05:00

No, there's not a new baby yet but my daughter's ultrasound yesterday determined that she is having a girl!

Here's a side view. She's perfect, isn't she? After our 1st granddaughter left us much too soon, I was afraid maybe another girl wasn't going to be in the future picture so I am very excited that this cutie is all female. And is she ever going to be one spoiled little princess! But we still have a long time to wait for her arrival. Patiently wait. No surprises. No early "hi world, I'm here", ok little lady? Grandma will wait patiently. We just want you to grow big and strong and healthy. And grace us with your presence when it is the right time.

Meanwhile, Grandma's waving right back at ya, sweetheart.

Week one of the 365 Project

2011-02-04T22:11:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I started the 365 Project where I take a photo every day. I am then planning on digitally scrapbooking these photos and including short descriptions of each. And then, I plan on boring you all with each and every layout. Because it is the blogging thing to do. And because I can. Please don't leave. You might actually enjoy some of the photos.

So here is week one - which for me started January 16th. Yes, I was a little slow to get this project started. But started I did. Here's the proof. (Click the photo for a larger view).

Starting top left - day 1. Finally took the Christmas tree down. On January 16th. Remember that comment about slow to get projects started? Sometimes I am slow to get them ended and put away, too.

Moving right - day 2. Winter tree outside the therapist's office. Where I find myself twice a week in the hopes my knee will feel better. So far, it's not working.

Day 3 - Leia at the window. This is her normal look-out position every day near dinner time when she thinks she hears her daddy coming home. She's a daddy's girl.

Day 4 - middle left. We had a bit of an ice weather event - enough that Jacob didn't make it to his first Wednesday class of the Spring semester. I like the look of the ice on these branches outside our front door. I don't care for it much on the windows on my car.

Day 5 - daughter's baby bump at approx. 15 weeks. Not that I needed to tell you that. Unless you can't read. In which case I would expect this blog is really more boring than even I can imagine.

Day 6 - below baby bump. Really cold temps. Normal January. Thank goodness for a fireplace.

Day 7 - Late night student breakfast. Jacob is in the middle (look for wheelchair and black/gray coat) playing a game with a group of students. At 11:00 pm. With his Mom taking a picture. No, he does not live a wild co-ed life. Much to his disappointment. But he did enjoy the late night breakfast.

That's it for week 1. 51 weeks to go.

365-ing it

2011-01-30T19:26:00.001-05:00

Two weeks into the New Year and I decided that I should play along with the 365 Project. That is a project where you take a photo every single day for a year. This from the gal that rarely remembers her camera on important occasions. But here is my thought process on this whole project:

1. I need to improve the quality of my photography and this will give me practice opportunities
2. I need to remember to take photographs of things other than birthdays, Christmas and Easter
3. I need to be able to look back at 365 days of my perfectly boring life and realize that it is just that - boring.

So I am just past 2 weeks in and I am running out of things to photograph. So I decided that the first week of each month will be a theme week. Being February and all, the theme for this week will be Love. And, just by coincidence, my favorite blogger, June of Bye Bye Pie, issued her readers a challenge - to take a random photo of something we were doing today. Specifically today. Including the time of day. And email it to her so she can assemble a Norman Rockwell-esque look at how her readers spend the course of a Sunday. I am sure it is guaranteed to be a thrilling expose. Add an accent mark on that e. Sounds like expos-A. We're not exposing anything. At least I hope not.

Although, as you will see by my photo, I did do a little exposing -

That's my husband being exposed to 27 degree weather to grill my chicken for dinner. And since my theme for the week is Love, what says love better than freezing your ass off to make dinner for the family?

I hope you are looking forward to more riveting 365 photos as the year progresses. I know I am. If I can just figure out what to take a picture of next.

If you'd like to follow along, consider becoming a follower. I need more of them. I'm just sayin'.

Where did 30 years go?

2011-01-07T00:26:00.001-05:00

It's hard to believe that 30 years have passed since the day my first and only daughter came into my life. 10 days late and yes, she still runs late at times. Must have been born in her. My water broke and I was admitted to the hospital about 6 p.m. on a very cold and snowy January evening and Aimee was born about 13 hours of hard labor later. Red haired. Not what I was expecting. And a girl. Also not what I was expecting. We named her Aimee after a girl I knew in college. I loved the name and the fact that the word was a form of the French word for "friend". And this red-haired daughter of mine did, in fact, become one of my best friends.

Always inquisitive and somewhat of a mischief maker, she kept us young parents on our toes. Becoming a mom at age 20 was an eye-opener and I learned a lot, fast. Like how to fix a pair of pajamas so a little 2 year old couldn't strip out of them and paint her bedroom walls with poop. Oh yes she did.

She worked really hard at school and was a good student. Wanted to be friends with everyone and was hurt when some didn't want to be friends back. Aimee wore her heart on her sleeve and still does. It's an endearing trait but one that makes her vulnerable and open to disappointment. But she could always find her happiness and she spread it to everyone around her. Another trait that continues today. It's hard to be with her and not want to smile. Or laugh. We have shared many laughs over the years. Like the time......ah, a story for another day, maybe.

Aimee is also the bestest big sister in the world. She has never treated her brother as an inconvenience, was never jealous over the attention he received and has always been there for him. To teach. To help. To love. To talk him through some of his moods, to play with him and tease him just enough...like any sister would do with her brother. Despite his disability, she always sees him for the person that he is - not a wheelchair bound person but an equal, as a person with abilities, limited as they are, as a funny, bright and loving boy, now young man. Aimee loves children and she will certainly be an awesome mother some day. Some day in the not too distant future.

She has blossomed into a caring, compassionate, loving young woman who has morals and standards and a profound sense of committment. She works hard and she plays hard and she is so full of life. In more ways than one. She's "growing a human". A baby she so desperately wants and deserves. It has not been an easy road for her and her husband and experiencing 2 losses has been extremely painful but she has handled it with strength and poise and the resolution to continue trying. This time there has to be a positive end result. Because she deserves nothing less.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl, my daughter, my friend. You have become the woman I always dreamt of having as a daughter. Despite any failures on my part, you turned out great! And you are such a blessing to me. I am proud of you and all your accomplishments and I can't wait to see what the next 30 years brings you. I hope your day is truly as wonderful as you are and that the coming year brings you more happiness than you could ever imagine.

All my love,
Mom

The Grinch Story

2010-12-28T07:39:00.002-05:00

Our Christmas Day ended on a high note with dinner and a few more gifts at my Mom's. We all pitched in to cook/set up/clean up and so on, since Mom hurt her back and can't do much more than walk herself to the bathroom at the present time. Then it was home for a little TV and early bed. All that Christmassing makes one tired.

But I told you in the last post that I would share the hubby Grinch story so here goes:

My husband doesn't like Christmas. Well, that's not entirely true. He likes the decorations. He likes the cookies. He likes the holiday movies. He doesn't like the shopping. Keep in mind he only shops for one person - me. And through out the month of December, he announces his dislike of Christmas many times over - until the point where I want to wrap tinsel around his neck in his sleep. Nothing like a disgruntled husband in the house when you are trying to create holiday cheer.

So once again this year, he put off his shopping until the weekend before Christmas. He always hopes each year that I will just throw in the towel and agree to buy my own gifts on his dime. But let me tell you - that ain't gonna happen! I make it easy with a list of what I want and where to get it. This should not be a difficult task. And frankly, it's all he has to do for Christmas so yes, he's expected to do it. And while he is making it well-known that he doesn't want to shop, I am making it well-known that he had better and the sooner, the better! I want to make sure I am not going to be short-gifted. I'm ~~greedy~~ ~~selfish~~ a good reminder like that.

