Scrappin Fun

9/11

2009-09-11T11:04:00.000-07:00

A time to remember.

It's hard to believe that I am actually sitting here and writing. I have not been able to get a moment to update here since February! That is just insane. I really need to get my act together. Things have just been hectic around here and I'm just now trying to get some control. Sad, I know, but it will eventually work out. It usually does.

I have ton's to talk about and bunches of photos that I really want to post. That is going to take some time, but I will work on it.

For my friends at 2 peas. I haven't forgotten you! I do try to visit and really need to more often now. I received a new camera (Canon Rebel XS) as a gift in June, and to be honest with you. I have very little clue how to work the damn thing. It's not that complicated (I don't think) just haven't had the time to play with it. Now I just need to see about getting a telephoto lens. The 18-55 just isn't going to be good enough for Wrestling matches! If anyone has any suggestions on what lens I should use, please let me know. I NEED HELP!

Well... ta ta for now.

Curls...

2009-02-05T05:58:00.000-08:00

So as promised I will post a photo of my hair in it's curly state. This is the way it will look pretty much all the time since I do not blow dry or use a brush! I know it's weird but I don't. For really curly hair the brush just breaks the hair and then causes it to frizz. I pretty much use a wide tooth comb in the shower while the conditioner is sitting in it. I will go and have it blown straight maybe 2 times a year or for something special event (maybe) I am one of those weird people.... I really LOVE my curly hair. This has been another busy week here. I've been going to school Mondays and Wednesdays for 3 1/2 hours a night. Now I've added another evening to the mix for my medical terminology and coding course. The good thing is it gets me away from this bunch of crazies! Look at them.... this what they do about every 30 mins. They pose in front of a mirror or take photos of themselves.

DJ is getting pretty excitied about going into this bodybuilding competition in June. I think he has a really good chance of winning or at least placing! He has been great at keeping Joseph motivated and excited about going to the gym and I'm seeing some drastic results now.

We found out yesterday that Joseph passed 2 of the 4 state tests that he took last week. He passed the writing and reading. Now he is going to try again in June for the US History and Global History. He failed the Global by only 6 points! That really stinks. I have to say that he really tried hard this time.

Tuesday, it snowed the entire day. It started at about 7am and just continued with a wonderful light snow pretty much until 10pm. We accumalated about 4 inches of the fluffy white stuff, which of course ended up freezing to everything because the temps dropped down to 20 degrees. The main roads are pretty good but the side ones are like a sheet of ice. I took out my trusty "broken" camera and got a few shots.

As for today, I have a doctors appointment at noon and then making dinner. Tonight the wrestlers about 13 of them asked me to bleach their hair for Leagues which is this Saturday. If you follow my blog you might remember the past two years of me doing this. The boys originally called me and asked if I would do it, but they really wanted to do it on Wednesday and of course I couldn't due to school. So the one kid called all the boys and told them that they had to change the night to tonight so I could be there. Wasn't that sweet of them, lol. It is a fun evening with these boys all sitting together with bleach on their heads and who is trying to scratch their heads and them taking bets as to who's hair is going to come out the blondiest. Their a bunch of nuts!

So I'm off to have some breakfast and check out some of your blogs and play catch up this morning. Hope you all have a Terrific Thursday!

Superbowl Sunday

2009-02-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

To be honest with you I do not follow this sport at all anymore. When I was younger, yes, I did. Since the age of about 22 I completely lost interest in it along with a few other sports that use to follow like hockey, and baseball. Now I only follow scholastic wrestling and I'm still a big fan of tennis. I can't play either to save my life, but I truly enjoy them both.

Speaking of Tennis... Did anyone watch the Austrialian Open? Thank goodness for DVR and then ESPN for the repeat coverage during our hours. Last night (or today since Austrialia is 16 hours ahead of us) was the men's finals. What a battle! I could not believe that Nadal won over Federer. Nadal just has gotten so much better with each match he plays in. As for the Women's finals... Serena Williams walked away with this title over Danaria Safina. It was a pretty easy final for Serena.

On to Wrestling. DJ was coaching a group of the Kid Wrestlers today in a tournament. I decided to show up and take some photos of the boys on the mat. It was so cute to see the little guys sparing on the mats. It's not like the older guys. The little ones don't really give up and seem to fight to the bitter end. My High School team this year has a few kids that would prefer not to use their energy. The minute they get turned on their backs they stop fighting to get out of that position and seem to just give up.

Here is a photo of DJ coaching along with a few of the other coaches for the team. He's all the way on the left

Now the 2 peas challenge for today is: Describe a color in one word (without using the color's name)...... JUICY This is a great challenge. I like to think of things like this.

Here I am

2009-01-30T03:57:00.000-08:00

It has certainly been crazy here. As always, just when I think things have calmed down.... they don't! Everyone in this house is pretty stressed out right now.

I don't know what Danny is going to do. He has spent almost 2 full months getting his CDL license, he has passed all the written and driving tests for the busdriver license. He has even gotten a job as a driver. This was his first week on the job and it is a tough week to start something like this. This is a big testing week so the bus schedules are all crazy and he is not the only confused. The people that have been doing this for year are even crazed at this point and can't wait for today to come to an end. At any rate, he is having a nervous breakdown and he's only done this for 4 days. This morning he didn't even get up and then finally called in. I really hope he gets out of this little state. He really needed to do this for himself. My friend who has been a busdriver for over 30 years said Danny is not the only person freaking out this week. She completely lost it yesterday also. Anyway, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying that he can get through this.

As for me.... I started my classes this week. Now I knew that there was going to be a ton of typing, but I have to say that I didn't think I was going to have to type for 3 hours straight! My arm was killing me around the 2nd hour. I can't wait to test out of this portion of the class. My WPM were very good in all the lessons that I did. I guess my average for the 14 lessons was around 65 WPM. Not to shabby. I am looking forward to see what is instore for me next week. I am still doing my 365 photo challenge. It's been difficult to keep up, but I am managing. I did miss a day or two I think, but I will make it up. Here is yesterdays photo, I cut off 12 inches of my hair! Donated it to Lock's of Love. This is a whole new look for me. I hope it will look good when I just was and go and it's back to it's curly self tomorrow. It better since 360 days out of the year it is curly. The girl that does my hair just loves to blow it straight, because I never, never do it straight.

Here is the photo right after I cut it off.
Joseph is still being HOME Schooled! We went to a meeting last week and well.... I was denied and completely overlooked again when it comes to Joseph. The board decided to continue HOME schooling him for the REST of the YEAR! Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off! Boy did they play right into Joseph's hand again. He is so happy and who wouldn't be.... he has one teacher that comes on Monday for 1 hour, another that comes on Wednesday for 2 hours and the third comes on Thursday for 2 hours. Oh yeah did I mention they don't even come here until after actual school hours usually around 2:45pm. So you know what that means.... he can sleep in everyday. I've been trying to get him up by 9am everyday, but somedays it just doesn't happen.

DJ is still looking for a job. He decided not to go to school this semester and will be returning in the fall. Not sure which college he wants to attend at this time and he is sending in his applications to 3 so we will see.

I'm off to check out some blog's that of course I haven't been checking into lately due to my crazyness. I hope everyone has a FABOLUS Friday and WONDERFUL Weekend.

Slacker

2009-01-13T05:14:00.000-08:00

Thats me.... just a slacker I guess. I was really trying to be good and couldn't even last a week. Oh well. Things got a little crazy near the end of last week and this week is no better. I have 2 wrestling meets this week plus 2 tournaments on the weekend. I'm just exhausted. My house looks like a garbage truck came and emptied his truck in here. Then to boot, I decided to take some classes offered at the college. What was I thinking? Wrestling isn't even over yet and I going to try to take 3 classes. I'm insane. Any way I need to make this a quick update, because I have to go get ready to go to the college to take my placement class. That just sounds so weird. I haven't "been" in school in 28 years.

Here we go with my 365 project: It's DJ of course. This is actually photo #9/365. I still need to upload from the weekend. Hopefully I will get to that later on today. No promises though.

I'm not sure about the rest of the country or where you are, but it's been really cold here! Saturday we got a little snow, nothing extreme, just enough to make you slow down while driving. By Friday this week we are suppose to be down to "0"! I'm not liking that at all. Hope it warms up a little for my tournament on Saturday.

Well, I'm out of here. Going to try to catch up with some of you.

Hope you have a great day.

It's Thursday

2009-01-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you all know what day it is. This is just for me. I don't really have any idea what to write about. It was a very hectic day yesterday and I never got a chance to get on here to update.

I did however do my 365 photo yesterday (here it is): My Santa display. I love to collect them and this year I couldn't find any!

And here is today's: This is my handmade scarf. I love this thing.It is made of fleece and is sooooo very warm.
Today I had a ton of running around to do again. It was just a little crazy around here.

I'm not sure if I mentioned that DH is training to drive a bus! This is a big deal around here. He is very unsure of himself and doubtful. I have faith that he will do well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. There is just so much for you to remember now and he is really struggling with it.

I'm trying to get my photos ready for my collages. As you know this is going to be a huge project and I'm not really sure I'm really up for the challenge right now. I do have one of my friends willing to help me cut out my photos for placement. This, of course, is a plus and I'm so Thankful!

Well, I'm out of here for now. Going to see if I catch up with some of your blogs.

Have a great day!

Gloomy

2009-01-06T06:16:00.000-08:00

It's a gloomy day here on Long Island. Not to mention that it is slightly cold out there. No... It's not in the single digits like some other places, but to me it is cold.

I could not sleep again last night and just seems like I finally fall asleep about 4am then of course I don't want to get up in the morning. I guess it doesn't help much that my bed is heated and I just don't want to leave it.

It's a slow start this morning for me. I still have not taken my photo of the day and really need to do that before I completely forget and it's only day 6. That would really stink if I goofed up already.

Another boring day here. Not much planned for me. Just going to drop off a few bills, maybe order some photo's on line and attempt to get some of my collages done for the Coach's Hall of Fame Banquet. Shoot.. I just remember I need to order that CD also. Wow... I'm really slacking. Well.. I'm off to get that done. Shoot now I have a lot to do it seems. Hopefully I will post later my photo of the day.

Have a Terrific Tuesday

Back to the Grind

2009-01-05T06:38:00.000-08:00

Sorta speak..... With the holidays over now its time to get back to the normal everyday life. Sometimes I look forward to this. Kids are back in school and most people are heading back to work.

Today I'm off to the chiropractor with hopes of adjusting my back and neck. They've really been bothering me the last week now. Probably since I went flying across that wrestling mat last week. I'm sure it didn't help that's for sure.

So far I've been keeping up with my 365 photo. Here is today's, it is Danny's 86' Mustang GT. It was pretty cold here today and I really didn't want to do a thing so this is what I captured. It would've happened sometime. Other than that, I'm just trying to plain out the Wrestling Tournament which is less then 2 weeks away. It sure jumps up at you quickly. I almost can't wait for it to be overwith this year already. So sad.

Well, I'm off to try and play catch up with all of your blogs.
Hope you have a great Monday!

It's Sunday

2009-01-04T07:25:00.001-08:00

Nothing exciting going on here. It's just a typical Sunday here on Long Island. I really didn't do much yesterday either. Just some laundry and brushed out Lacey. She really needs a bath though, so maybe that will be something for me to do this morning sometime before I start cleaning the bathroom.

Here is my photo #3 for my 365. Again, nothing that great especially since I still don't have a full working camera.

And I decided to get a jump on the todays photo, so here is #4.

Other than that it's just another lazy day here for me.

Hope you all have a Sunny Sunday!

Another Day

2009-01-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

Here it is another day. It is slightly cold out there, but the sun is shining again. I don't have much planned for the day except doing laundry and attempting to clean this house. Like this is different from any other day in my life.

Here is yesterday's photo for my 365. It is DJ posing again! He just keeps on growing. He has decided to do a Body Building Competition in June and people tell him he has a good shot of placing in it. Heck, it keeps him in the gym and out of trouble.

Just a quick post here today. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

A Whole New Year

2009-01-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, healthy, safe New Year. We pretty much stayed home the entire night. Sometimes that is better.

