Its Crunch Time

Here it is... Crunch Time. Yesterday, I went out to try to finish up with everything for dd. I did a pretty good job I have to say. When I got home, my ds DJ wanted to see what I got for her. So, I started to take everything out of the bag and show him. Everything was great! I get to the last item a very lovely blouse and of course just then noticed that one of the tie back strings was ripped off the blouse. I was so mad. I can't believe that I didn't notice it when I was in the store. I must've looked at that damn blouse and held it up to match colors with gauchos about 6 times. I'm so mad at myself. So guess where I will be going back to today! ugh Just when I thought I was done! You know they are not going to have another blouse in the same size so that means that I'm going to have to look all over this store again for something to match the gauchos that I got her. This is very frustrating.

As for other news going on here. DJ is sick as a dog! Which is not a good thing. He is still wrestling. I told him not to but what do I know, 17 year olds, they know everything. DH is PMSing! This is something that seems to happen every single holiday so everyone else ends up being miserable just like he is. OMG. I swear next year I'm getting away from them all and spending the holidays far away. Well at least DH. He has actually turned out to be a Grumpy Old Man. Just like his father. Didn't think it would happen to him , but it did. Oh well, I guess I just need to grin and bear it this year just like the past.

I'm not so sure what is going on for the rest of the weekend here. I know I've got to get my baking done. Which I really wanted to start yesterday, but never got around to it. I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday.

3 more days

Well, we have 3 more days for Christmas. I'm pretty much done, just need to get my dd's boyfriend something. Probably a gc to their fav. place Applebees. Everything is also wrapped and ready to go! yeah for me. This is a first. Normally I'm up till 4am Christmas Eve wrapping and getting everything under the tree.

Today I have some baking that needs to be done. And boy, does this house need a good cleaning. I'm not supposed to be doing anything still (post-surgery only a week ago), but I can tell you that no else in this house is going to do a damn thing but just sit back and watch it all grow around them. They are all lazy. I think next Christmas I will go to Las Vegas and actually enjoy myself. Peace and quite. As the kids get older, they don't want to be around you anymore. This never happened when I was growing up. My sisters, and brothers always looked forward to spending the holidays together. Not the kids today. They don't want to be anywhere near a parent, lol.

Last night was another night full of Wrestling. It was hard to sit in the gym for 5 hours again. We did it Wednesday night also. I hate when we have back to backs, but that is life. Here are 2 photos of my son wrestling last night. My digi, just doesn't get a really good clear photo sometimes. If they move just a little bit, its a blur. BTW he is the one in green. He won this match 6-1.
I'm not sure if I'm going to get a chance to get back on here before the Holidays. So I'm wishing everyone a very Happy, Healthy, and Safe Holiday.

Todays Thursday 13

Todays Thursday 13:

Things I would like to change

1. I would like to change where I live. ( I hate it here and can't wait to move to the warmer, less humid climate of Nevada)

2. I need to change my eating habits.

3. I would love to change my wardrobe. ( Nothing every fits me right)

4. I would like to be more organized.

5. I would also love to be more of a clean freak. (I'm one of those people that clean when it really needs cleaning)

6. I think I can fly off the handle sometimes so I need to change how I am able to cope with things.

7. I would love to go from my so-so Ford Explorer to a nice Nissan Murano.

8. I think after 15 long years as a red head, I might want to change to a brunette.

9. I would like to attend church more than I do.

10. I think that I can be a better person (that would be a big change)

11. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so bull headed. (I just don't give in)

12. Today I wish I could change my HUSBAND! (its his pms time, and it happens for every holiday, joy for me)

13. I wish I could change the weather (I hate the cold)

Todays Thursday 13

Todays Thursday 13:

Things I would like to change

1. I would like to change where I live. ( I hate it here and can't wait to move to the warmer, less humid climate of Nevada)

2. I need to change my eating habits.

3. I would love to change my wardrobe. ( Nothing every fits me right)

4. I would like to be more organized.

5. I would also love to be more of a clean freak. (I'm one of those people that clean when it really needs cleaning)

6. I think I can fly off the handle sometimes so I need to change how I am able to cope with things.

7. I would love to go from my so-so Ford Explorer to a nice Nissan Murano.

8. I think after 15 long years as a red head, I might want to change to a brunette.

9. I would like to attend church more than I do.

10. I think that I can be a better person (that would be a big change)

11. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so bull headed. (I just don't give in)