He went out shopping this year on the Monday before Christmas. Crazy time at any retail place. He had a $ limit but we always do. Nice to know we're kinda even with each other on the expense end of gift giving. He was home in 1 1/2 hours and pronounced that his shopping was finished. Fishy I tell ya. Who can get any real shopping done at Christmas in an hour and a half? Also, he didn't carry any packages into the house. More fishy. Fishier. Whatever.

After Mass on Christmas Eve, he ran to the gas station to fill-up, in case they were closed on Christmas Day. He comes home and now it's almost time for bed and I still don't see any boxes for me under the tree. I ~~politely~~ remind him that we are opening gifts in the morning and shouldn't he get my gifts wrapped already? A little while later, he is off to bed and it's time for me to fill stockings. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? NO GIFTS for me under the tree! Just a filled stocking. This does not bode well for a good Christmas Day, I can tell ya! But off to bed I go - no dreams of sugarplums in my head!

Christmas morning we're up at 7, and hubby and son have gifts to open. No, No, I say, you go ahead and open your presents - I will just sit here and watch. Once they are done having fun, he hands me my stocking. It's an expensive stocking, he says. Your gifts are in here. So, ok, I look through the stocking. And yes, it was filled with all kinds of goodies including more Pandora charms and lots of gift cards and candy. Ok, nice recovery. He spent what I expected and I got things I wanted. I guess it's an ok Christmas after all.

And then he pulls the rabbit from the hat. He says to the dog - "Don't we have something else for Mom? Didn't we get something for her to unwrap? Cause Mom needs something to unwrap. I think we left it in the car - let's go see if there is something in the car for Mom." So they head out of the house and all I can think is - he ran to the gas station - did he wrap up a Hostess pie for me?

And in he walks with a big wrapped gift. And lookie what I got:

He hadn't gone to the gas station at all. He picked up this gift he has stashed at our daughter's house. OH yeah. The Grinch's heart grew 2 sizes the day he decided to double his Christmas expenses and buy me a KitchenAid! I am a ~~spoiled~~ lucky girl! No more stalking the Pioneer Woman's blog to try to win one of these babies. Now I can just start cooking like her! (Yeah, right).

So all ended well this Christmas. As my son said, this is apparently the holiday game me and hubby play each year. He complains about Christmas all month, I complain back that he better get shopping if he knows what's good for him (or "you don't love me enough to shop for me" - I might say that once in awhile too), then he spends way more money than he should out of guilt and then I think he spent too much on me ~~but love everything and am NOT taking it back~~. It's a game that works for us. And it gets me cool things like a KitchenAid.

Christmas time is here

2010-12-25T10:13:00.003-05:00

A Merry Christmas morning to you and your family!

I have a little quiet time this morning so I thought I would post a few photos from our Christmas celebrating thus far. I know most people would be spending Christmas morning with their kids, opening their gifts, having a big breakfast, going to church....we already did all that. As a matter of fact, hubby is at work, son is playing with one of his new games and it's just me and the dog hanging out. So a blogging I will go...

Our Christmas started on the Eve with dinner and gifts at our daughter's house - the first time she and her husband have hosted a holiday get-together. And it was really nice! Especially since I didn't have to do any of the cooking. I just helped at the last minute get everything finished up and out on the table. And YUM - the food was wonderful! You just can't beat standing rib roast.

Here are a few pictures from our time on Christmas Eve with daughter, son-in-law, and his parents:

My husband and Kyle's mom

Kyle and Aimee

We then attended evening Mass and came home and off to bed. Such party people.

In the morning, we were up at 7, opening gifts, eating breakfast and done with the festivities by 8:30 when my husband left for work. It's not much fun managing a convenience store on the holidays. Would it kill people to make sure they get their cigarettes and beer the day BEFORE a holiday so store employees could spend an entire day with their family? Just an FYI for all you people who run out for something on Christmas Day - KNOCK it OFF! Plan ahead. Or do without. One year I would like to spend the entire day with my family together, ok?

Anyhow, enough of that - on to some pictures:

Jacob opening up some new games

Me delving into the stocking. Don't judge the clothing/hair/lack of makeup - it's 7:00 a.m. for heaven's sake!

Hubby with appropriate Grinch boxers. Story to follow.

Even the pooch enjoys getting into the action and Santa filled her stocking as well.

The rest of the day will be spent at my mom's eating and opening a few more gifts and then home by early evening for some relaxing and Christmas cookie munching. And maybe a glass of wine. Sounds like the perfect way to end Christmas Day. Or any day.

Tomorrow - a story about my hubby the Grinch and how I reap the rewards :)

Christmas is WHEN?

2010-12-18T23:16:00.001-05:00

Is it just me or did the month of December just fly by like Santa on Christmas Eve? Like Rudolph with his tail on fire? Like the ghost of Christmas past whizzing Scrooge out his bedroom window? It went fast. Poof. Almost gone. And I'm not ready.

Not that I am always on top of things and prepared in advance and sitting back, sipping eggnog and singing carols while toasting chestnuts on an open fire. No, I am sometimes getting my Christmas together a week or so before it actually shows up.

But this year? So not ready. The shopping isn't done. The baking isn't done. Even the decorating isn't really done. Although it's done enough for me. Sometimes I just have to know when enough is enough and throw in the towel on any more.

For instance, I didn't set up my Christmas village this year. Too much work - not enough time. And then I got sick and had no energy so the village is not making an appearance this year. The outdoorsy wall tree isn't gonna show up either. I'm okay with that. No one else in the house even noticed.

The main tree is up and was decorated between naps while I was sick. Didn't affect the outcome much - it looks awesome. As usual. Sorry, gotta brag about that. Here's the proof:

I know, the LED lights make it look kinda disco-y but it isn't. I can only control the camera just so much. You can almost see the star on the top. Fabulous photography skills. It really is a very pretty tree and PACKED with ornaments but this picture makes it look like just lights and garland. Trust me when I say it is so much more. You should be jealous that your tree doesn't look as good. I'm just sayin' - it's that perfect.

In place of the village, I added some framed photos and greenery to the bookcases and entertainment center like this:

Poor poinsetta might survive till Christmas. That's one benefit of decorating last minute. Christmas plants that last until the holiday for a change. No, I can't keep a poinsetta. My mom has one that has been thriving in her house for 5 years or something. They are disposable to me. It will be dead by New Years. But it looks nice for now.

I also added a couple new things this year like the ornaments hanging from my dining room light:

And in the background, you can see a new angel on top of the curio cabinet:

Love her. Not sure what it is but she speaks to me. Not really, but you know what I mean. She just makes Christmas seem all peaceful and stuff. And golden. I like that about Christmas. The golden part. The peaceful part is an illusion.

And I collected some of my miscellaneous Santa things and added them to the shelf above my kitchen sink:

These things make me smile. Which is always a good thing when I am in the kitchen baking my *$$ off! The crocheted Santa was made by my mom, the Annilee elf was bought for me by my aunt, I bought the fat Santa in the middle as well as the Santa face clay pot at the right end and the triangular Santa and tree was made by my son in grade school. Love it so much!

So that's a little peek at some of my decor this year. There's more but it's the same as last year. If you want to take a look, you can see it here. Now I need to focus on finishing the baking and the shopping and the wrapping and the, the,.... well, I don't know what else but I'm sure there's more to do!

Before I know it, December will be gone and then it will be time to complain about putting all the Christmas stuff away. You know you want to stay tuned for that.