It has been a rough few months here for me and I'm hoping to get my groove back somehow. I'm doing a spin off of project 365 which is a photo a day. It is going to be a little difficult since I'm working with a broken camera right now. Danny and I have been looking at cameras and still have not really decided on one yet. I'm trying to take the leap into DSLR, but he does not want to jump with me. For a very mechanical man, he does not like to deal with that kind of stuff when taking pictures. He would prefer a Point N Shoot. We'll see what happens in the next week or so. I can't go too much longer without a camera that is for sure. It's Wrestling season!

Here is my first photo for 365, It is of Joseph playing xbox 360 at the dropping of the ball. Thank goodness we have more than 1 TV in this house.

I'm going to try to post here everyday, but we all know that I fall off the wagon a lot. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a miracle.

Well, I've got a lot of catching up to do. I'm off to see what everyone else has been doing for the last week or so.

I hope you all have a Fabulous Friday!

What a Hectic time

2008-12-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

It has certainly been a very Hectic 4 weeks for me. First I had to fly to Vegas to take care of my mom for 10 days. That was a little difficult for me because I know she can do pretty much everything. She has just choosen not to do anything at all. That's too much to swallow really. I mean she won't even clean out a coffee cup. She would rather it just pile up in the sink. I even had to fight with her to shower. She has just gotten sooooo lazy that it is driving me and everyone else crazy. Believe me, she is fully capable of doing these things, she just doesn't want to. If she could get someone else to go to the bathroom for her that would be icing on the cake. I swear, it was like dealing with a 5 year old. She would do the pee pee dance, because she would wait til the last minute.

After my wonderful time in Vegas, which I really didn't get to do much while I was there, except my sister and I did plan an early Thanksgiving Dinner (1 week early) for everyone. Mainly because my kids (Jonathon and Shannon) were having a nervous breakdown due to the fact that my sister was not going to be there for Thanksgiving. So we had it early. It was very nice. I flew home Friday night, getting in at 11pm and my sister flew in getting here on Saturday at 8:30am!

My sister, her husband and my niece were going to here for 12 days! It was nice and thank goodness the weather held up for them. My sister can not do cold! This trip was a birthday present for my niece. She wanted to see the Thanksgiving Parade. It was the most perfect day weather wise for all of us. I don't remember exactly how I got roped into going, but yes, I did go. I can honestly say that it is a true experience that I'm glad I will have to do again! Did I mention that I came from the parade and still did Thanksgiving Dinner! Yeah, Crazy, I know. It was really nice though. The crowds were a little crazy, and to be honest, I just didn't think there were enough floats and balloons this year. I think it just might be me, but it lacked some pizazz. So I have ton's of photos from the parade for you.

Of course the next day was black Friday, and I have tell you that again I was disappointed. Nothing really great out there this year. Circuit City was a complete bust. Apparently the store near my home is one that is closing down and was not honoring the sale prices, plus didn't even open until 7am. People were lined up, 100's of them outside waiting to get in, and as fast as they went into the store we were coming right out. It was a bust. My sister and I were home by 8am! I've done almost all my shopping on-line and its already here! Next year, I'm staying home and doing it from the computer. No need to be out of the house at 4am.

Well this is long enough for today. Hopefully, I will get myself on here more often, but wrestling season has just begun! Looking forward to spending my Friday Nights and all day Saturdays in a smelly gym. lol. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

I'm BACK!

2008-11-26T04:05:00.000-08:00

It's true.... not sure I want to be back right now, but I am. The past 2 1/2 weeks have been very hectic and tiring. Now I really wish I could take a real vacation.

Being in Vegas was not a vacation as some of you already know. I was there to take care of my mom. She is not doing as well as I had hoped before I got there. She does not want to care for herself at all anymore (unless it has to do with food). You have to beg her to bathe and get dressed. Pretty much all she really wants to do is sit at the dining table (which is cluttered beyond belief, almost worse than mine, lol) and do her word search books all day long. My father claims that she is walking since I left. I don't see that actually happening and I seriously don't think he even pays much attention to it. I think she is just writing it down so she doesn't have to hear him complain that she didn't do it. He leaves her for hours unattended. I freakin left her for 30 mins to come back and find her laid out on the floor and she couldn't get up. After that incident I was afraid to leave her alone for more than 5 mins let alone the hours that he leaves her.

On a little better note. My sister Tracy is here visiting with her husband and my neice. They planned this vacation back in April. They wanted to take my neice to the Thanksgiving Parade! She is 8 and I think she will have a awesome time there. Not sure if she is going to handle the cold weather that morning but you never know with Alley. My sister and I are also planning out my shopping Black Friday! This is usually a day that I spend by myself since my sisters and mother all live in Vegas! My sisters and I usually talk by phone for most of the day and what I can't get they usually can. Now I've lost my main resource there, because I'm not sure that my other sister is even going to bother to go and I'm sure that my mother won't! So hopefully I will be able to get everything I want here. I really should stop this nonsense and just give these kids a damn gift card and be done to be honest.

Today I plan on starting my baking for tomorrow's feast! I've decided to take photos of everything to put together a receipe book for Shannon. She keeps calling me for receipes and sometimes doesn't understand. I thought this would be a great gift. I'm going to put it in an 8 1/2 x 11 album this way its splash proof also. I will ship it to my sister and she is then going to get her new utensils (I'm not sure she even has them, lol) and some stuff to get her started on cooking. That is pretty much the only handmade gift that I can think of right now.

Well... I've bored you all enough today. I wish you all a very Happy, Healthy, Wealthy Thanksgiving!

Las Vegas

2008-11-19T05:47:00.000-08:00

Here I am.... In Las Vegas! I've been here since last Wednesday and the weather has been incredible! Low 80's pretty much everyday. I can't believe it. Two days this week we hit record high's.

I've been very busy taking care of my mother. This in itself is a major task. It is like dealing with a 5 year old most of the time. You have to remind her to do pretty much everything. On top of that I've been cleaning the apartment here. Now we all know that I can't stand to clean, but this place was disgusting! She won't even clean a coffee cup. She has just gotten very lazy and does not want to do a thing unless she gets to go out and eat! I've now had to make eating a reward for her. How sad it sounds but she could just sit there and eat all day long if she isn't sleeping at the table.

One day before my dad left to go to Texas, I did manage to get out and meet Sherri from 2 pea's! It was great to meet up with her. We have tried to do this once or twice before, but never managed to fit it in. We went to a park so her ds could play and we pretty much chatted for about 2 hours. I had my sister Tracy with me because I kind of connected them about 2 years ago. It was a beautiful day in the park.

I really haven't done much, except take care of my mom since I've here. Now I'm planning a Thanksgiving dinner for tomorrow for Jonathon, Shannon and the rest of my family here. We are having it at my sister Tracy's. So much to do in so little time. Then I fly home on Friday! I get in at about 11pm and then my sister Tracy and her family fly in on Saturday morning at 8:30! It's just going to be non-stop for me.

I have to say that I'm really getting tired lately. This could be due to that fact that I'm not really sleeping. My mom is up and down all night long.

I also have not taken 1 single picture since I've been here! I can't believe it, but then again, I haven't really done anything except babysit. Maybe tomorrow I will get a few.

Hope everyone has a terrific day... I've got to go before she raids the frig!

Its Monday!

2008-11-10T05:48:00.000-08:00

The sun is actually shining and there is a northeasterly breeze out there today. It is a bit on the cold side also. My body already is dreading the winter season. I've got to get my body prepped for this.

This weekend I didn't really do much. I attempted to clean the house a little, which of course with 3 men here didn't last too long. Yesterday I did quite a bit of cooking though. I figured I better get some meals planned ahead for them while I'm away. We wouldn't want DJ to miss a meal! Danny and Joseph are much easier when it comes to food. DJ is regimented and likes to have certain foods. Joseph would be happy with Kraft Mac & Cheese, hot dogs or the ever popular chicken nuggets everyday! Since I'm going to be away for 9 days I'm trying to put a few meals together for them. Knowing them... they won't eat most of them and just order out or make sandwiches. Sometimes I don't know why I bother.

The countdown is 2 days until I will be on a plane crossing this great country. At this time on Wednesday I would be 2 hours into my trip. I can't wait to get there. The weather has been really nice (depending on who you talk to). If you talk to my sister Tracy or my mother it is freezing there at 70. If you talk to my kids or my dad the weather is perfect.

Well, as usual, I need to get going here today. Joseph needs to get to school in a little bit and I really need to get some stuff done here today.
Hope you all have a Magical Monday!

18

2008-11-07T03:47:00.000-08:00

2Peas question of the day: What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to being 18?

Wow! 18..... What an incredible time in my life. I think the first thing that comes to my mind is the day that I turned 18. It was actually the day after my High School Graduation. My best friend and others were just hanging out camping on the beach and enjoying the beginning of summer. To be so young, vibrant, and energetic. Not having a care in the world at that moment. Of course, that all changed pretty quickly for me. Remember when you could go without sleep for days on end? OMG.... what were we thinking? It was fun and fast. It is a time in my life that I truly remember well.

Hope you all have a Fabulous Friday and Wonderful Weekend.

What to do?

2008-11-05T04:24:00.000-08:00

I guess this week I'm into making "TO DO" lists. I don't know why all of a sudden I'm doing this. Today I have many things to get done. Yesterday was productive, but not as much as I would have liked. My "TO DO" list was even shorter yesterday and I got less things crossed off. I guess some days are just going to be like that.
I manged to finally get this done:
1. I got to those damn summer clothes which took me forever and a day.
2. while going through the clothes I dicarded anything that I haven't worn in over 1 year. (that took another day, lol)
3. voted!
4. vacuumed and swept
5. started to go through some of the wrestling papers, but ended up working on the Hall of Fame Banquet Book instead.
6. Washed all the clothes that I'm taking to Vegas.

This was all I got done. It is sad. I wish I could just blink my eyes sometimes like Bewitch.

Today I have some running around to do. I'm not sure if anything in this house is going to get done, ugh.
1. Get Joseph to school
2. Go to Walmart
3. Go to Cable Company
4. Go to my Dr's appt
5. Take DJ to Dr.
6. Pick Joseph up from school
7. Make Dinner (I didn't make anything last night)
8. vacuum and sweep

At least with this list... I know that most of it has to be done, lol.
Hope everyone has a Wonderful Wednesday!

Vote!

2008-11-04T05:23:00.000-08:00

Yep, this is the day we've all been waiting for. I'm not sure about anyone else out there, but this is just crazy. To be honest with you, I'm not that crazy about either one of these two candidates. Neither one does a thing for me. What ever the outcome I think we are going to be sorry for the decisions made many months ago by both parties to vote these two as presidential candidates. Enough about that!

Yesterday was a pretty productive day! Yeah... I actually got stuff done. I did:
1. vacuum and sweep the floors
2. clean bathroom
3. went to the chiropractor
4. got Joseph to school
5. dusted the livingroom
6. picked up prints from Walgreens
7. went to the clothing printers and worked on the order forms
8. went to the grocery store
9. made dinner !
10. picked Joseph up from school
I guess that is not too bad.

Today's goal is:
1. vacuum and sweep
2. get to those summer clothes (attempt #2)
3. still attempting to clean off the diningroom table
4. VOTE
5. get my stuff together for Vegas
6. again, figure out what to make for dinner.
7. get all my Wrestling papers together and in order
I'm not going to set too many today. I'm exhausted just thinking about them, lol.
Well I'm out of here for now. Go out and Vote everyone!
Have a terrific Tuesday!

Fall....

2008-11-03T05:43:00.000-08:00

is definately here on Long Island. Yesterday was a blistery day. It was almost bone chilling the entire day. I really didn't want to do a thing all day.

Today, however, seems to be much nicer. It is suppose to hit 50 and the sun is shining brightly (right now anyway). There is not much going on here (surprising as that might sound). I am still not feeling well. I don't know what is going on, but I just can't seem to kick it. I'm going back to the dr. on Wednesday. So we will see. I just haven't been right now for about 6 weeks, which really stinks.

My Things to Do List for today:
1. vacuum and sweep the floors
2. clean bathroom
3. go to chiropractor
4. get Joseph to school
5. dust livingroom
6. finally put summer clothes away
7. get rid of clothes that I haven't worn in over 2 years
8. pick up prints from Walgreens
9. attempt to clean off the dining room table (it never happens)
10. pick Joseph up from school
11. figure out what I'm bringing to Vegas
12. make dinner.