12. Today I wish I could change my HUSBAND! (its his pms time, and it happens for every holiday, joy for me)

13. I wish I could change the weather (I hate the cold)

Chocolate Chewies

2 peas challenge for today: Share your fave xmas cookie recipe. Well here is mine

Chocolate Chewies

3 cups Domino Confectioners Sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 egg whites

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. In mixing bowl, blend sugar, cocoa and flour. Beat in egg whites one at a time and then beat at high speed for 1 minute. Fold in pecans. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between each. Bake for 15 minutes, turning sheet halfway through baking time. Remove from oven and cool on paper. Place cookies on papper in freezer for 1 hour. Remove and peel off paper, then store in an airtight container. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

My kids just love these!

Tiring Weekend

Hi everyone! I've been missing again. I had a very hectic week and was not feeling well either. My cold (a head cold) started last Sunday. That was just the start of the week for me. This cold just lingered. I had to stay home most of the week and try to sweat this one out because I was having surgery on Friday. I was lucky and it was pretty much all gone by Friday morning. Surgery went on without a hitch. Of course most people would take it easy for a few days after surgery, but not me.... I had to be at a Wrestling Tournament all day on Saturday and was not going to miss it for anything. That was 13 hours in a gym! What was I thinking??? I sure made up for yesterday. I could barely move and slept until about 10am which I never do.

Wrestling was TERRIFIC! Our team did an outstanding job at this tournament. There were 8 school teams there (ours is the biggest with 70 boys) and a lot of matches going on. My son DJ took 2nd place at the 130 weight pound class. Here are some photos of him. The photo below he is the kid in the green uniform and you can see his face. I usually can't get a good photo because they are moving so fast that I end up with their rear ends in the camera.
The photo above he is pinning the kid he is going against. He won this match by getting that pin. It was a very long day that is for sure. Our team came home with a lot of trophies and that makes me happy. They really give it their all.

Well, I'm going to go for now. I need to get some rest. I really couldn't sleep that good last night. I also have a dr. appt this afternoon to check the stitches. I will hopefully be back later tonight or tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great day.

Favorite Christmas Song?

2 peas challenge for today: Your fave Christmas song? Which one is it? blog about it! Well, My favorite Christmas song is " I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" I have always loved this song. I'm not really sure why, but I think its just a very cute song. When I hear it I get warm all over.

Get to know me Christmas

Bonnie Rose had this posted on her blog today so I decided I could not sleep, why not do it. So here it is:

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He wraps them of course!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? We have colored lights on our tree and everything outside

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No

5. When do you put your decorations up? It is never the same every year.Just whenever I have the time or my kids finally say " Our we ever going to put the tree up?" lol . This year my dd took control and got the tree up and we started decorating on Wednesday.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I really don't know if I have a Favorite dish, but I love lasangna

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: I always remember my grandmother coming to stay with us the day after Christmas and it was always something that I just loved. She would stay with us for 2 months. After a month my grandfather would come and stay for the other month with her. That was the only time each year we got to see them unless we drove to NY (we lived in FL) in the summer to visit.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? This is a little fuzzy,,, I think my I was about 9 and it was a year that my parents decided to get all 5 kids new bikes for Christmas. You should've seen my dad trying to get all these bikes together in the middle of the night. Very noisy.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We usually open one gift on Christmas Eve which is an old family tradition. I don't really know why we do, but we do.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? My tree is a mish mosh of everything. It does not have a theme. It is covered with everything that my kids made while in grade school for Christmas and ornaments that me and the kids would make while they were growing up.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Don't like snow... don't like winter, give the sunshine and the hot summer (no humidity, please!)

12. Can you ice skate? I could when I was younger. Now I would probably fall all over the ice.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I do! It was a beautiful blonde haired doll that spoke french. The dolls hair was pretty and you could make it long or short by pushing a button in her head. lol I don't remember what she was called, but she was my fav gift when I was younger.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? For me, its about giving. And it doesn't have to be a gift. I try to show my kids that you can give in many different ways. Donate your time. Help someone in need. The gift of giving.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?I want to say my favorite dessert is Bonnie Roses "Sex in a Pan" but I don't have a clue what it is. So I will have to go with my grandmothers ribbons. I don't know what they are really called, because my grandmother always called them ribbons and on her old receipe cards she even titled it Ribbons! When I make them next week I will post photos.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I love just spending time with the family and friends.