Holiday Weekend Wrap-Up

2010-11-28T07:52:00.002-05:00

Well, the weekend isn't exactly over yet as technically it is only Sunday morning but as far as I am concerned, there is no weekend fun left for me so it might as well be over. The remainder of the day will be spent helping my son get a 10 page paper for Ethics ready to be turned in soon. And a take-home final exam. And the final reworking of a 2nd 10 page paper for another class. Oh yeah, the weekend is definitely over for me. And while I will be tackling the homework "joy", my husband will be out enjoying lunch with a friend at Hooters. I would rather be subjected to waitresses in short-shorts than be on the "I-hate-school-why-do-they-make-us-do-all-this-work!" train but here I am.

Can you tell I'm going into this with a positive mind set?

Anyhow, I digress. The weekend was really very nice, although a lot of work. It always surprises me how tired I get from simply preparing food. But this weekend was a little different, too, in that we had a guest (my husband's sister) from out of town for a couple of days that we entertained and entertaining is exhausting! Thanksgivings past were a lot of work, too, but once dinner was over and everyone went home, I just sat around like a slug for the rest of the weekend. But that's not so easy to do with company. Although I tried. I actually sent her (and her dog) to my daughter's house to sleep. Not that I have to entertain company at 3:00 a.m. or anything but by having her sleep somewhere else, I could at least sleep-in myself. And not get up early and make breakfast. Who's lazy?

But oh the food this weekend was awesome (yes, I am patting myself on the back). I mean, really good. Usually there is one thing I make that is not so good but everyone eats a little just to be nice. But this year it was perfect. Excellent turkey, plenty of stuffing, fabulous potatoes, spinach and cheese casserole to die for, green beans, cranberries - even the dip was superb! Love that. If I'm going to work in the kitchen for 2 days, the results had better be fabulous and there was no disappointing this year. Even the turkey sandwiches the next day were so good.

We also enjoyed time together as a family going over the Black Friday ads, watching the newly released "Christmas Carol" animated movie from Disney and getting our faces read. Um yeah. That was not at all my idea. See what happens when you have company for the holidays? It was ok, though - we don't mind humoring our out-of-town guests a bit. We're hospitable like that.

And most of the weekend, post turkey, had us all looking like this:

Son-in-law and husband with beer.

Son wondering why I am taking his picture. No beer.

Visiting sister-in-law with wine (and more beer on the table).

Daughter with 2 sleeping dogs. Also no beer. Smart girl.

Looking back over the weekend, I know I have a lot to be thankful for. Good food, fun times, people (and a pooch) I love. All good. Except homework.

Harry Potter Part 1

2010-11-19T23:10:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I spent the evening at the movies with my husband, son and a friend to see the 1st of the final Harry Potter movies. It is always interesting to see what I recall from the books when I see the movies - and yes, I have read every book and seen every movie so far. Don't judge me. If you haven't read the series, you most definitely should. My whole family are Pottermaniacs and it's been a treat to share it all with them.

But, as we were talking at work, it always surprises me how much I forget from the books. Or get mixed up between books. For instance, for those of you who are fans, you will remember the character of Bellatrix. I called her Beatrice earlier in the day. Forgetful. And my friend Kathy (who went to the movie with us tonight) was thinking the trio (if you don't know who I mean, you won't care about this reference) were carrying "pieces of 8" around their necks. Umm, yeah, that would be pirates. The correct term being horcruxes. Horcruxi. Horcruxees. Whatever.

Overall, the movie was very true to the book - even the snake popped out of the old lady. Now you want to read the books, don't you? I think before Part 2, I will read the book once again just to refresh my memory. And see Part 1 all over again. And then, when Part 2 of the movie concludes, I'll be sad. The end of the Potter era. Nothing further to look forward to.

Except a trip to Harry Potter world at Universal Studios. That will definitely be in our future. Relive the magic. Long live Harry Potter.

(Go read the books. Trust me, you won't be sorry).

PS- if you see the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, I would love to know - did it end where you thought it would? I was pretty spot-on in my guess, give or take a minute or 2. Don't want to give it away so leave me a comment with your thoughts.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner

2010-11-14T23:44:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Why, you might ask? It's all about food. Nothing bad about that! And, although I am still going to Weight Watchers, I shall not be watching what I eat this Thanksgiving Day.

We host dinner at our house on Thanksgiving mostly because my sister has an aversion to sticking her hand into a raw turkey. So I took over the duties a few years ago and have it down to a science. I make a few things a day in advance and just reheat the day of while other things are being prepared. Like the turkey. And Grandma's stuffing. The only thing I don't make is the pies. That's my Mom's job. She's likes to make them so who am I to argue.

This year we might be having two extra guests from out of town so I decided I should decorate the place a bit so Thanksgiving doesn't look like it's the holiday that was forgotten. Of course, if you focus on the food, like I do, you know it's not forgotten at all. But a few pilgrims and turkeys needed to make an appearance this year as well. Here's some photos of the non-food holiday decor:

This cutie stuffed turkey sits on an end table in my family room. He's wearing a bib so he doesn't get any cranberry sauce on hisself.

New to the decor are the wicker-looking Indians and their counterparts:

the wicker-looking Pilgrims.

In front of the fireplace are a few pumpkins and a new turkey piece. Gotta love the spark-lay pumpkin.

The living room features these corn-butt Pilgrims. Their faces aren't so white in reality - the flash from the camera washed them out. But then again, they are pale-faces so maybe I shouldn't be too concerned. For some reason I seem to like my ancestors to look like anything but real people because I don't believe the true pilgrims had lower halves made of ears of corn. Or wicker. See above.

The view of my entertainment center. I did the artificial floral arranging in the cornucopia and "made" the signs framed on the wall.

Here's a close-up. These are actually just printables I found on the web that were printed on photo paper and framed in a garage sale purchased frame. I spare no expense when I decorate.

So that's how we're rolling this Thanksgiving. Which cannot get here soon enough so I have an excuse to blow off a day of dieting.

Glamour Shots

2010-11-09T23:17:00.001-05:00

A couple of days ago, I saw a news story about the "in" thing in photography called "boudoir" photos. Yeah. Cause I want my bod posing in front of a camera. On my bed. In lingerie. No, thanks. But as we were talking about this at work, I remembered Glamour Shots. Do you remember these places? A walk-in, get-a-makeover-and-get-your-photo-taken place in major malls? I thought they were so, well, glamorous and I couldn't wait to get my photos done. They "poufed" up my hair, layered me with a ton of makeup and big jewelry and I thought I was so H.o.T. Here's the photos I dredged up to share with you all:

Seriously, what is with that hair? And all the gold trim on the clothes...like Mr. T picked the wardrobe (I pity the fool!) But I have to say, my complexion never looked better! And hubby loved these photos so much, he still has one framed and sitting on his dresser. I guess he wants to remember me as the sex goddess I once was. Not as I look currently:

Hey, I just turned 50, what did you expect? Heidi Klum? I guess I will have to look into some boudoir photos just for you. And instead of big hair, maybe I'll just ask about some teeth. What do you think?

This week in retrospect

2010-11-07T01:03:00.001-04:00

I am getting lazy about posting. I don't mean to be lazy, I just forget. Or don't think I have anything to say. Which is unlikely since I always seem to have something to say. So to catch up, I am recapping this week for your enjoyment. Or not.

Monday I took the day off work to spend a little time with my aunt who was in town for a visit. She and my mom picked me up and we did what we do best - anything that involves food. We went out to lunch. We went to the Russell Stover outlet store and the Rocky Mountain Chocolate store. We did manage to stop at one non-food related store so that's a plus for us. And you wonder why I need Weight Watchers?