I personally would be happy to get at least 6 of the things listed done! So we will see what happens.

Oh.. did I mention that I'm leaving for Vegas on the 12th to go take care of my mom for 10 days! She has been in the hospital and unfortunately, my dad had prior commitments that he can not get out of. So needless to say I'm flying 3,000 miles to take my mother for that time... well about 6 days of it. My sister is doing an early Thanksgiving Day dinner while I'm there. Mostly because of Jonathon and Shannon crying that she is going to be here for Thanksgiving this year and what were they suppose to do for dinner! lol So we are doing it a week early for them.

Ok... I've got to get going there now. Joseph is getting ready.
Have a Great Monday!

Tagged!

2008-10-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

I was tagged the other day by my friend Heather http://alifesosimple.blogspot.com/ . This is my first chance to get around to posting it.

RULES:
Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
(You can be my facts can be random and or weird!)

1. I think most of you already know this little fact- I love WRESTLING! Not that crap that is on TV. I'm talking about Scholastic Wrestling which includes Middle School, High School, College and Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling (which is done in the Olympics).

2. I just love CHOCOLATE! My favorite candy is M&M's plain. They have been my favorite candy since I was a little girl.

3. I really don't like cold weather. I could be in warm weather all year round. I just love it as long as it is dry. NO HUMIDITY!

4. I know this might sound a little crazy, but I just LOVE my hair! I know most people hate their own hair, but I love mine. I love my curls!!!! I wouldn't trade them for anything. I also only dry my hair straight probably 2 times a year and that is when I go to the salon for a really good cut and she beg's me to dry it straight.

5. I do not like to clean. I do it, but I really don't like it. I really could use a maid in this house. I think this stem's from early childhood. I was the oldest child of 5 and of course a girl so I was expected to do everything starting at a very young age. I remember doing the dishes at 5 and cleaning the bathroom at about 7. Let's not even go into when I started doing laundry.

6. Did I every mention I really don't like my house? Well, I don't! We moved into this pit almost 10 years ago, because we were desperate at the time for a place to live and this place was available and the right price. After about 4 years of just renting this thing, the landlord wanted to sell because she was moving to CT with her sister (she is now 87 years old) and of course offered it to us. My dh couldn't wait to jump on it! Oh.. did I mention we were already trying to move the heck out of here to NV and looked at houses there. Ohhh.. so he decided to buy this thing without telling me! Everything in his name! She actually had to hold the mortgage because this house should actually be ripped down!! That is how bad it is and to be honest no bank would give a mortgage. Ok.. thanks for letting me vent all that.

7. I enjoy working with pre-schoolers so much, that I've recently decided to go to school for early childhood developement. I'm just getting all my paperwork done and hopefully be able to start some classes for the spring.

So there you have it. I'm not going to pick 7 people because I think most of the people that I would've picked have already done this or have been tagged already. So if you would like to par take in the fun.. have at it!

TGI Friday

2008-10-24T05:14:00.001-07:00

It's Friday! I made it through another boring week of doing pretty much nothing. I'm going to have to find something to do part-time real soon or I'm going to go CRAZY! I don't like sitting at home twiddling my thumbs.

I've been going to the library about 3 times a week and of course the chiropractor at least 2 times a week. This, just to get out of the house. I've even been doing a family tree to try to occupy my time. It's not really working that well, but I have found some interesting data on family members that I did not know.

I'm going to also apply to the local school district. They are in urgent need of school aides. I usually enjoy the younger kids, but who knows now. It's been year's since I've done anything like that. Our school district now requires you to list 3 personal references and you must also submit 5 recommendation letters. I think 5 letters is just a little too much, don't you? We will see what happens. I hope something pop's up soon though.

Ok... as usual, I've got to get Joseph up and moving. Yes, he is still making me nuts! I don't know what to do with this kid. I'm just crossing my finger's that something wake's him up soon.
I hope everyone has a Fabulous Friday!

You're not going to believe this...

2008-10-22T05:20:00.000-07:00

but I actually scrapped last night. It seemed to take me forever, but I did it. I have been trying to do a layout for the past few weeks using a photo of my 2 sisters, my parents, me, and my nephew. It's not a bad photo, but you know how you just can't take one element in a photo and get past it. That is what happened to me. My sister Kelly is wearing a shirt that just screams "HELP" every time I look at it. I was even thinking about cutting her out of the photo (since she is on the end), but decided that would be bad since her son is in the photo with us. BTW-she is the one all the way on the left of the photo and I know it is hard to see but the shirt is pink and white stripes! Any who... I muddled through and got a layout "almost" done, just needs journaling added and then that is it! So here it is without the Journaling.The first one is with a flash and the 2nd is no flash.On another note, did anyone watch Dancing with the Stars last night? I was actually happy that Cloris Leachman is still in it. She looks awesome at 82! I can only hope that I look and move like she is at that age. I'm having trouble now and I'm 1/2 her age! I really don't know what ABC was thinking about doing an hour of recap (from the night before). It was boring and I have to tell I was going to turn it off, but DJ was still watching. I was like "I taped House for this crap!".

It's Wednesday and I have Clean Sweep plans again with my sister-in-law. Hopefully she doesn't cancel again. I'll keep you posted. It also means Private Practice is on and so is Dirty, Sexy, Money. Love those 2 shows.

Well, I've got to get moving here. Hope everyone has a Wonderful Wednesday!

Tuesday

2008-10-21T04:53:00.000-07:00

So at 3am this morning I woke up with a throbing tootheache. It is not a severe pain, but that annoying throbing kind of pain. I guess it's going to have to happen. A call to the dentist today. I'm hoping someone can fit me in today. I've been putting this off for so long that it was bound to hit me back. I know that it is wrong to do that, but I have a major fear of the dentist for the past 18 years. Before that, NO FEAR! Now my heart starts racing the minute I walk in the door.

Ok, I managed to take a few photos of the lo's I did at the crop on Sunday. They are not the best photo's I've taken of lo's, but I wanted you all to see that I actually did something. I will have to take them again when I can find my board that I usually lean them up against. These lo's are all using photo's from when I was in Vegas in May with my best friend and of course my family. I just have a little journaling to do on the first one. I even got my Cricut out and played with it. I can't believe that I made that flower at the bottom with it using Bazzil paper. I just love that background paper and the quote block. I just layered flowers on top of each other and took some ribbon, made a knot in the end and threaded it through the holes of the flowers, secure to the back of the last flower. Waaaaa laaaaa!

The second I don't know if I'm journaling on it or not. If I used my head and really thought about it I could've made a hidden pocket under a photo for my journaling, but again I was not thinking.

This one I really like. It was pretty simple to do. This photo is not great and the lighting was terrible in the dining room when I took it so you have a blue light in one of the photos. It also came out a little darker than it really is. I'll update with new photos hopefully by the end of the week.

Well, that is it for me right now. Keeping my fingers crossed to get back on here tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a Terrific Tuesday!

Cold.....

2008-10-20T06:13:00.000-07:00

but beautiful weekend here on Long Island. The sun was shining, but it was pretty cold and windy. I guess fall finally creeped its way here. It's funny, because on Thursday it was around 75 here. People were walking around in shorts and tank tops. That is why everyone is getting sick.

Anyway, I never made it over to crop on Friday because I was still not feeling well. I did however make it there yesterday and boy am I glad I did! It was so nice to see everyone. I know this is going to be alarming, but I actually got some work done also! I was able to get 4 lo's done. I am pretty sure that is a record for me. Later on that night I just did some little embellishments on them and they are complete. I will try to take some photo's of them today and post them tomorrow. I think they came out pretty nice.

I just remembered that I never posted the photo's of the card's that I made a week or so ago, so here they are. This was tons of fun even though apparently I'm perfectionist (NOT), I seemed to take forever to get these cards done. We made 3 of each card style, which was really nice.

This first one is my favorite I think. Please remember.. I'm not a stamper in any way, but I do have to say I really enjoy doing it lately.

This "monster"green card is very cute and when I was taking the photo's of these I forgot to take a picture of the inside. It has a very cute dangling spider with googly eyes hiding in there.

Next was this wonderful "Thanksgiving" card.

And then we finished it off with this wonderful little card that could be an everyday type of card.

Lots of fun! Well, I've got to get myself moving here today. I seem to be in slow motion lately. I will try to get back on later or tomorrow and post my lo's!

Hope everyone has a Marvelous Monday!

Sick, Sick, Sick!

2008-10-17T10:03:00.001-07:00

Ok, so you may have guessed, I'm SICK! Tuesday, I woke up with a slight sore throat. It seemed to get better during the day. Then Wednesday, pretty much the same thing, except that once the evening creeped upon me I seemed to be feeling worse. It was really allergy symptoms more than a sore throat. Thursday morning I woke up and my head felt like it weighed 100 lbs. and my jaw felt like someone punched all night long there. I went to the doctor (had an appt. to get clearance for an endoscopy, which of course is not going to happen now) and he diagnosed severe sinus infection and double ear infection. Lovely! So I came home after picking Joseph up at school and went right to bed! I pretty much stayed there the rest of the night. I do feel a little better today (thanks to the Z-pack antibiotic) and I'm sure tomorrow I will feel almost like brand new!

Since I was not feeling well yesterday (and today) there was NO Clean Sweep at my dear sister-in-law's. We are now going to have to wait until Wednesday to attempt this again. I was also going to a crop tonight, but I cancelled that. I felt since I usually feel worse in the evening that it wouldn't even be worth it to me to go. I will go on Sunday.

I have no other plans, but resting for the next few days. Hope everyone has a Fabulous Friday and Wonderful Weekend.

I'm Back!

2008-10-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

It has been some time since I've been on. I was doing so well there for awhile, but then my mother board fried. I had to get a new one and have everything updated. So, it's been almost 2 full weeks without a computer. I have to say that this house is quite boring without it. It is amazing how much we all look forward to getting on here. I did part of my "A Week in my Life" and I am hoping to get it all finished by this weekend. I'm going to another crop.

Now we already know what happens to me when I go to a crop. I pretty much get nothing done. I'm hoping that this weekend will prove to be different. This will probably be one of my last crops since Wrestling season is creeping upon me.

For those of you that check in here and follow what is going on in my crazy life, we did very well with our concession stand raising almost $1,200. for the wrestling team. I am voting to earmark most of that money to go towards the summer wrestling camp to bring down the cost for each kid that attends. I know that it is not a lot of money, but it will help. Who know's I might just make those boy's do a car wash or two also this year.

Let's see, Joseph is still being Joseph. Today when I picked him up from school I asked him if he went to every single class and of course he said "YES". Well.... as I got here just a few mins. ago. I got an email from his English teacher stating that Joseph was NOT in class today. I think I'm going to have to give up on this kid. If anyone knows of a good bootcamp program or something let me know. Right now he is outside with Danny ripping down the motor to the Mustang. I was going to say something to him right away, but I figured that would only get him all pissy and then Danny would be left out there all by himself tonight doing this thing. I'll mention it to him in an hour when they come in. Why should everyone be aggravated because of Joseph right now.

Today, as usual, my dad called me. This time to report that he had to take my mom to the hospital. She is pretty sick and has a lot of fluid in her lungs. So they are keeping her for a while. Need I say she still has not quit smoking and won't use the oxygen tank. Enough said!

Other news.... Yesterday was Danny's Birthday! Yeah... the BIG 51! Boy it just seems like yesterday that he was 25 and I was 19! Good Golly! I've been with him that long? What was I thinking, lol. Of course, it doesn't feel that way any more, now I feel like I'm 80! Life goes on.

Well everyone, I'm so happy to be back and hopefully I will be able to keep up with everything. Now I'm off to try to catch up on a few of your blogs! Can't wait to see what I've missed.
As usual, I hope everyone has a Terrific Thursday!

Yep... It's Day 4

2008-10-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

I've made it to Day 4! Hooray! Some days I have more going on then others. Today was a hectic day so far. I got up a little later than normal. It was very chilly out this morning. I think it was below 50! So of course I didn't want to get out of my warm bed, but I did. Managed to get a cup of tea going for me and the pot of coffee up for Danny.