17. What tops your tree? I have this beautiful angel all lit up on the top of my tree. She has been topping my tree for over 20 years now.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving, that's a no brainer.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I saw mommy kissing Santa Clause. I just love that song!

20. Candy Canes? I love them.. mostly cinnamon but I also love peppermint.

Hair Style??

2 peas challenge: Blog about your perfect hairstyle. Well, I have pretty curly hair and I just love it! I really don't like my hair straight at all. When I do get to have it done straight everyone comments on how different I look with it straight. If you ask me ... Straight hair is not me at all! I just love my curls and don't know what I would do with out them now that I have them. Here is a photo of my hair like I normally wear it now. It is very long for curly hair and longer than I've ever had. I'm really due for a major hair cut.

Here is a photo with it curly and shorter. This is the way I really love it. It is also a more copper red color.

And here it is straight. A big difference.

ugh... try not to look at the double chin! of course when it is straight the red hair really stands out strong! lol...

Memories

2 peas challenge: How do you keep your Christmas memories? In what kind of album? theme albums? mini albums? What do you do? Well, I take lots of photos and believe it or not I video tape everything on Christmas. I only started scrapbooking a little over a year ago, so all my photos are either in a reg. album or in a photo box and I have all my video tapes in a storage box also. I love looking back when the kids were little. So much fun.

Here is another layout I managed to finish up. I really like this one with my boys. I just love the black and white lately. My 2 sons out at Sore Thumb tubing! What fun. Isn't DJ funny? He is always doing some kind of macho pose lately.

Well, have to make this short and sweet again. One day this week I might be able to play catch up with everyone. Wishing everyone a Wonderful day!

Short and Sweet

Today will be short and sweet, I promise. Here is a layout that I finally finished. It is of me and my dd. Sorry that picture isn't that great but you get a good idea of what it looks like. It is rare that the 2 of us are together in a photo. We are usually the ones taking the pictures at everything and actually the big photo Shannon snapped for us. She is pretty good at taking a photo of herself. Ok.. I'm out of here for now. Have to get ready for work. Hope everyone has a great day

Traditions

2peas challenge for today: What are some of the annual traditions you do every year during the Holiday season? blog about them... Well for us, its all about wrestling this time of year. I know that is weird but that is what we do. Me and the kids will also do our baking and make my grandmothers "ribbons" (they are pretty much fried pastry dough with powdered sugar). This Sunday coming up (as long as the weather holds up) we will put up the tree and the lights outside. But that is really it. When my whole family was still here we would do a Christmas Eve party at my parents, but they are in Las Vegas now and so are my sisters, brothers, and my oldest son. Its not the same anymore. I miss those times. I can't wait til' I'm there for good also. Then the tradition will continue!

The sun is shining

Well the sun is shining, but not for long. I hear that we are getting a small Nor'Easter. For those of you that don't know what that is, it is basically a rain, sleet, and snow storm. Here on Long Island we are only suppose to get the rain and ice. I personally would rather have the snow (as much as I hate it). The ice is a pain in the butt to drive in. oh well we will see what happens. These weather people have been wrong many times before.

I'm so excited. I finally got some scrapbooking done. I'm going to take a few photos of my layouts later today and hopefully get them posted today also. I like how most of them came out.

I have a ton of things to do today, like clean this dirty house that I just cleaned yesterday (how does that happen???). Do a lot of laundry (it never ends). And if I get a chance do some grocery shopping. I know my list is small but I have a lot of chores that I' ve been overlooking and just need to be done and this is my only weekend to get it done. So everyone have a great day!

Wind & Rain,ugh

Updating early! Its still Friday night and can't sleep. So here I am.

Its days like these that I just want to curl up in my nice warm,heated bed and watch a good movie! ugh. The wind gusts are up to 60mph that is almost hurricane like OMG. The rain has been off and on for most of the day and it has just been very gray and gloomy. I really don't like this weather at all which I have mentioned a million times in the past. Give me hot and dry weather and I will be a happy camper, lol.

The 2 peas challenge for today is: what is one current movie out there that you just can't wait to see? If not current, what dvd that is out.. that you really wanna see? Well, I really want to go see that new movie with Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick. It is a Christmas themed movie and looks soooo funny. For whatever reason, I can not remember the name of the movie. (my brain is shutting down). And the other movie that I want to see (because my 7 yr old neice said "Aunt Lynnie, you have to go and see it) is Happy Feet!