Tuesday it was back to work and that's all I have to say about that.

Wednesday was Princess Leia's Birthday. No, not the one from the movies. Our Princess Leia turned 4.

You go, you party animal you! Who doesn't care that it's her Birthday?

Thursday was pretty uneventful. Work again. A little TV. Yeah, I got nothing to say about Thursday.

Friday evening was family movie night against Jacob's better wishes. But that is typical. We always ask him to join us for a movie and most of the time he agrees but only after he complains about how he doesn't have time, how he probably won't like the movie, how it's creepy to hang out with your mom and dad and watch a movie, and so on. And then he watches it anyway and usually enjoys himself. This time we watched How to Train Your Dragon. It was cute.

Saturday started out with a late breakfast followed by some homework with Jacob, rounded out with a trip to the salon for a hair cut, a little perusing the holiday goodies at Hallmark and then home to create a mediocre dinner of chicken tortellini soup and homemade bread, topped off with a couple of episodes of Boston Legal (we're almost done with Season 4) and some blogging.

Now it's time to turn in and get my extra hour of sleep. Tomorrow it will be dark out by 5 pm and winter will officially begin to suck. I can't wait.

Halloween Wrap-Up

2010-11-02T23:42:00.001-04:00

Halloween has come and gone. That's ok - it's not really my favorite holiday anyhow. Frankly, no one in my house is a big fan. My daughter and her husband love it but they don't live here so we don't have to get too caught up in their excitement (and last minute costume assembling). But we do pass out candy every year and I make the entire family sit outside and join in the fun. Freezing, boring fun. Because we only get about 50 kids, if that. And it was a little cold this year. However, no one lost any limbs due to frostbite so what are they complaining about?

This is a look at the porch where the little kiddies came to get their candy. The witch's hat is hanging on a spider-web shepherd's hook and has a light inside. The bat pumpkin was our uncarved jack-o-lantern this year. Yes, you might think I took the easy way out by not carving a pumpkin but come on - how many people do you know that spray paint their pumpkins? And the little orange "jack" was the candy holder.

I also brought my ghost lights from inside the house to the yard as added spooky decor. Only thing is, since we start trick-or-treating at 6 pm, it was too light out and you couldn't see these little guys glowing. So no spooky. Not that these look like they would instill terror at any rate. Unless they were lighting the way to Dracula's Castle or something. Not in the yard of a middle aged woman handing out Tootsie Rolls.

So we passed out the goods for an hour and a half, then warmed up inside with some munchies while watching the old black and while movie (is there a color version?) of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Fun movie. If you have never seen it, add it to your Halloween movie list next year. Forget about Saw 29 or Chuckie the Demented Doll or whatever creepy, gross movie is out next October 31st. This a classic everyone should see once. And you can probably watch it instantly on Netflix. Check it out.

Other than that, Halloween was pretty uneventful. And now it's time to take down the decorations and figure out what to put up for Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday. Cause it's all about food. And that makes it a favorite of mine every time.

Speaking of food, do you think the squirrels will get poisoned when they try to eat their way through a black spray-painted pumpkin?

Halloween Rap

2010-10-28T00:25:00.001-04:00

We have no big plans for Halloween. We will be handing out candy but there won't be any dressing up, parties, or so on and so forth. Well, the daughter and son-in-law are having a party but that's for the "young" people. Us old folks are just hanging out at home, throwing treats in little costumed kiddos bags and eating the leftovers. Although even that's not too exciting since I bought junky candy this year. Yep, kids, open invitation to egg my house.

Oh, but I did do some baking so we will have a few good snacks. If they turn out tasting fabulous, and if there are any left on Halloween, I'll be sure to share recipes with you.

What do you do for Halloween? Are you the toilet-paper-er or the toilet-paper-ee?

Since I will be busy the next few days (doing what I don't know yet but it's bound to be exciting) I am posting my family Halloween wish for you all here a few days early. The cast includes hubby as Frank, daughter as Witch, son-in-law as Mummy, son as Drac and me as the "other lady". I wonder who she's supposed to be? Anyhow, enjoy! (and be sure to turn on your sound....)

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Sorry, a little of the video got cut off in order to fit the blog. If you want to see the entire screen - and why wouldn't you - you can click on this link: Halloween Rap. Happy Halloween!

Halloween Decor

2010-10-20T07:38:00.002-04:00

I know - I disappeared for awhile. I over-did it with the Birthday posts and simply ran out of things to say. No, that's not true at all. I never run out of things to say. I just thought you all might need a little break. Me too. But I'm back and here's a quick update of what you missed the past week and a half:

* Saw "Life as We Know it" Saturday. It was predictable but pretty cute.
* Still haven't eaten at PF Chang's. Sometime I will get to try the lettuce wraps.
* Down 23.6 pounds. When I actually stick to the plan, it does work.
* That's not 23.6 pounds in a week. That's the total.

* Cleaned house. I know that might not sound noteworthy to you, but trust me, it is.

* Um, yeah, I can't think of anything else that happened in the past week and a half. So you're all caught up.

I have been busy decorating the house for Halloween - something I haven't done in a number of years. We're not really Halloween people. With grown kids, it just isn't a holiday that holds much excitement any more. But I have seen so many cute Halloween decorations and crafty projects on various blogs I visit (darn you internets!) that I decided to add to our decor this year with some new purchases and a few creations. Here's a little look around our house:

This ghosty guy welcomes you at the front door.

The coffee table in the living room holds my new collection of pumpkins and a spooky crow.

One of the items I made is this cute pumpkin box that is now sitting on a shelf with two glass pumpkin candle holders. This was such a simple project, I may just have to make more!

Hanging in the dining room is the jack-o-lantern jingle bells. Yes, you heard me right.

These pieces are all sitting in various spots in the family room. The ghost I made a few years ago.

Hanging in the family room is a banner I created. You can read all about it in further detail at on Life and Creating.

And on my hearth are these cutie-cute ghosts that I made from clay saucers and lampshades. The clay saucer (spray painted black) sits under the shade and holds a battery operated candle. The shades were decorated with hand drawn eyes using a Sharpie marker. Easiest project ever!

I have one more project I am hoping to finish up today to share with you soon. I hope you enjoyed a look around to see what's decorating our house this Halloween. Let me know if you have decorations to share - I would love to see. I might just get inspired to add to mine. I'm easy like that.

The Big 5-0

2010-10-08T16:47:00.000-04:00

So it's my last day to look back and see where I've been. I guess now it's time to look forward. See what my 50s have in store for me. But before I do that, let's talk about my 40s, shall we?

A lot of things happened in my 40s.

We moved from our 1st house in Toledo to a larger, ranch house in Sylvania. Best move EVER! Better neighborhood, better schools, just better.

My daughter graduated from college and will finish up her Masters in December. Yeah, Aimee! Jacob graduated from high school and started college is about 1/2 way to earning his Business degree. Our sweet Mouse passed away and a new pet came to live with us - a Christmas present from my hubby. Leia is my current lovable fur-baby and the inspiration for the name of this blog.

Oh, she may not look too ridiculous here but she sure keeps us entertained!

Aimee got married, miscarried two babies and bought her 1st house all during my 40s. I am sure my 50s will finally bring what we all wish for most - a grandbaby. But no pressure there, daughter!

Jacob continues to work hard (even though he is sick, sick, sick of school), and spends his free time gaming or enjoying something Star Wars related. So much so that he convinced me to vacation in Orlando in August just to attend a SW Convention. What I won't do for my kids (and a little get-away)!