Then, about 9am I got Joseph up for school. He didn't want me to drive him to school, so I seriously doubt that he made it there today. He left the house before 9:40am and doesn't have to be at school until 10:30. He was definately up to something, but at this point I turning and looking the other way. He is going to dig himself in a deep hole and then there will be no where for him to go. I, unfortunately, have to cut away from this kid. I can't continue to make myself sick over what this kid is doing (or not doing I should say).

At 10:30am, Danny and I left to go to BJ's Warehouse. It's like a Costco. I had to get everything for this tournament that is on Sunday. Going to that place on a Saturday is just insane, so we decided to go today instead. Lets just say 16 cases of Gatorade, 8 cases of water, 10 cases of soda, 5 cases of Sunny D, 150 hot dogs, 4 lbs of butter, 6 lbs of cream cheese, 8 boxes of candy, case of popcorn, 2 cases of the jumbo pretzels, 160 hot dog rolls, 110 hero rolls, cups, bowls, napkins, plates, 2 cans of cheese sauce, 5 huge bags of tostitos, ketchup, mustard, 2 cans of coffee, and 4 dz. muffins. I think that is pretty much everything. It takes Danny's pickup and my Explorer to get everything. We were finished in there by 1pm and of course Danny had to stop to eat something. Then we drove home.

I pull into the driveway and Lacey (the dog) is already whimpering at the window, because she missed us so much. I rush in to greet her and then play around with her that I forget what time it is. I forgot to get Joseph. Of course I was 7 min's late and guess what???? He was NO where to be found! I drove around the area and into the town for 25 mins looking for this kid. I seriously doubt that he went to school today. I will see come Monday. He is already grounded! It doesn't even make sense to me.

Well... I still have a few things to get done. I really need to go to the Chiropractor. I need that adjustment! And then I have to figure out what to do for dinner here. Good Golly does it every end?
Hope you all have a Fabulous Friday! Enjoy your weekend!

It's Day 3

2008-10-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ok... I'm on a roll, sorta speak. I've made it to Day 3 of "A week in my Life". Yesterday was actually quite boring. I really didn't do a darn thing. I can't even say that I did any real cleaning in this house. I've been quite tired lately and yesterday was such a dreary day that I took 2 little cat naps. Not like me at all.

Here's hoping that today will be a little more productive. I've got some running around to do after I web cam with my sister this morning. It is very unusual for us to web cam during the week, but since I'm not working anymore and she is off today we are able to.

I've got to go to the UPS Store this morning, then off to the High School to drop off some papers to the Coach. I also need to stop off at the grocery store for a few minor items and then I also have a dr's appt at 2 today. This should be good. Maybe my "week in my life" won't be so boring after all!

I've also decided to try another challenge (what am I thinking), like this one wasn't enough for me. So I was on 2peas general scrapping board and came across a post from Miss M. It was for a challenge from Stacey-Altogether Too Happy: Challenge: Give Yourself a Present! It looks interesting and something that I might be able to manage since I haven't been able to manage anything scrapbook related in some time now.

So I'm off to document some stuff and hopefully I will post some photos from yesterday.
Hope you all have a Terrific Thursday.

Wednesday Day 2

2008-10-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

Heck, I made it through day 1! hip hip hooray! The sad thing is that I really don't have much to do today except maybe clean this dirty house (which I really don't want to do, lol). So, hopefully, something will pop up that might be a little more exciting then yesterdays day.

So, yesterday I did manage to color my hair. It takes all my strength to do this. First, I have pretty long hair, even though it really doesn't look like it because I always have it pulled up. Second, it is darn thick and Third it is hard to make sure I get all the roots especially in the back of my head. I just hope for the best. Yesterday I really didn't care if I got them all as long as the front wasn't gray anymore. Somedays I wish there was a gray haircolor. I just want to end it, but it wouldn't help because I'm only gray really in the front and right down the middle of the top of my head.

Yesterday, I was baking a cake and screwed up the entire thing, but my screw up actually came out pretty good. Danny has now called the cake a Chocolate Crumb Lava Cake. Don't ask, I don't know where he got that from. He couldn't wait to dive right into it.We had some really strong thunder and lightening very early this morning. They started about 2am, but no rain until about 3:30am. You know I know this because my back was killing most of the early morning and I couldn't sleep. Finally at about 3:30am I got up and took some Tylenol and finally fell back to sleep about 5:30am. Because of this, I really didn't get up this morning until about 7:45am that is pretty late for me. I hate when that happens because I tired all day long now.

Ok... I'm off to start my day. Hope everyone has a Wacky Wednesday!

Tuesday Update

2008-09-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I was not as busy as I thought I would be today. But I did manage to take a few photos of my day. So here are a just a few that I will eventually be working with to complete my "A Week in my Life".

This is my mug that I use everyday. I love this mug very much. I've had it for about 10 years now and of course my dh dropped something on it and broke the handle off of it about 5 years ago. I won't get rid of it.

Here is my stereo system that I was listening to this morning when I got up.

Ahhhh.. here is my noisy bird that annoys everyone.

Oooopps... this is me typing on my blog this morning, lol.

I was due to color my hair... The gray is just insane. So off to Sally Beauty Supply I went.

This is been quite uplifting. Now I really just need to keep busy. Check back tomorrow to see what I'm doing.

A Week in my Life

2008-09-30T05:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Rosh Hashanah.

I can't believe it that I'm getting on here again this week. My goal is to try to get on at least 4-5 days this week. So far, so good, lol.

So yesterday I was checking out Noelia's blog: everyday telling of a story-Noelia and she mentioned Ali's blog: { A }: weekend creative : documenting a week in your life which gave me a little spark. I think this is something I can seriously do. So I am starting today. I know its really not the beginning of the week, but it will be the beginning of my week in my life. I am so looking forward to doing something creative. Its been a long time since I've felt like this so I hope something really good comes out of all this.

This week I'm just trying to be mellow and not get stressed out about everything around me. This is very difficult for me. Lately, I've stressed out about everything- little or big! Most of my stress stem's from Joseph. Did I mention that I'm starting to count the days to when he turns 18! He makes me nuts.

Other than that, I'm off to get on my bean and workout a little bit. Getting my day started and off to document my 1st day of my week in my life.

Come on back tomorrow to see what I did today.
Hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday

A week in review

2008-09-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

Whewwwwww! What a freakin' week. Lets see so much going on. Well, as I mentioned Joseph got a job and of course that lasted all of 3 days! As usual, Joseph didn't want to listen to me and didn't do the right thing and was let go. I think the only way I'm going to get to this kid is if I stop caring. So I now have a new plan. I DON'T care what he does. He is going to dig himself in deep and I'm not reaching in for the save anymore! He was also kicked out of school for 3 days because of his nonsense. I'm finally throwing my hands up and letting faith take over. I hope it works. It's now time for tough love, he has made me sick for the last time.

Enough about Joseph..... I'm getting everything ready for a tournament on Sunday that I'm running the concession stand for. This is usually a very fun event for me, but this time around I'm finding it a little difficult.I know that everything will work out just fine (it always does), but I still stress out about it.

I'm also working on this Hall of Fame for the Wrestling Coach. I'm sure I mentioned that he asked me to represent him, which is a huge honor for me. We've already had our first committee meeting and of course I'm the only woman witha a group of 25 men. Of course most of them are wrestlers and or officials. There is a lot of work that I have to do for this event which is taking place in April. I'm looking forward to doing the collage pages of my Coach and posters that he really wanted to display. It will be a very exciting night that's for sure.

I'm actually going to try to get a little scrapbooking done this week if I can get the table all cleaned off (there is tons of stuff cluttering my life). I really want to get my journaling and titles done for the pages that I started at the crop last weekend. Other than that nothing much else is going on. I'm hoping to get on here and 2 peas everyday this week. Not promising anything, but hoping I can.
Hope everyone has a Marvelous Monday!

What a Weekend

2008-09-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well, Friday got a little hectic for me. My sister-in-law called and asked if I wanted to go to a movie, but she wanted wanted to go early (so did I, because I had a crop), so I said yes. We headed out to the movie theater at 4:15pm and we saw Ghost Town. I have to tell you... what a cute movie! The main character was very funny, in a dry way. Greg Kinear was very good also as the dead guy. It was not a "Oh my goodness, it's the best movie of the year" movie, but it was a cute movie for something to do and only have to pay $5.00 bucks for the early movie.

Right after the movie, I was off to my little crop. I always have a great time with these ladies. I laugh so much when I'm there and get to talking most of the time that I don't get anything done. Lets not forget that a lot of my stuff in still in Vegas! I did manage to play around with a few photos that I brought with me and of course bought lots of paper and the well... the Big Bite! I wonder how long it will be before I actually use it. I'm hoping not too long. I do have a few little projects that I'm going to have to start working on very soon and one I think will be a little overwhelming for me, but keeping my fingers crossed.

Saturday, brought me back to crop again and still not production out of me. More talking then anything else. There is something wrong with me. I'm hoping to finish up the 3 layouts that I started there by the end of this week. Who knows if it will actually happen.

Sunday, I did mostly cleaning and laundry and that was pretty much it.

Good news.... Today, Joseph went for an interview for a job at the local grocery store Shop Rite and they hired him. I hope this all works out. He needs this. Plus it will keep him off the street in town all night long, hopefully!

Well that is it for now. Tomorrow I have full day. Things to do until 2pm and then a Dr's appt. at 2:30 then I have a meeting for the National Wrestling Hall Fame at 7 pm. That should be fun and I'm sure I will be exhausted by the end of the evening.
Hope everyone has a Terrific Tuesday!

You are WONDERFUL!

2008-09-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

All my friends that visit me here and most are from 2peas. You all are just wonderful! You guys always listen to me ramble on about nothing important to you and still manage to lift my spirits! You are always encouraging, which really helps me. You guys are like my own little cheerleading squad! I really don't know what I would do without all of you. You are TERRIFIC!

Now... I just ordered about 70 photos from Clark (they are having a 6 cent sale, code: c6cents) I'm hoping to get somewhat creative in the next week or so and lets not forget that I have this crop this weekend that I'm really looking forward. Those gals are also WONDERFUL! Dee is just terrific and when I'm stuck on something she always has an idea. Also lets not forget that I left my entire crop suitcase in Vegas in April! so a lot of my stuff is there. I do have lots still downstairs just have to dig it all out. I think its going to be a great weekend!(keeping fingers crossed, lol).
Here's hoping that I get back on here again tomorrow night after my infusion, if not... I will definately try for Friday. Have a great evening.

I just can't...

2008-09-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

Ugh! I just can't seem to even get on here and write. Something is seriously wrong with me. I've been going crazy trying to get (keep) Joseph in school that my head is spinning and I just can't seem to jump off the rollercoaster yet. Hopefully, things will calm down soon and I will be able to get my full physical also.

I feel horrible that I'm out of the loop lately! I really want to create, but just can't seem bring myself to do it. I did sign up for a crop for this weekend so hopefully my friends there will get my mojo flowing. They are pretty good about getting me moving.

I've been trying to keep up with everyones blog and what's going on. You guys are really busy creating it's wonderful! I just love that. I can't believe the stuff you guys are doing. I was just checking out Sarah 2pawsdesigns-Sarah C blog and she is truly amazing... she is doing T-shirt bags that are going to be just wonderful. Toni Moved to the Mountains-Toni always has a card or two that she has done and this lady rocks at cards. I wish I was that talented! Well.. I'm going to mossey on over to a few other blogs tonight and see what everyone else is doing. Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow.

What is your Fairy name?

2008-09-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

Saw this over at my friend Sherri's blog (5 things I do what I do).
I think it fits me almost perfect! #1: I ramble, #2: I can be a witch, #3: I am weird and #4: I have almost russet colored hair which is normal very bright!

Your fairy is called Bramble Yewwitch

She is a weird enchantress.

She lives in leafy dells and bluebell glades.

She is only seen in the enchanted moment between sleep and waking.

She wears bluebell-blue dresses. She has russet-coloured wings like a brightly coloured butterfly.

http://www.emmadavies.net/fairy/default.aspx">Get your free fairy name here!

I know....

2008-09-08T17:28:00.001-07:00

...it's been a week since I posted. I just don't get the time right now as regularly as I use to. Things here are pretty much the same. Joseph is just driving me crazy as usual. I wish I knew of a place that would take him, because he apparently doesn't want to follow my rules or go to school. He has missed 3 days of both his gym classes so far and this is day 4 of school!

DJ is doing pretty good with a crappy schedule at college due to his tardiness of registering for classes! He will have to suffer for the semester! That's all there is to it!

I've just been so exhausted the last few months I don't know what to do! All I want to do is sleep, but most of the time I won't. I just don't have any energy. I need a boost. Hoping something snaps into place soon.

Thats it for now... Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow with an update. I really miss you all! Have a great night!

Busy Here

2008-08-31T05:41:00.000-07:00

It has been a very busy week here for us. Monday, I had a lot of running around to do and I needed to take Joseph to an interview for VESID. VESID stands for Vocational and Educational System for Individuals with Disabilities. Since Joseph was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 2 he has received services for special education. Mostly extra time to complete tests and writing assignments. Plus he has been in a small class for main classes, usually 15-1 instead of the normal here 27-1. This meeting was almost painful! The man who interviewed was GREAT! It was of course Joseph. The gentleman would ask Joseph a question and he would just say yeah or no. It was like pulling teeth to get him to talk. Then the guy asked him how his school attendance was and Joseph was like "pretty good". I almost feel out of the chair! The guy asked him if he wanted to re-think his answer, and Joseph was like "hmmmm... yeah... my attendance is pretty good". Then the guy was like "Joe, I don't ask a question that I don't already know the answer to. Maybe you would like to change your answer." Joseph said "No, his attendance was pretty good except for gym". I almost died.

Any who... Joseph is eligible for quite a lot of help depending on what he plans to do after he graduates (keeping fingers crossed, lol). He is also going to get driving training (I can't sit in the car with kid, he knows everything) so he can get his full license. If Joseph decides to go to college (2 or 4 year) they will pretty much pay for most of it, if he files before the deadline. If he files late he is only getting $4,800. I thought that was incredible! I really hope he goes. Oh... and they would also pay for him for job training if that is what he decided to instead. Their main goal is to get him a job and have him be financially secure.

Tuesday, brought me more running around and trying to get things done before they start school this week. DJ was suppose to go down to the college and of course didn't. Nothing like registering late! I don't know what it is with this kid lately.

Wednesday, Danny and I went to the US Open! We just love it there. There is so much to see and some great tennis. Danny was not too happy that Rafael Nadal was not playing (we thought he was since he played on Monday). So needless to say he was grumpy all day about that. We left early to get there, because we really did think we were going to be in traffic. No traffic really to speak of. But then Danny didn't want to follow the directions and well we got lost! I don't understand men. We were about 11 miles away. So of course we stop to ask someone how to get there and I'll be damned if the guy didn't live near it so he had us follow him. Of course when we passed the street that was on my directions he chimmed in and said I guess we should've followed the directions, you think!

This was the first time we entered and parked at the South Gate. We are usually at the other side by Shea Stadium. So it was nice to get close up to the old Worlds Fair Grounds and the wonderful Globe fountain before the entrance to the tennis grounds

Once in, we ventured around the outter courts to see who was playing and we got to see Tipsarevic. He is usually very good! He was not doing well while we were watching and Danny got very bored.

We went over to Louis Armstrong Court and watched Davydenko who is #5 right now. We were pretty high up in the stands, but it was nice. The weather was perfect! Of course Danny got bored very quickly with him so we moved on. There was soooo much and I have tons of pictures. I'm going to try to finish updating the past week tomorrow. I see this is getting awfully long for today. I don't want to bore you all!

I hope everyone enjoys their wonderful holiday weekend and don't forget to display your flag tomorrow.

Middle Aged Woman

2008-08-29T13:50:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone, this was sent to me by a friend. I think it is very cute! Please turn up your volume so you can hear the awesome words to the song!

Great Weekend!

2008-08-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

I had a very nice weekend here! Lets see... Saturday Danny and I just hung out and pretty much did nothing until he decided to dock the boat. We then went down to the water to dock the boat until the end of October. Danny loves going out on it in October. I really don't so much.

Sunday, The boys were going in to Shea Stadium for a Mets game with my sister-in-law and of course our neice Danielle (27), her daughter our great-neice Giannia (5), great-nephew Ryan (13), great-nephew Brandon (6), great-neice Bella (2 1/2). My sister-in-law is the warmest, sweetest person you could ever met. I don't know how she does some of the things she does with these kids. Maybe because she doesn't have any of her own and doesn't have to deal with kid stuff every single day. Don't forget she also had DJ (19) and Joseph (17) with her. I'm sure they were a big help especially with Brandon and Bella. The kids were bummed out because the Mets lost. The little guys were happy at the end though because they (the Mets) let the kids go down on the grounds and do the running of the bases! Ryan and Brandon were very excited.

They boys informed that my sister-in-law has also planned a full day on Thursday for them all out at SplishSplash.com Home Page this is a waterpark about 30-40 miles away from here. She is always brave and usually takes the older of the kids with her every year. She just loves it

Sunday, Danny and I took the boat for about 4 hours or so. Boy the sun was shining and it was somewhat peaceful for about the first hour or so. Then about 15 boats decided to pounce upon us! I swear. Nothing like having another boat sitting on top of you. I really can't stand that. There is a ton of space and it is always first come first serve sorta speak. Needless to say, I had to listen to some lady talking at the top of her lungs at her husband and friends that were with her that I couldn't even rest that much. Then it was time to leave. It was a good day! About time, lol.

Today, I had tons of running around and had to get Joseph the rest of his school clothes. Then he begged me to let him drive. This kid needs an instructor and NOT me! He know's everything and I of course DON'T. So he is going to be getting lessons from someone else. Now, I'm just trying to relax a little. That is the end of my day.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day and hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday!

Nobody Knows

2008-08-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Today's (Saturday) blog challenge at 2 peas is: Something nobody knows about me is...
Well, this was a little difficult to come up with. Most people know most things about me. But this is something I think NO one knows. I really do NOT like velour slippers and/or robes! Its like they stick to your body and are really annoying especially once you get out of a shower and your body is damp. I prefer terry robes and slippers and sometimes I will even go with a good fleece robe (usually winter).

Quick update for everyone who has been following here. Joseph is home and everything seems to be going slightly smooth. We will see what the next few days brings. Thanks for listening to me the past few days and for all the well wishes!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

What's Happening?

2008-08-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

here? Nothing much. Still no Joseph for those of you that have been following here for the past week (really few days). I do know that he was still at my sister-in-laws house. What kind of trouble he is getting into... I have no idea! That's what scares me, especially with him. Trouble and Danger are his middle names! I have NO idea of telling if he was out drinking or smoking or for that matter doing drugs! Here he had to check in every 3 hours. My dsil isn't home during the day and sometimes in the evening due to work. What else can you do with a kid like this? Heck what do you with a husband like mine also??? If anyone has any suggestions (other than hopping a plane and getting out of dodge) please let me know.

Hmmm... DJ is actually packing to get out of here also. He just doesn't want to deal with Danny's attitude all the time and mood swings. I swear that man is bi-polar, but won't get checked and won't take meds! Its a disaster just waiting to happen. I did however seem to convince DJ to continue with school! That makes me happy. Now all he has to do is go meet with an advisor and get his classes.

Well... I guess I have you all caught up! Now I just need to get ready to leave for my Remicaid treatment. I wish you all a very enjoyable evening!

Another day

2008-08-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

Today Danny went into the hospital for his colonoscopy and endoscopy. Boy do they do these very quickly. Weren't even there for more than 90 mins I think. I thought it was going to take hours! I didn't even get to read 1/2 a magazine before they called me in. Of course, he was still in a rotten mood, so I did what every good wife would.... ignored him!

After I got him home. I ran to my dr's office to have my arm read for TB. As expected no TB, thank goodness that is all I would need on top of everything else that I have, lol.

While I was out, I decided to stop at Wal-Mart to get some school supplies (even though I really don't think we needed anything). They had the wonderful 1 subject notebooks (with the tear out preferated sheets) for a whopping .05 Cents! You can not beat that! I got 10, plus a file organizer and some pens (you can never find one anywhere in this house).

Joseph is still not home. My dsil called to say he was at her house. Thank goodness for her being so close. I'm not so sure he wants to come home. To be honest, some days I don't blame him. I don't want to either. But I do see Danny's point also. These two boys are getting away with murder here lately and trying to take full advantage of us. I'm not falling for it. Then again.... Somedays I just don't have the strength for the battle. Oh well.

Let's see what else I plan on doing? I was going to go to Carvel tonight but I think I decided not to go for it. I've been pretty good lately. Maybe I will just sit by the firepit and toast some marshmallows.

Gotta get out of here for now. Hope everyone has an enjoyable evening.

Hello There!

2008-08-19T13:01:00.001-07:00

I guess you can tell that I really didn't get back on here the next day. I'm trying, but still finding it difficult. I don't really know why and I'm too tired to try to figure it all out, so I won't.

The past 2 days have been pretty humid here. Like I said the other day... It's wiping me out. Now I think its starting to get to Danny. I came home from the doctors today to find out that he asked the boys (DJ and Joseph) to do some yard work (ie, cut the hedges, firewood, and the lawn) well they did the hedges, and the lawn, but gave up on the firewood that DJ claims is petrified. No axe to do the cutting with. I think he gave them a sledge hammer and some pry bar. I don't know. Any way... they kinda lol at him and he blew up and kicked them both out of the house. Told them not to come back again. I'm so tired of all this crap and it is not helping me at all that I'm about ready to hop on a plane and just say to hell with all of them. I don't think I need all this aggravation. So if you don't hear from me for a few days... I may have just skipped town and went somewhere peaceful.

So... anyway... I had to go to the doctors to get a DPT test. Apparently, when you are getting the Remicaid IV you need this wonder every year. Well that is according to the nurse who does the wonderful Remicaid treatments. When I got to the doctors he is an exam and then xrays and then of course bloodwork. I then also informed them that I needed the DPT. The main nurse said you only got one in 2006, it hasn't been even 2 years. I just shook my head and said well... Doreen is apparently on a rampage to make sure everyone gets one. I don't know what to tell you. She was sooo mad that she was calling Doreen who said we needed them every year. I don't know the outcome, but man it use to be so easy just a simple 5 prong poke into the skin that was it. Now they actually have to inject medicine under your skin and it leaves a bubble. Its more annoying then anything else. So I have to go back tomorrow to have it checked.

Tomorrow there is lots going on.. well not really, but its boring stuff. Danny is going into the hospital for a colonoscopy and endoscopy. This should be fun! I know he is going to be in one heck of a mode the entire day and night! It makes me shudder just thinking about.

Besides all this wonderful stuff, Sunday.. Danny and I drove to Portchester which is pretty close to CT. It was really a nice drive. I actually took the camera with us and here are just a few quick photos I got going over the bridge and stuff.

Nothing else is really going for the rest of day. Just going to catch up with the Olympics and probably sleep. lol Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Still Here!

2008-08-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

(Warning this is going to be long)

Things here have been just a little crazy. As most of you may have guessed Jury duty is over. They ended up settling. I will tell you that it was a great experience. I think everyone should serve at least once. It is nothing like what is shown on TV that is for sure.

On to other stuff that has been going on. Well... the weather here hasn't been that great. Its been hot and humid most days and the past few days we have had horrible thunder and lighting storms with hail! Who gets hail in the middle of summer? So the humidity has hit me like a brick. Which means my arthritis is going CRAZY right now. I just don't feel like doing a thing! All I really want to do is sleep all day long and pretty much have most days. Needless to say, I have a dr's appt next week for blood work. I think my thyroid levels are a little out of wack, which would explain alot.

Then we have DJ. Ohhhh don't we just love him, lol. He is making me a little crazy with what college he is going to go to this year! He was lazy and didn't fill out the rest of the forms for Oswego so he is not going there (to be honest I wish I filled them out this way he could go, he is making me nuts!). Then he couldn't decide if he wanted to go Nassau or Farmingdale. Nassau has a Wrestling Team and he would be a starter for them, but to be honest, with the traffic in the morning he would take over 1 hr to get there and then there is NO parking over at that campus so he has to walk over a mile to get to most of his classes. Then drive home in traffic for another hour or so. Not worth it. So, he tells me a few days ago that he has decided to go Farmingdale, which takes him only 10 mins to drive to and he can always get a parking spot close to the building. Only downfall is NO Wrestling team. He has also signed up for wrestling officals courses. So he will be a referee. I think that was a great idea. He is pretty good at it. Did I mention that he is now on his 3rd car for the summer? I didn't think so. He just didn't like the other ones so he sold them. Now he is in a 90 Camaro. I'm sure I've mentioned he is making me nuts.