Tod and I have been back to Vegas twice, once with the Close To My Heart Convention (joined as a consultant when I turned 40, as well) and another time when Jacob turned 21. We don't vacation every year but I think I am going to start insisting that we do. How else will I get to see everything I want to see in the next 50 years?

I read all the Harry Potter books in my 40s (and seen all the movies to date). I started blogging in my 40s - I know you're happy about that! I joined Facebook (didn't we all?) and I got addicted to Starbucks. No, not the coffee (grande, half caf, no foam, sweet peet....beats me what you all order!) But I love me the lemon loaf. Oh and I started Weight Watchers (again) in my 40s. (Bye, lemon loaf). I celebrated my 30th wedding anniversary in my 40s. We have all generally stayed healthy and happy and I enjoy our mundane, ordinary life.

And today, I said goodbye to my 40s and hello to the big 5-0.

Post-it note decor and all.

Thanks to everyone who visited and shared my life this week - I hope you will stop by again and see what's happening here from time to time. I can't promise it will always be this exciting but I will certainly try.

Oh 30s, you were good to me

2010-10-07T22:56:00.000-04:00

Only one more day to go with the life story. Hang in there.

We're in my 30s now and for the most part, it was a decade of routine. Every year consisted pretty much of this:
Winter
Birthdays
Easter
Spring
End of School Year
Vacation (maybe)
Summer
More Birthdays
Start of School Year
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Christmas
With a wedding or graduation thrown in for good measure every once in awhile.

Yup. Over and over, year in and year out.

One new addition did come to live with us - our cat, Mouse.

He was a good pet. Quiet. Didn't need to go for a walk. Took care of himself. Enjoyed a little snuggle time once in awhile. A good, low maintenance pet.

The kids kept growing, as kids are most likely to do. They were great friends - and still are!

The same year that Aimee graduated from high school and then started college, Jacob and I spent a month in Poland for therapy treatment for him. It was an interesting experience. Not altogether bad but challenging for Jake. Physically and mentally. It was hard for both of us to be so far from home for that length of time.

In the end, the program had it's positives and negatives. Jacob didn't gain much from it due to the fact that he had a hip condition that was more advanced than we thought and a couple of months after returning, he had his first of 2 surgeries. Also positives and negatives of the surgeries. Let's just say that neither surgery nor therapy was going to produce a walking child. And that's just when we started to accept the way it was going to be and moved on. If he wasn't going to walk, that was okay. He had a lot more to offer the world than workable legs.

The end of my 30s took me to Las Vegas. First trip there and definitely not the last. Love Vegas. We went for our 20th wedding anniversary, just hubby and I. I surprised him by renting a car, driving to a small wedding chapel in Vegas and proposing to him, asking him to remarry me. And he said yes.

Thank goodness, cause I couldn't be on this crazy ride without him.

Tomorrow I'll wrap up with the last 10 years leading up to my 50th Birthday. Wish you could all be here to share the cake. No, I don't. I'm selfish when it comes to cake. See you then -

The 20s

2010-10-06T21:45:00.000-04:00

My 20s are up next. Thrilling. Actually a roller coaster of events through these years. Starting with my wedding. Although in actuality, I was only 19 when I got married. Shy of my 20th birthday by 1 1/2 months.

Don't you love the 'stashe? We thought we were so grown up. Oh, we had a lot to learn. We had an afternoon wedding and reception and a 3 day trip to Toronto for our honeymoon. At 5 months pregnant, that was all I could handle. I felt the baby kick for the first time the day after we got married.

And then along came Aimee.

I was sure she was going to be a boy. And I certainly never expected a redhead. Although she is actually more of a strawberry blonde. Everyone says she looks like me and she was definitely a mischief maker like me. Just ask me about the time she crawled out of her bedroom window in her pjs when she was supposed to be taking a nap! She kept me very busy. And while I was an average new Mom, I was totally in love with her and tried my best to always keep her happy and healthy. Did I always succeed? Hmmm, maybe not always. But not for lack of trying. Aimee was the 1st pride and joy of my life.

My 20s were also filled with some of the saddest days. My Father-in-law passed away in his late 40s and just a few years later, my Dad passed away in his early 50s.

I didn't realize how much I loved him and needed him in my life until he was gone. I talk to him often and continually wish he were still here with us.

My 20s also saw a period of time struggling to keep my marriage together, 2 miscarriages, a variety of jobs and the day to day "stuff" that comes along with being young, having a child, trying to be responsible but also enjoy life. We did buy our 1st house while I was in my 20s after apartment living for 5 years and at least my Dad was able to see us moving forward. Becoming a part of middle America. But unfortunately, he never got to meet this guy:

Pride and joy #2. Our son Jacob. Born almost 2 months premature and weighing in at just 2 lbs, 10 oz. Almost didn't make it. Luckily he was delivered when he was or we wouldn't have the profound honor of being his parents.

Jacob stayed in the hospital for about 5-6 weeks (I'm old - my memory is foggy) and came home weighing just about 4.5 pounds. After 2 miscarriages we were so thankful to have this addition to our family. Our marriage was back on solid ground and we were happy together as a family.

When Jacob was about 2 years old, he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Certainly not something we ever wanted for our child but it didn't change who he was - bright, intelligent, humorous, loving, sweet. Again with the lot to learn. Just when we thought we had life all figured out. But more of that story in my 30s.

Looking back on my 20s, I will always be most grateful for my 2 biggest accomplishments -

My reason for being. The loves of my life.

The Teen Years

2010-10-05T21:42:00.000-04:00

I'm looking back on the last few years (ok, decades) and we're now moving on to the teen years. I know, you're excited, aren't you?

When I turned 10, my brother was born. He's a Christmas Eve baby and I remember we celebrated Christmas a week earlier. That was cool because I got my presents early but I couldn't tell anyone. My friends had little brothers and sisters who wouldn't understand why Santa visited me before anyone else. It was because I was awesome, that's why. Baby brother be danged.

Oh, did I mention I was a gawky pre-teen/teenager? Um yeah. My Mom never wanted my hair to be long but I insisted that I would die if I didn't grow it out. This is the results. Looking back I have to admit I think Mom was right. This robe showed up in a lot of pictures over the years. I either didn't grow much for a few years or I just never got dressed because I seem to be wearing this a lot. And who hasn't seen the sun in awhile?

Still with the hair. Geesh. And check out the clothes. My Grandma, Aunt and Mom all sewed and we all wore clothes that were handmade. At the time I thought I looked fabulous - and unique - no one else had clothes like me. Lucky them. I shouldn't say that - the things my family made were top quality and looked store bought and for the time (the 70s), they really were fashionable. And made with love. I wish my Grandma was still with us and sewing - I miss that. And her. I learned how to sew from her and my Mom and I still bring out the machine once in awhile, even if it is to sew on a card.

I went to Catholic high school where I met my hubby. Well, he wasn't my hubby then - you know what I mean. I actually met him in classes through my best friend who was interested in him. I even tried to set them up but he was interested in me instead. 30 years of marriage later, I guess that was a good thing. We started dating our sophomore year and have been together ever since.

This is us at Senior Prom. How great is that velvet trimmed tux and bow tie? I was still in braces when I was a Senior (had them most of high school and a couple years of college, if I remember correctly). Oh and check out the two TVs to our right. The bottom TV also had a record player built in and it worked great but the TV had died. So my parents just got a new TV and stacked it on top the old one. We lived with it like that for years. Frugal parents.