Let's move on to Joseph. As usual, Joseph is being Joseph. He pretty much doesn't want to do anything. He did have a job for about 2 weeks in a friends deli, but then they decided that they needed someone more for the front counter than a clean up person. He has been putting in applications everywhere, but nothing yet. He is getting a little discouraged and so am I! He can't keep just hanging out in town. Dear Lord he is 17 and can't even get a job in McDonalds! He applied at Wendys and the manager told him this is not where you go for a 1st time job! What the hell is that all about? My first job was in Wendy's. Give me a break. I think this guy was discriminating, all the employees that I've seen there are all hispanic and Joseph is not. Not one White person, African-American, Chinesse, Polish, etc. Not one! Any whoo... I can't wait for school to start for him just to get him off the streets, lol. September 3rd could not come fast enough for me. Hopefully, he will go to his 3 gym classes. Yes I said 3. Apparently Joseph feels you do not have to attend gym. Maybe he will graduate this year. It's all a mystery.

Now we have Danny. He has been trying to keep busy. He hasn't been feeling well lately and have been going for a ton of tests. Nothing major has shown up and on Wednesday he is going in for an Endoscopy and Colonoscopy. I'm already guessing he is not going to pleasant on Wednesday afterwards. Danny got an old Mustang a few weeks and just loves it, but then the ole' Bronco was acting up and he had a few extra bucks so he found a 97' Ford Silverado Pick-Up. He just loves it. Has not figured out all the nifty gadgets in it. He is use to roll up windows and everything manual. Everything in this truck is electric or power. Other than that he is doing pretty good.

Jonathon and Shannon are doing great in Las Vegas. They both just got newer cars and are very happy. They are also working their butts off.

Now... I have to sincerely Thank Colleen and Janet for the wonderful thoughts and giving me this BFF Award. You ladies are just awesome.

The rules for the "Blogging Friends Forever" award are:

* Only five people allowed* Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog*

One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog or lives in another part of the world.You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.

Here is my list:

Heather:A Life So Simple- Heather

Sherri:The Top 5 Reasons I Do What I Do

Noelia:everyday telling of a story-Noelia

Toni:Moved to the Mountains-Toni

Sarah:2paws Designs

Now... in my absence... I've also been awarded the:

by Aimeslee. Aimes Thank you so much for thinking of me.

The rules for the "Brillante Weblog" award are:

The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.Link to the person you received your award from.Nominate at least 7 other blogs.Put links to those blogs on yours.Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.I am giving the "Brillante Weblog" award to the following bloggers:

Janet:of cats and cardstock-Janet

Colleen:random pondering-Colleen

Noelia:everyday telling of a story-Noelia

Toni:Moved to the Mountains-Toni

Heather:A Life So Simple- Heather

Sarah:2paws Designs

CircesMagic

All of you always inspire me, keep me lol and cheer me up when needed.

Well, this is long enough today. Hopefully, I will get on tomorrow and keep it going. I'm really going to try. I need to. Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

Jury Duty

2008-07-15T15:10:00.000-07:00

So yes, I drove the 48 miles to Riverhead to the Supreme Court Bldg out there pretty much for nothing today. The trial was suppose to start today and didn't! We had to be there by 9:30am and we sat. By 11:45am the court officer came down and said " I have good news and bad news. The good news is you get to go home. The bad news is you have to be back here tomorrow morning at 9:30 am." Apparently, the trial that my judge was overseeing did not end yesterday and they were of course continuing it today and they could not come to a conclusion before lunch so the judge said to send us home. No need to keep us there the entire day for nothing. Wasn't that nice.

So needless to say... I'm driving back out there again tomorrow. I'm exhausted from all the driving. I'm not usually, but the last few days I've been wiped out.

Other than that, nothing new is going on here. The weather is warm and sunny (did I mention HUMID?) And that is pretty much it for me right now. I just wanted to keep up with everyone. I feel like I've abandoned you all the last few weeks and I don't like it. I will try to post an update tomorrow. Wish for a settlement out of court for me, lol.

CRAZY!

2008-07-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time my friends! Thing's here have been just crazy, insane. I feel like I've been going non-stop and I'm exhausted.

Lets see... when I left off I think it was testing week for Joseph and well.... he didn't do as well as I (or he) thought he would do. He did however pass a very tough Science Regents which I was very happy about and the Reading part of the RCT test. He unfortunately did not pass the Writing portion of the RCT, the Global Studies RCT or the US History Regents. Now I know that most of you don't even have a clue as to what a Regents or RCT test is. That is because the State of NY is the only state now that requires those tests to graduate High School. Also.... as expected he failed his 2 (yes, I said 2) gym classes because he didn't attend them! I am truly amazed that he passed all main subjects, mind you... some just barely, but he passed. So as you can tell, he is still giving me a run for my money. He has gotten a small job working in a deli as a clean up person which I'm happy and worried about. Now he actually has some money and I don't have a clue what he buying with it. I know he is getting cigarettes, but I have no idea what OTHER stuff he is getting. Believe me... I've gone down in that room and searched and found nothing.

Hmmmm.. what else? Oh.. Shannon came home for a week. It was really nice to have her home for little while, but boy it was also nice to see her go home, lol. I know that sounds mean. She has been gone for almost 8 months and the house is soooo much quietier without her. Plus, I don't sit up and what for her to come home. ugh.. its so different with DJ he is more of a homebody. He likes to be in bed fairly early for a 19 year old, so it's not as bad as it always was with Shannon and Jonathon.

The weather here last week was horrible! It was soooo humid and hot and the UV index was 10 most of the week. At least it was good beach weather for Shannon. She went to the beach almost every day. When we were taking her to the airport she was like "It was nice just doing nothing and going to the beach everyday". I was happy that she did exactly what she planned to do- NOTHING! Yesterday and today the weather is much less humid and beautiful!

Ok, so last week I had to call in for Jury Duty! You are sent a card with all types of information on it and you have to call in and see if they pick your juror #. So I call on July 4th (like the card says to) and it tells me to call back on July 7th (Monday) which I do. I am then told to call back on Tuesday. Tuesday, they tell me to call back on Wednesday. Then I'm told to call back on Thursday. Well, by the way the #'s were being called in for actual jury duty I knew I was going on Friday, and sure enough I was called. My juror # was 0989 and they called between 0906-0999. Everyone with #'s 1000-2000 were dismissed with time served! I was a little pissed off about that. This court that I had to go to was not a hop and skip from where I live. It is an hour drive and a 1/2 a tank of gas to boot. Of course NY doesn't pay you for mileage either! That whoping $40. a day is just going to cover my gas everyday. Oh did I mention that I was picked! I'm am getting a dr's note to submit tomorrow and hopefully I will be dismissed. The trial is suppose to start on Tuesday.

I seemed to be ok while we were sitting there for hours doing nothing. My back started to bother me a little around 3:30, but I didn't think much about it at the time. Boy.. when they finally released us after they finally decided on people they wanted at about 4:30 my back was killing me. Then I had to drive home for as an hour. When I got home all I could do was go and lay down in the bed! I was in so much pain I could barely walk. Yesterday was not much better, and today it is still bothering me. I'm not so sure I could do this jury duty and sit all that time especially for the 2-3 weeks that they said it might take to finish this trial. I could only hope and pray that I get a dismisal on Monday or they settle out of court by Monday (which I really don't see happening).

Other news..... let's see, Danny dropped a boat motor on his leg and I personally think its fractured but of course he is refusing to go and have it x-rayed to make sure. He could barely walk for 2 days and it is still all swollen and there is a cut there also about 4 inches long. Men! he makes me CRAZY.

Well... other than all that, nothing else is really going on for this week. I'm hoping for a quiet week here.

Hopefully, I will be able to get myself back in gear an on here more often than I have lately. I really miss you all. Now I'm off to try to catch up with everyone. I hope you all having a terrific summer so far. Enjoy your Sunday!

Humid!

2008-06-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

It has just been unbelievably humid here the last few days! I just can't stand it. Due to this wonderful humidity, I have been having a terrible time sleeping at night, since Danny does not like have the airconditioner on, ugh. Last night I moved to the couch in the living room (which has no aircondition either) and had the fan blowing right on top of me. Needless to say... rough night.

I've been pretty busy, trying to keep Joseph IN school. I really don't know what to do with this kid. I helped him get a job last week and as far as I know, he didn't make it there today. He made it there to work on Friday. Also, it's still pretty tough because he is still doing his regents test (if he is even showing up for those, who knows). Its not like he is working 8 hours a day. He is working between 3-4 hours right now until school gets out. I can not wait for the end of school already! I'm ready to kick him to the curb.

Lets see..... hmmmm... oh yeah, DJ got another car! This time its a Pontiac Firebird. This kid just doesn't stop. Thank goodness he is the good kid.

We also got a trampoline yesterday! This is going to eventually be some extra form of exercise for me. While I was in Vegas, my sister and I looked into taking an aerobic trampoline class. Let me tell you. It is HARD work! I was tired after 15 mins of jumping. DJ has been on countless times since we got it up yesterday. He loves it.

Other news.... Shannon is coming home next week for a vacation. She is very excited and so is Danny. I think that's about it for now. I hope to catch up with everyone this week and post again tomorrow (don't hold your breathe though). Have a great week!

Slacking....

2008-06-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

again! I can't believe it. Things here have just been soooo hectic, that I'm just happy that I can visit everyone else's blog. Today, I have a little time to spare... ohhh boy. I'm having 6 trees cut down from the yard as we speak and of course I didn't take any before photos. I hope I have a few from the past. It sure looks pretty naked over on that side of the yard.

As usual, Joseph is still giving me a run for my money! I just don't know what I'm going to do with this kid. I've pretty much lost him I think. I'm actually right at the point of no return for him. If he continues and screws up just one more time, he's outta of here. I gave him a warning 2 days ago, so lets see what happens.
Other than that, It's just been pretty hot and very humid here lately! ohhhh yeah.. DJ wrestled last Saturday and ended up in 3rd! I could not believe it. Here are a few photos.

Ok... I'm out of here for now. Hope everyone has a terrific weekend.

Its a Happy Day!

2008-06-05T18:56:00.001-07:00

First of all.... 70... yep 70 years ago today, my dad was born. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

It's almost hard to believe that he is 70. I personally don't think he looks 70, thats for sure and he definately doesn't seem 70 (except for the fact that he calls me 20 times a day about the same thing, lol).

I remember when I was about 18 thinking.... WOW 70 is old! Nowadays (is that a word?hmmm) 70 is still young. Now that I'm going to be 40 something in just 2 short days it really makes me think. Am I going to look 70 when I get there? I sure hope not. I dont' think I would mind looking 60 at 70, who wouldn't, right?

Well, as I keep mentioning, I still have photos of Vegas. I think I only have Red Rock Canyon left for you. So here we go. Here is Sandy (my BF) at the Red Rock Canyon Information Center.

Sandy and I under a boulder.

The first stop on Red Rock Canyon drive.

Sandy climbing, lol.

At the highest point.

My sister Tracy, her dh Charlie, and my niece Alley.Sandy and I.

Ok... I'm making this short and sweet. I'm exhausted, rough day. I need to try to rest up for this hectic weekend! Hope everyone has a great evening and wonderful Friday.

It's June!

2008-06-02T16:21:00.001-07:00

This is a very busy month for me! First, there are sooooo many birthdays that its crazy! There are 3 in just the first week! (of course one of them is mine, lol).

Then on Saturday, June 7th (hint.. my birthday, lol) DJ will be wrestling for the EMPIRE STATE GAME TRIALS in Greco-Roman, plus... we are suppose to be at the Annual Wrestling Awards Picnic (which we haven't missed but once in 15 years). Needless to say.. I'm not so sure we will be making it there. It all depends on how well DJ wrestle's and how many guys are in his weight class. I hope there aren't many this way it goes a lot quicker.

Next week, Joseph has 8 finals that he has to take and then I think he has 2 regents tests. Why NY still has regents tests I'll never know! I think it really stinks. Thats all they do is test.. test... and test.

Then of course back to 3 more birthdays in week 3! Thank goodness no one is graduating in this house this year. Hopefully, Joseph will get his act together and be able to graduate on time next year.

So... I still have Vegas Photos to post!!! I know... You all were just waiting to see more, weren't you? Well here you go.

We went up to the strip (I like to call this section the 4 corners). Its the intersection where you have MGM, Tropicana, Excalibur, and New York, New York. Plus, we walked down to M&M World which is always fun.

Here are a few photos from M&M World.

This is Excalibur from afar.

Here is the Statue of Liberty in front of the New York, New York.

Ok, thats enough for one day! Hope everyone has a Terrific Day!

Life Continues

2008-05-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

Life here continues to daze and confuse me. It's been pretty hectic here the last few days needless to say. Too many things going on and to be honest... I'm not so sure I can even write about them right this minute. Just know that everything is fine, it's just teenage (Joseph, need I say more) bulls**t! Other than that, pretty much everything else is going ok.

I have more photos to post of my WONDERFUL trip to Vegas! For today's viewing pleasure I have the Bellagio for you. It is beautiful in there. We always go to the arbortorem (sp?) which is beautiful. Its almost hard to believe that they use all fresh flowers for those displays.

After that viewing and the small butterfly exhibit we walked over to the chocolate place.. and for the life of me I just can't remember the name of it. The chocolate is out of this world and they have this huge chocolate fountain in there.

After that we walked up to the mid way, which is a walk pretty much to the side of the building. Once in place we got to view that water show down in the front of the Bellagio. It is one of the most elegant water shows I've seen. After that we decided to walk on back and then over to Cesar's! While walking in front of the Bellagio we got to see another water show. I got some great up-close photos his time.

So that is all I really have to share for today and I think you are pictured out today. I will try to post again tomorrow. I'm not making any promises though, lol. I hope you all have a terrific week if I don't get back tomorrow.

Wow! its Tuesday

2008-05-20T15:30:00.001-07:00

Wholly cow. I am getting on here 2 times in one week so far. This is amazing to me. As I stated in my last post I'm ready to post photos of my trip.

My main reason for going that week is largely due to my niece (and god-daughter) was making her first communion. I could not miss that! Also, my nephew (and god-son) was going to his JR. Prom! Of course both events took place on the same day. Lucky me.

My niece looked so beautiful in her wonderful communion dress and halo. Almost Angelic, lol. (note: she can be a little devil). This is probably my favorite photo of her that day. She is sitting with my son Jonathon and she turned and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. This is not like her at all. She does not like to give kisses or even hug sometimes. Side note....Jonathon and Alley are kinda like siblings, they argue like brother and sister and there is 17 years between them. They do love each other though and are quite funny together. The funnier thing is my sister Tracy claims that Jonathon is her first born which really pisses Alley off, lol. Mind you she was 13 years old when I had Jonathon.

I really like this photo of them also. Of course these are the only 2 photos that I got with them both together. No surprise there.

This photo is of my sister Tracy, Alley and me together at the church.Here is me and my nephew Christopher. I'm standing on a step so I look tall, lol. Christopher is pretty tall and skinny. I'm really happy that he decided to go to the prom with a group of friends.

And this one is me and my god-children!

Now I don't think I've ever posted a photo that had my sister Kelly in it. This is because she doesn't like to be in pictures. So this one is of my sister Kelly, me, my mom, Christopher, my dad, and my sister Tracy.

I really like this one of my mom, Christopher and my dad. It came out pretty good.

Well... that's all I've got time for today. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post some photos or Red Rock Canyon or the strip.

Have a great day everyone!

Good Golley!

2008-05-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

Ok... I've been a bad blogger. I just have not had the time to actually sit down and type anything lately. I don't know what it is lately, but hopefully this will be the end of all that. I might have to post in the evening for now. My mornings are just too hectic to get anything on here.

So.... like I said in my previous post... It was DJ's Birthday last Saturday. OH MY .... where does the time go! I still can't believe that he is now 19!!!! Wholy crap... I'm really getting old now. So here is DJ at a whopping 19 years old! We really didn't do anything special because he was actually upstate refereeing and didn't get home until late on Sunday. So something simple at the house.

I will try to update again tomorrow with some more Vegas photos that I can't wait to share!

Happy Mothers Day!

2008-05-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

It's Mothers Day! I wish all the Mom's out there a wonderful, relaxing day. This is what I'm planning on doing. Just relax a little bit before I have to run out to get DJ's Birthday cake.

Yesterday was DJ's 19th Birthday! He has been away since Friday afternoon and is due home later on tonight. He went upstate to Binghamton to referee the Freestyle/Greco-Roman States. He had been looking forward to doing this for some time now. I'm glad that he got the opportunity to do it. So we will be celebrating his Birthday today when he gets home.

Now as I promised.... some photos from my trip to VEGAS!

So this first photo is of my sister Tracy, my best friend Sandy, and me!

This one is of Shannon, me, and Jonathon. We were at this wonderful restaurant that Jonathon works at. The food was just out of this world! I had the Penne ala Vodka with chicken. Can you say yum!

Then Jonathon's boss sent over dessert for us. OMG. Look at this giant bowl of homemade gelato with whipcream. It was soooo good. She also sent over a large plate of cannolis' which are made right there in the restaurant.

One day we ventured out to the strip and went through MGM to see the Lion exhibit. It was very nice. (I've been there many times, but Sandy has never been to Vegas).

Well, that's about it for today. Hopefully, I will be able to get on during the week and post more photos of Vegas! I've got lots of photos to share. We really had a great time.

Hope you all have a TERRIFIC Mother's Day!

Its over.

2008-05-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time for me to start packing for my trip back home tomorrow morning. I hope its going to be a good trip like the one coming in. I've got tons of photos I can't wait to share to everyone! Hopefully, I will be able to do that before I head Upstate to Binghamton, for the weekend. I've got such a busy schedule!lol I'm not really sure I even want to go this time to tell you the truth. Since DJ is not wrestling and it seems none of the boys from the team are going, I'm a little upset about that. It really is not the same without someone wrestling. Oh well.... thats life.

Nothing else is really going on here. We headed out to Red Rock yesterday and spent a wonderful, beautiful day out there. On the ride back home from there we decided to stop off at the Cheese Cake Factory! OMG... I just love their Godiva Chocolate Cheese Cake! It is to die for!

Apparently, I'm a loss for words tonight, so on that note I'm going to close for now. I have to get ready to have dinner (which I really don't want) with DD Shannon. So this will be nice. She has been looking forward to this for a few days now.

Hope everyone has a terrific day!

Hi Everyone!

2008-05-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still alive! Just been here in sunny Las Vegas enjoying the weather and spending time with my family and friends.

I'm making this pretty short today and hopefully I will update tomorrow for you with some photos.

Last night we (me, Tracy, Jonathon, Shannon, my best friend Sandy, Jonathon and Shanno's roomate Antoino, and a close friend Chrissy) went out to dinner at the restuarant that Jonathon works at. The food was incredible! We had such a wonderful time. We took a few photos that I really want to post. So hopefully I will be able to post them in a day or so. Then we headed off to Freemont Street! Which is the old Vegas Strip. It has been pretty windy here but wonderful.

Today, We might be going up to the STRIP not really sure. Hopefully, I will have a ton of photos to share. I've been getting into a mood to scrap, but don't like any of the photos that I have right now. So this might take a back sit for a few days.

Ok... I'm getting out of here for now.
Hope everyone has a great day!

What can I say?

2008-04-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

Its been a hectic week here. It started on Sunday, I had to get up at 5:30am to start to get ready for the Wrestling Tournament that DJ was entering. We had to leave a little early because we were picking up another kid who needed a ride. These types of tournaments seem to take forever (and they do) mainly because you need to get there usually between around 7:30am to register and get weighed in. Sometimes this can take over 1 hour depending how many kids (men) are entering the event.

So DJ finally gets up to the table, gets all his paperwork taken care of and goes and gets weighed in. He came out grinning from ear to ear. I was like "D" whats the matter? He responded with "I'm 171". I knew he was big! but not that big. All of a sudden I got a little shock of pain. Thinking omg he is going to have wrestle some guy who is a monster. As soon as I was going to say something to him he was like Mom, don't even say a thing. So I didn't. On that note he was starving and it was time to find a diner. Well... we drove, and drove some more... no diners. I could not believe it! What kind of town was this with no diner! We ended up at a deli for breakfast, which I was not eating so I didn't really care.

Jumping ahead to the tournament finally starting. We sat and waited for them to call to DJ's name and nothing. I was getting tired already. Finally they called him about 12-noon! Thats a long time to be sitting and standing around doing nothing. Lets just say... my back, my neck and my feet were killing me! The first match was against a wrestler we've never seen before. He was much taller than DJ and he might have weighed a little more also. To my delight DJ dominated the entire match and it ended quickly. This would be the only match I have photos of because the other kid we drove there with us... I gave him the camera to take the actual photos while I video taped.. and you guessed it. He didn't take ANY photos! I'm so mad! So here are the 3 photos that I actually took of DJ wrestling Sunday.

DJ went on to wrestle another match about 2 hours later and he won that one also. He walked away taking GOLD! Not to bad since this is the first time he is wrestling live in over 1 year. He is also getting ready for the EMPIRE STATE GAME trials that are set for June. I am really keeping my fingers crossed for him to place 1st or 2nd there.

Other than that, nothing much else is going on here. The weather has been just wonderful and I wish it was making me feel better, but it is not! I've actually been in quite a bit of pain the last week now. I still can't start my treatment up again either. So I guess I just have to grin n bear it.

The count down continues.... just 5 more day's til' I leave for Vegas! I just can't wait!

Also, for all my card making friends, I'm attempting to make a 50th Birthday Card for a close friend of ours. Once I get it done I will post it.

Hope everyone has a terrific day!

Ohhhh no... Cards!

2008-04-18T04:51:00.000-07:00

Yes... I did it! I went to the this small card party and it was very nice. I learned a few techniques and well I even manged to get 3 cards done! I didn't realize that there was so much cutting involved in some of the card designs. I give you guys credit! I'm not a great cutter and I think I take forever because I don't want to screw it up.

So the first card we made was this very cute card, which I have to say took me forever to cut out! I could not believe it. I swear there is something wrong me. It is a pretty simple card and I was the last one done with it. The first photo is the front of the card and the second photo is the inside. *Sorry the scan's are horrible. My scanner must need to be really cleaned.

The next card we worked on was this beauty. I just love the vibrant colors that I was able to achieve. This card was nice and easy for me. lol

The last card we did was another challenge. It has double stamping! Ohhh boy. I really like how it came out though. There were a few elements on this one. I love the glitter or diamond dust as I was told and there is a wonderful texture on this card.... we used a dryer sheet before putting the diamond dust on. Very interesting.

All in all.... I had a wonderful evening and learned something new. This was all done with a Stampin Up consultant and she was just wonderful and fun. The big question is will I start making cards on my own? I'm not sure, but maybe. I give all you card makers and big applaud because I found it very difficult to work on a small area especially with my RA. Aimees... I don't know how you do it!

Other news....... Jonathon flew in yesterday with his friend to go and see the Yankees play Boston. How unfortunate that they lost! I was sad for them. I am glad that they had a good time though.

Oh yeah and I took the truck to the mechanic. Not good. My Explorer is a 6 cylinder and it is only running on 5! I haven't quite decided what to do yet. I will keep you all posted.

Hope you all have a terrific Friday!