I was a good student in high school and was involved with Center Stage (a performing high school dance group) and student council. I also went with a group from high school to Washington DC to protest Roe v. Wade. My one attempt at social activism. I worked a few part-time jobs through high school and into college including as a page at the library, at a pizza place, as a candy striper (not stripper) in a nursing home, even in a Fotomat booth. Remember those? Little drive up booths where you could drop off film to have developed. The little booth was always buggy. I didn't like that job much.

I started college when I was 18, got pregnant my second year at 19 and married a few months later. That's pretty much my teen years. I got in a little trouble once in awhile, always something to do with a boy (see the pregnant thing previously). But I didn't drink or smoke (well, except for about 10 cigarettes when I thought I would try being cool. But I was afraid my teeth would turn brown so I stopped sneaking smokes). Pretty uneventful.

And I don't care what anyone says - I rocked the tux look.

See ya tomorrow for the 20s.

Birthday week - a look back

2010-10-04T17:42:00.000-04:00

My Birthday is this Friday. I will be 50. Half a century. A milestone, some would say. Overall I think it sucks. Mostly because I lost my Dad when he was in his early 50s. So I can't say I'm looking forward to the coming decade. But I do enjoy looking back. Seeing where I've been and what I've done. And I want to share that with you, my faithful 8 readers. This week I will be posting every day, right up until my Birthday. And I hope you will trip down memory lane with me.

Let's start at the beginning. I was born in Detroit, MI and spent my 1st year of life there. Then I moved to Toledo and I still live in the general area. I'm the oldest of three and was an only child for 10 years. It was heaven. Then my brother came along and while he was ok, it wasn't quiet any more. All three of us are from the same parents, by the way. People ask that all the time when they hear the gap in our ages. My Dad always said that after they had me, it took them 10 years to figure out how to do it again. I think he meant have a child not literally "do it". Gross.

This is me, fresh out of a bath. I noticed in a lot of my baby pictures I had that same smirk on my face. Makes me look like a mischief maker. Well, I was. A bit. The police brought me home once when I wandered away from the house. I shaved my chin (and cut myself) on my grandfather's straight razor when I was little. I was a busy, inquisitive child and I kept my Mom and Dad hopping. Maybe that's why they didn't have another one for 10 years.

I was lucky to have all 4 of my grandparents and 1 great grandfather. We would visit "big Pa" for a week or so in the summer every year as he lived up in northern Michigan. He was a loveable, funny old man and he lived on a farm and I loved it there. I especially loved all the animals- I would chase the chickens, and call for the pigs and play with the dogs and cats. The only bad part about visiting my great grandfather was that there was no indoor plumbing. He had an outhouse and that was not a pleasant experience. Especially when I had to pee at 3:00 am. But the food up north was always wonderful and the fresh air wore me out. Eventually, my first pet came from that farm. On one of our vacations, there were beagle puppies and I adopted one that I named Charlie Waggles.

I also remember vacationing with my family to places like Niagara Falls, the World's Fair (in New York and Montreal), Hershey PA and Washington DC. We seemed to always travel east - I don't recall any vacations west of Ohio until after I was married.

We always celebrated holidays in style with new clothes, a corsage at Easter, a homemade costume at Halloween. We weren't rich but I never did without. Except for the race track I always wanted and never got. But I had plenty of toys, my favorites being baby dolls and Barbie. And coloring books, puzzles, blocks...simple toys that didn't require batteries. Although I did have a large walking basset hound toy that needed batteries and he was pretty cool. Oh and I loved the dollhouse my Dad built for me. I still have that house, packed away at my Mom's.

My Mom enrolled me in dance lessons when I was 4 and I continued those through my teen years. I thought at one time that I wanted to grow up to be a nun who taught dance lessons. I never became either of those things. Oh and I wanted to be a Rockette. Didn't become one of those either. But I did love to dance!

I went to a Catholic grade school where my biggest problem was not my grades, but was keeping my mouth closed for that many hours in a day. I liked to talk. I still like to talk. Can you tell?

My best friends lived on my block and we played hopscotch, and played school, and took our baby dolls "shopping" and went swimming together and learned to embroider together (thanks Mom!) and grew up like normal kids. We were children for as long as we could be children - not like today when kids grow up so fast. I have to say, I'm thankful for my childhood. I'm thankful for the lack of computers and electronics and cell phones. I think we learned to appreciate things that children today never discover the joy in. The simple things. We were happy and had no cares and that's the best childhood to have.

Tomorrow - the teen years!

Why is it always about aliens?

2010-09-30T00:10:00.001-04:00

Have you been watching any of the new fall TV shows? I try to record most of the pilots, at least, so I can give them a try. If I don't, I know I will miss out on something that will be the next great program. Like Boston Legal. Imagine if I had never watched the pilot episode and then missed out on 5 fabulous years.

So far, I really like The Whole Truth. And maybe The Defenders. The jury is still out on that one. (Bah! It's a show about lawyers so I guess I made a funny). Just DVR-ed No Ordinary Family but haven't watched it yet. Hawaii 5-O is not for me so I have skipped that but hubby likes it. So far. He doesn't stick with much. Of course I am over the moon that my favorites are back with new episodes: Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, GLEE. I love Glee. Even the Britney episode.

But the one show I thought I was really going to like turned out to be a dud. Have you seen The Event? I watched the 1st week and was all oooo I'm going to like this even though I never know where we are because we keep going back and forth in time. I can deal with that ok. Not time travel - that's not for me but looking back I can handle. Couldn't wait for the 2nd episode. And then I watched it. And it is now forever dead to me. Because they just had to build the show around aliens. Beings from another planet. Look like us. Sound like us. Might be here to destroy us. Who knows? Better yet - WHO CARES???

This show seems like a regurgitated version of Heroes which I happened to like but it was cancelled. Matter of fact, the actor who was on Heroes who was always chasing after the Heroes is now on The Event chasing after the aliens. Talk about a unique idea! It's like "V" meets Heroes. Don't like it. Won't watch it. That's my final word on that.

Of course, now it is destined to become the next great program that I alone won't be watching. That's ok. I'm used to it.

Tell me what shows you like - I don't want to miss anything awesome!

Dogs certainly CAN taste!

2010-09-18T23:13:00.002-04:00

I heard (from a source in my home that isn't always reliable when it comes to relaying information) that dogs can not taste food. They have far less taste buds than humans (this is true) and "scientists" have determined that they do not truly taste their food. Their likes and dislikes for food are based on smell and texture, and not on taste.

Did someone ask the dogs? Cause I beg to differ. Here's how I know it isn't true. My dog, Leia, loves dry cereal. She knows the sound of the box opening and she comes running to get a handful tossed into her bowl. Now most cereals are pretty similar. They are all crunchy and don't have a whole lot of smell. Unless it's Fruity Pebbles of something like that. Which I don't eat. My choices range between Cheerios, Wheaties, Frosted Flakes, Golden Grahams, Alpha-Bits, Rice Krispies. I could go on but I will stop there. I {heart} cereal. Unless it has anything remotely related to weeds or bark in it. That's just too ....well I was going to say healthy, but truly I just want to say yucky.

So most cereal mornings, Leia will sprint to the kitchen at the sound of the box opening and wait for a little cereal to be delivered her way. Here's what we have discovered about her choices. If it doesn't have sweetener built in, a little sugary wake-you-up kick for the morning, she doesn't want it. Cheerios - no way. Wheaties - blech! Frosted Flakes - mmmm. Lucky Charms are dog heaven! Ok well who doesn't love some marshmallows in their cereal? I mean, I get that entirely!

So why does she turn up her nose at the non-sweetened cereal? Cause she likes the taste of sugared better than plain. Boring. Healthy. It's not her thing. It's not really mine either but that's just the way it has to be somedays. Think it's just how she smells the cereal? You pour bowls of different cereals and sniff them all and you'll find they smell pretty much the same. Except for the Fruity Pebbles. Blech. Gotta be the taste, scientist people!

But what can I expect from the same people who think that dogs don't understand human language. But that's another topic for another day.

Becoming Independent

2010-09-05T00:30:00.000-04:00

I guess I stepped away from this blog for awhile but I have good reason. I am sometimes lazy and forgetful. Have I ever told you about my list-making? To sum it up, if I don't write down "blog" on my list of things to do, it won't get done. I'm surprised I can cook a meal and take a shower without writing it on the list.

Anyhow, I have been busy (I just typed 'busty', which I am also but that's not something I need to talk about) getting my son back into the swing of school. In case you don't know, I have a 22 year old special needs college student. The special needs comes in a physical aspect, not a mental one. He's a straight A wheelchair user. Dependant on others for a lot of his daily routine. But can out think most able bodies. I know. I'm one of them.

Getting back into the school routine is always a little tough and a time for him to rethink and re-evaluate his life and where it is headed. And this causes some in depth and occasionally conflicting conversations between myself and him. The ever optimist versus the sometimes pessimist. I like to call myself the realist. Usually our conversations center around his deep and abiding wish to someday live in California, with a cat and peanut butter cookies and no parents. Not that he doesn't love me or wishes for my demise - he just wants to be independent.

And here is where my "pessimism" comes in. He can't dress himself, brush his teeth, bathe himself. Wipe his butt. Get the idea? And while I know he can have a home health aide, we've tested that option and found out it isn't all it's cracked up to be. So I don't hold out a lot of hope that living in California (oh, by the way, in case you didn't know - we live in Ohio - the other side of the country) will be easy. I have visions of him lying in bed, alone, because no one showed up to help him and eventually having to pee. Even the man with the iron clad bladder will have to pee sometime. And I can't hop the next plane to CA, urinal in hand, just to get him out of bed.

Anyhow, what it all comes to down to is this: how to teach him some independence while learning myself to let go. More than I want to face but something I need to help him with so he can achieve his dreams. So we're starting slow. He is making more of his own choices without my input. Keeping track of his homework without me always providing the information for him. Asking for help. Telling someone when he wants to go to bed - not just going because we said it's time.

I told him to think of me as the hired help. I even suggested wearing a little black dress and a white apron if that would help. That only got a response from my husband that grossed out my son.

Letting go is hard and in this case, it won't happen over night. But I hope we can both take some steps in that direction. He deserves the chance to be the person he wants to be. And count on my support along the way. I'm just wondering - why did he have to go and grow up anyway?

30 Years and Counting

2010-08-17T22:39:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I celebrated 30 years of married life with my wonderful husband. 30 years is a milestone. It is not a milestone many people reach. I am so blessed to have such a terrific partner and while I could sing his praises here, he knows how I feel and doesn't need to read it on my blog. But I thought I would share with you, my six readers, how we spent our anniversary.

No fancy vacation for us as hubby has no vacation time left this year (darn hernia operation). But I took the day off and spent most of it unpacking and getting caught up on things I missed while in Florida. Then when my better half came home from work, he surprised me with a dozen beautiful roses:

We then went out to eat at a restaurant of my choosing - Mancy's Steakhouse in Toledo, where the french onion soup, ginormous baked potato and filet mignon were really wonderful!

After dinner, we did what all old married couples do - curled up on the couch

watched a movie

and had a dish of butterscotch ripple ice cream

It was a very good anniversary and I am looking forward to 30 more years with the love of my life.

What I did on my summer vacation

2010-08-16T16:35:00.000-04:00

Home from vacation and I have pictures to share. Think of it as watching home movies. That will make it even more fun for you!

So what did I do on my summer vacation? I spent 3 1/2 days on the surface of the sun. Or Orlando. I couldn't tell the difference. With all of the strange creatures I saw, it could have been another planet in the Galaxy. But probably not the actual Sun. Anyhow, here's my photo essay on vacation with appropriate subtitles.

Where I Was I was here:

Star Wars Celebration 5 Convention - Orange Co. Convention Center

And here:

What I Saw

I saw this:

Deathstar

And this:

AT-AT

and even this:

Wampa

Who I Saw

While I was there I saw him:

Beach Trooper

And them:

(I can't even explain this)

And a whole lot of this:

Everywhere!

I also got to see him:

Jon Stewart

And him:

The Man, The Myth, The Legend - George Lucas

And these guys:

Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and GL

And even this guy:

Um yeah, that really is Joey Fatone. We had no idea why he was there until I Googled it today and this is what I found:

"He starred in an episode of Robot Chicken as himself, in an episode called "Enter The Fat One", a nickname given based on his last name..."

And he was on a panel during Convention with Seth Green but did we go to that one??? NOOoooo. Oh well, I was close enough at one point I could have touched him. Only I don't think celebrities normally care for strange women hugging them. So I didn't. But I soooo wanted to. He's my favoritest 'NSync boy. You can keep your Justin Timberlake. Anyhow, back to vacation -

What I Ate

This is one of the better things I ate while I was on vacation:

Uh huh, there's fruit on that plate. Almost healthy.

Why Did I Go on This Vacation

As I am not really a Star Wars fan (don't get me wrong, I enjoy SW and have watched the movies a few times over but I haven't read the books, or bought the action figures or anything like that) I bet you are wondering why I even went on this vacation. It all comes down to this:

My own Jedi son. Who, despite not sharing my feelings about Joey Fatone, had himself a wonderful time!

And that's all that matters to me.

Chicago Part 2

2010-08-04T23:42:00.001-04:00

Chicago wasn't all about crafts. It was also about food. And fun. We didn't really live it up too much meaning we went to bed at a reasonable time and no alcohol was involved. Here are some highlights from the rest of our weekend:

Mmmm.....Chicago pizza from Lou Malnati's. Excellent! As was the Spinach Cheese bread but we inhaled that too fast to get a photo.

Me and my adorable daughter.

A little relaxation time at the hotel. No photo of the cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. You couldn't possibly appreciate the deliciousness of it from a photo anyhow.

We also checked out Legoland and, I have to say, it was really cool. From someone who only built simple square houses with her Legos, these creations were pretty impressive:

A miniature Chicago city complete with day and night lighting, moving vehicles, a garbage truck, even tourists on a bus with flashing cameras. It was truly phenomenal!

Einstein with moving eyes.

A jungle area.

A Van Gogh "painting".

Harry Potter

Even Mr. President.

Worth checking out if you are ever in the Chicago area. And then we drove home. Took an hour longer than getting there. Maybe we weren't as anxious to get home as we were to get away. Maybe.

CHA Chicago

2010-08-02T19:54:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday, I spent the day with my daughter and friend in Chicago attending CHA or the Craft & Hobby Association convention. It was a fun trip and I have a lot of photos to share. Yes, it's like home movies. Sit back and relax. This is only part 1.

Convention Center from the walkway

The Convention Center was beautiful

Product and artwork from my favoritest company Papertrey Ink

This is my friend Kathy with my daughter Aimee outside the PTI Make N Take area

There's "Pine" in the background!

"Mish" walking everyone through the Make n Take - Dawn McVey is in the background - Hi Dawn! Love these gals - they are my stamping idols. I didn't introduce myself because I figured they had seen so many people, they wouldn't remember lil ol me anyhow. But I was a bit in awe to be so close to creative genius!

That's my friend at the left in green and me sitting down being uber creative at the right. Don't know the people in the middle.

Some other favorites - My Favorite Things booth

Ippity from Unity

Artwork from DeNami

Somehow I missed a photo of the Taylored Expressions booth - it was very cute and I got to talk to one of the stamp illustrators, Nancy. Oh and I was surprised how tall Taylor is!

And finally, this is me posing with the World's Ugliest Sweater. Because why would you pass up an opportunity like this?

Tomorrow is part 2 - what else we did while we were in Chicago. Sneak peek - it involves Einstein, a giraffe, Harry Potter, some monkeys and a mini Chicago skyline. Stay tuned!

Happy Birthday!

2010-08-01T01:24:00.001-04:00

Today is my favorite guy's 22nd Birthday. My handsome, funny, sweet, Star Wars and game lovin', crazy, brilliant, hard working, precious, skinny, hippy, leisure suit Larry, kind, awesome, geeky, WONDERFUL son. You make me a better person and I love you with my whole being. Have a terrific day!
Love, Mom

Little dog meets big dog

2010-07-29T23:20:00.000-04:00

I know you are waiting with baited breath for the story on how the big dog (our lab, Leia) met the little dog (Chi-Chi, the chihuahua, my brother's dog) at my house yesterday evening. To start, it wasn't pretty. Not that it was horrible but let's just say, having a large lab nose in your face is not what a tiny dog looks forward to.

At least there was a cage door between them. That didn't help Chi-Chi much though as she isn't a fan of the carrier. It just added to her angst. So her 'mama' took her out and, well, Leia still needed to be as up close and personal as she could be:

Oh, you say you can't see the little dog? Let's zoom in -

Yep, there she is - all 2.5 pounds of her. All 2.5 scared pounds of her. Not only was she in a strange house, with 10 other people but then there was this dog! A little too much for a puppy to handle.

We separated them for a bit by putting Leia in her cage but that just elicited a bark, which made Chi-Chi sprint very quickly as far away as her little legs could carry her. So Leia spent a little time in another room entirely so Chi-Chi could get more comfortable - and get some respite from the curious big dog. Not that Leia would ever hurt her - she loves other dogs - and she really just wanted to play but that's not very reassuring to someone the size of a large dog's poop.

After a little chill time, we brought them together again and while Chi-Chi never quite warmed up to the idea, she was at least able to tolerate being in the same room with Leia and even bolted past her a couple of times. She was very brave. Of course, Leia was asleep on the floor at the time so there wasn't much threat being posed at the time. But we'll say she was brave. She needs a boost in confidence. She is a chihuahua after all.

I am off to Chicago this weekend for CHA - I will share some pictures with you when I get back. The plan, while there, is to shop, eat, eat some more, maybe gamble, sleep, eat again and come home. There's got to be some great photo ops in that - stay tuned!

The Tuesday Ten

2010-07-27T23:44:00.001-04:00

Before Tuesday is over (in 34 minutes) I thought I would leave you with the top ten questions on my mind. There's more than ten on my mind but truthfully, I'm not even sure anyone will care about ten as it is, let alone any more. So here goes:

1. Will Ali pick Roberto or Chris? Or no one?

2. How will my diet fare in the face of Chicago pizza and Cheesecake Factory cheesecake this weekend?

3. Do I really care?

4. How will my 70 pound lab get along with my brother's 3 pound chihuahua when they meet tomorrow? Is this a disaster in the making? Is my camera battery charged?

5. Why do I feel that I should clean the house tomorrow when my family is coming over for dinner and dessert and I will have to do it all over again the following day? (I know the answer to this one: because I am compulsive like that).

6. How many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

7. What even made me think of that question?

8. Will I be able to speak to someone without an Indian accent the next time I call Delta airlines for information?

9. Can I ever find some extra time in my day to get caught up on all of the America's Got Talent episodes on my DVR?

10. Why am I still up at 11:26 pm blogging?

Have a good day -

Big Brother

2010-07-23T06:57:00.001-04:00

Summer television leaves a lot to be desired but considering I love me some "reality" TV, I'm enjoying the likes of The Bachelorette and Big Brother. Not that these shows are truly based in reality. I don't know that anyone's reality is dating 25 men at one time or living locked in a house with 12 strangers. More or less. I don't even know how many people are even in the house at Big Brother. I just know that watching an episode requires a pen and paper because there are some stellar comments that just must be quoted over and over. I just watched an earlier episode from this week (yes, I am behind on my TV watching) and I found these delightful pearls to share:

"...dollar bill goin' around in circles, it's bitch slappin' me."    Enzo (otherwise known as Meow-Meow. Don't ask).
"...most of those (dollar bills), let's face it, come out of stripper's G-strings."    Brittany
"There has been times, where it's fuzzy back in college, where I woke up with one hand tied but I don't know how long I was tied for."   Lane
"...cause I don't look like a skanky ass bimbo stripper."   Monet
"....I don't usually hang out with whores, like, for fun."    Brittany
"....I feel like every time she wears a skirt, I feel like STDs have gone airborne."   Brittany again. Wonder why you and Monet are up for eviction?
"....(I am) a diabolical super genius."    Matt (after creating a fake disease that his wife has so everyone will think he needs to win the money. HAVE YOU NEVER WATCHED A SEASON? You are doomed, man!)

Unfortunately, I do not have a quote from "Boobs", whose name I just realized last night is really Rachel. Her voice annoys me almost too much to listen to so I didn't write any of her word gems down. Or from Kristen, cause frankly, who is getting no face time on Big Brother? Yeah, it's Kristen.

And that concludes this week's Big Brother recap. You're sorry you're not watching it now, aren't you?

I'm only going for the Disney

2010-07-17T23:54:00.001-04:00

In just a few short weeks, I am going on vacation with my son. Our destination is Orlando. And while we will be taking in a little Disney theme park, our main reason for going is this: Celebration V (or 5 in regular numbers). What is this Celebration that I speak of? It is none other than the largest US Convention for all things devoted to Star Wars! Have I told you how much of a Star Wars fan my son is? Let's see if I can elaborate -

Jacob is turning 22 in a couple of weeks. He discovered the Star Wars movies a number of years ago - before "they" ruined the original trilogy by releasing the prequels. He owns almost every Star Wars game ever made. His goal is to eventually own every Star Wars book ever written (it is somewhere over 300 titles, people and he's about 1/2 way there!) He not only collects Star Wars figures, but he also breaks them out once in awhile and recreates battles scenes with them. He knows the name of just about every actor in all six movies as well as voices of animated characters, the names of producers and who trains the actors in the art of lightsaber skills. He likes the Star Wars Christmas Special. That, in itself, designates him as a true and loyal fan.

Yes, we even dressed up our dog one year as Princess Leia and her name is Princess Leia.

So when he found out that George (Star Wars) Lucas himself would be at this Convention, he offered to pay for this trip and so, we are going. I feel like the Galaxy Far, Far Away is a second home for us as I know almost as much about SW as he does. It's like osmosis. It seeps into your blood. It oozes into your veins. It is also the topic of many, many conversations at our dinner table, and 1st thing in the morning, and last thing at night and when we're in the bathroom....well, you get the picture.

I know about Darth Bane and Mara Jade and The Old Republic and on and on..... But I am not a diehard fan. I am just the mother of one. And as we will be in Orlando, I wasn't going to pass up a chance to visit the Disney theme parks, at least as much as I can squeeze in to the alloted time. Because I love me some Mickey Mouse, even when he is dressed up like Darth Vader.