Wow.... Spring has Sprung

2008-04-16T03:45:00.000-07:00

I think it is finally spring here! Yesterday the weather was beautiful! It was about 60 out and mostly sunny. Today it is suppose to hit close to 70 (I really don't think it will) and be sunny. I never thought it was going to come.
So, now I'm waiting for Jonathon to come home tomorrow morning. I don't know what this kid is thinking. He is flying acoss the country to see the Yankees play. I didn't even think they were playing on Thursday, but he said they were. I think his friend got tricked. Supposedly, the friends boss got tickets to the game but could not attend and gave them to the friend. The friend didn't have anyone to go with him and asked Jonathon knowing he was from NY. The guy even bought Jonathon's plane tickets. At any rate this should be interesting.
As you may have guessed.... Joseph didn't get moving again this morning. I even woke him up 15 mins earlier. You guessed it. I'm going to have to drive him I think. I'm keeping a watch out for the bus so we will see. Yesterday the bus driver waited for him at the corner. I was relieved. This kid is just a nightmare. I told Danny that we need an intercom system and the speaker needs to be right next to his head. ohh... there's the bus. He's running for it! I'm not even sure an intercom system will work. I don't see this kid getting to school while I'm away.
Lets see.... what else do I have to report. Oh yeah, I let DJ borrow my truck yesterday because his was running crappy and guess what he killed mine now too! We don't know what is wrong with it, so needless to say, I'm pissed off! Danny seems to think that it has something to do with the catalatic (sp) converter. Hopefully, his friend will know by this afternoon. I need my truck! I guess it's a good thing it's nice out, because I'm going to have to walk everywhere today.
Well, that is all the excitement I can handle for one day. So I will stop now. I hope you all have a great day!

I got a little ....

2008-04-15T04:18:00.000-07:00

Creative, finally! As I've stated before I've been trying to do DJ's Senior Wrestling Album. Well.... I've gotten quite a few pages done. Now mind you, some of the photos are not that great because of flash glare for some reason. Overall though I think some of the lo's came out great!

I still have more to take photos of and still need to complete the album. At least it is a start.

So on Saturday, I went to a crop. That's were I was able to get some of these done. To be honest with you, I go for the social aspect of it all. If I get something done, that's a plus for me. I just love Dee. She is so inspiring and is someone who just loves this craft. This time I met a new lady who is just wonderful and fun. She is a stamper but likes to dabble in scrapbooking. Dee and I are going to her house this week to make some cards. This will be a first for me. I don't have a clue about cardmaking, so this should be fun. Looking forward to it.

Thats about it for now. Hope you all have a terrific day!

Tired

2008-04-11T03:56:00.000-07:00

Thats me..... just plain tired! I've been on the tired side all week now. I don't know what is wrong with me. Maybe I'm not sleeping well, hmmmm you think? I know this is a fact! I'm just uncomfortable all night long. Boy do I need my infusion. I haven't been able to get one since January! Thats a long time. Hopefully by next month I'll be good to go.

Well... as I sit here, I again am waiting for Joseph to finally decided to get up this morning. He has already missed his bus and now I have to drive him, which is really pissing the Hell out of me! This will be the 2nd time this week. He is just plain out of control lately. I've never had a kid like this one. Mind you... I've gone downstairs 3 times in the last 1/2 hour to wake his lazy butt! That is what really gets me going. Hello!!!! you are going to be 17 in just a couple of months! I swear when he turns 18 he's got to go! I just can't take him. I don't know if it has to do with him being #4 kid but none of my other kids were ever like this. I think he does it just to make me crazy. Well, it's working. Oh look... its been about 7 mins since I've checked on him. I better make it the 4th time waking him up or he'll miss 1st period. ........................ Wow! hes awake and moving! He's ALIVE!

Ok.. I've got to drive now. wish me luck.

Counting.....

2008-04-08T03:59:00.000-07:00

down the days! That is until I leave for Las Vegas! I am now down to 20 days before leave. I can not wait. It has been a whole year since I've been there. I love the weather there now. It is usually around the mid 80's during the day and gets down into the 60's-50's at night. The sun is warm and shining most of the time and no humidity. I really need this time away without DJ, Joseph or Danny for that matter. There is so much to do once I get there again, since my neice's communion is 5 days after I get there. My sister and I pretty much have everything planned out so it should go smoothly. Can't wait to get out of Dodge!

So.... ds Jonathon called me last night (from Vegas) to inform me that he was coming home for 3 days in week from now. Apparently, one of his friends got tickets to the Yankee's/Red Sox games and didn't have anyone to go with him. So Jonathon is coming home (which I never thought would happen again in a million years) and bringing his friend. So needless to say... I have to clean this house really well now and figure out where they are sleeping since DJ has decided to trash his room and Shannon's. Jonathon can easily sleep in his old room (which is now Joseph's) and I guess his friend could sleep in DJ's room (if he can get it cleaned up in time).

Other than that nothing too new or exciting is going on here. Ohhh... yeah, we had the Kid Wrestling Awards Dinner this past Friday night and it was terrific! There was sooooo much food,I was getting sick just from looking at it all. We got a DJ for the entertainment for the kids and she was wonderful. She did so much with them. Of course in my hurried state to get there on time... I forgot the camera! I can't believe it. Figures. I'm hoping that some of the parents got some good shots of the kids so I can put it up on the website.

Well that is it for today. Hope you all have a terrific Day!

This Just In.....

2008-04-04T03:55:00.000-07:00

It is pouring rain outside since late last night. It is GRAY and gloomy (two things I really don't like). For the record, it is also pretty cold out there this morning. With weather like this.... I just feel like someone has beat me up. I guess I will be going to the tanning salon when they open this morning. That usually helps with some of the pain.

Today I'm also going to the Chiropractor (sp?). Those will normally help also. We'll see. Tonight is the Kid Wrestling Awards Dinner and this is always a really fun evening. Each family brings a tray of food or desert and we hand out the awards to each kid. This year we decided to get a DJ with hopes of keeping all the kids in one location. Hopefully, this will work. I'm getting a little tired of being the bad cop, even though I really enjoy it.

Yesterday, Janet (of cats and cardstock) left me a wonderful comment and mentioned me on her blog. It was to list blogs that 'You Make My Day" This is the wonderful badge that comes along with the honor Janet --Thank you so much for mentioning little ol' me.

So without further ado (in no particular order) they are:

A Life So Simple- Heather

Aimeslee's Antics

Dana's Cafe-Dana

everyday telling of a story-Noelia

Moved to the Mountains-Toni

of cats and cardstock-Janet

random pondering-Colleen

Rainbow Crafter-Lida

2paws Designs-Sarah

The Top 5 Reasons I Do What I Do-Sherri

The rules for the *you make my day award* are to re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know through email or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times yourself, and if you do, consider yourself really, really loved.

Ok everyone I hope you all have a terrific Friday and wonderful Weekend!

Happy Challenge

2008-04-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

I was visiting Dana's blog this evening and saw that she had a little challenge on there that she got from Bonnie Rose. So, I decided to take the challenge! Here we go:

Post 10 things that make you HAPPY! (listed in no particular order)

1. Being able to sleep straight through the night without opening my eyes once or having to get up for any thing.

2. I just love the sound of DJ's laughter. When he laughs it just makes me smile.

3. Sitting in a nice wonderful hot tub with no worries.

4. Cuddling up with my hubby (well, most of the time, lol)

5. Visiting my family in Las Vegas!

6. Going to a wrestling meet.

7. Getting together with the mom's from wrestling.

8. Watching a movie in the livingroom with the 2 boys and they aren't fighting with each other.

9. Spending time alone with hubby- no kids.

10. Being pain Free!

There you have it... Hope you have a terrific day.

Here I am....

2008-04-02T02:52:00.000-07:00

at 5:30 am! I've been up since 3 am and have not been able to get back to sleep. I figured I better just stay up since I have to get up in an hour anyway to get Joseph up for school. I should mention that the reason I could not fall back to sleep at 3am is due to the fact that Danny started snoring like some kind of wild animal. I couldn't believe it. I'm sure I'm going to be wiped out by this afternoon.

The sun is starting to rise.... well it is getting light out. I'm not so sure about the sun yet. Which this leads me to the 2 peas challenge for today: The weather today makes me feel...
It is pretty early in the morning for me to really get a feeling for what is going to be for today, but what I can tell you is that for the last few days it has made me feel painful. When it is rainy and cold I just can't move and I'm always in pain. So for today, I'm hoping the weather is going to clear up because it usually takes 2 -3 days of good weather to recharge me again.

So, I'm not sure if I've mentioned that I'm going to Vegas at the end of the month. I'm so looking forward to this trip. I haven't been there for 1 year now. I can't believe it. This will also be the first time in about 10 years that I'm going all by myself. DJ and Joseph are staying home. Of course, Jonathon and Shannon live there, but I'm sure they will avoid me as much as possible, lol. Ok... maybe not. Jonathon usually makes it a point to see me at least 30 mins every day I'm there. My sister has already started her count down- 26 days! yahoo.

Lets see... things here are going to be a little crazy for the next few days. I'm planning the Kid Wrestling Awards Dinner. This is always a great, fun evening spent with most of the families and the kids. We usually have around 250+ in attendance. The great thing about this is that we make it a pot luck dinner! It has always worked out wonderfully and I've been doing it for 13 years now. Of course, the funny thing is that I don't even have a Kid Wrestler anymore and haven't in 5 years. Just when I think I can cross the edge, they suck me back in every year. Who am I kidding... I just LOVE it! I'm sure I will be taking tons of photos during the evening so I will be posting some here.

Ok, I've rambled on enough this morning. Now time to check out everyone's blog and try to catch up before I have to get Joseph up.
Hope you all have a Terrific Hump Day!

Still Going.....

2008-04-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yep... that nasty stomach virus is still here. I got it yesterday. Now its a waiting game to see if Danny get's hit with it. I really hope he doesn't, because he is the biggest baby of them all.

Well, the weather here has been pretty crappy also. It has been raining for 2 days now. Of course it is going right through me since I have not been able to have my treatment in over 2 months now due to the surgery. I can't wait to get my infusion. I don't like feeling this way.

Other news... I finally went and had my hair cut. I know it sounds silly, but I just love my hair. I've been growing it out now for some time and get it trimmed about every 4 months. When I do go to get it cut, the girl usually blow dries it straight for me. I don't really like straight hair. I LOVE my curls. But when she does it everyone says how nice it looks. I don't know. I think it's just because they are so use to me having crazy curly hair that this just shocks the hell out of them. So I took a few photos of my straight do this time. Now just a fore warning... they are scary. I look like death, but I wanted to get some photos of my hair. My hair is pretty long also. It goes down to the middle of my back, which you can't see.

Oh well.. that is it for me today. I hope everyone has a terrific day.

It's going......

2008-03-28T04:19:00.000-07:00

thru the house. You might say "what?" Well... a nasty 24 hour stomach virus. Yes, Joseph started puking in school on Wednesday about 11:00am. I picked him up and he was like I'm just going to change my clothes and go back, I feel fine now. I told him NO WAY! good thing because within the hour he was fatigued and couldn't move a muscle. Of course I kept him home from school yesterday and he was really fine the entire day, so he wanted to go back today. I get up this morning at 6am and down comes DJ throwing up! So, now I'm wondering when I'm going to get this little diddy. I know for a fact this is not going to feel good especially since I'm not fully recovered from the surgery. And lord please don't let Danny get it. He is worse than the 2 boys put together when he gets sick!

Other than that nothing really exciting is going on here. I did manage to do another page for DJ's wrestling album. I've got to get pic's on here. It is coming out ok. Not perfect, and probably could be a lot better. I will try to get some photos taken of the pages that I have done and get them posted on here later or tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and enjoy the weekend!

A New Day!

2008-03-21T06:31:00.000-07:00

Well... since my surgery I've been sleeping on the couch in the livingroom! I must admit, it's the most uncomfortable couch ever the only upside to sleeping in there was that I was not sleeping next to the snoring machine! Although, I could still hear him sometimes, thats how loud he can be. The reason I've been in there is because I have a waterbed and would not be able to get up from it with ripping something.

So last night I decided to give it a go, but we had to sleep across the bed (side to side) instead of sleeping from head to toe. I was happy that I got to sleep on my nice warm bed and it was pretty comfortable. It was pretty easy to get out of the bed being that I slept on it cross ways, which was nice. Now I just need an adjustment on my back and neck from sleeping on the couch for all that time.

Does anyone have any plans for the Holiday? We do not. Danny didn't even want me to cook, but I can't not cook for Easter. I'm just cooking something very simple. Baked ziti, garlic bread, meatballs and probably a sausage bread. I'm going to also bake an Oreo Cake. I usually bake a cheese cake, walnut cake, some kind of chocolate cake and a chocolate mouse pie. But I'm not doing it this year. Danny won't let me and to tell you the truth... I'm not really ready to do all that by myself and then all the clean up. You know DJ and Joseph won't clean a thing (btw--- all my silverware, cups, storage containers, several pots, all the cereal bowls, and most of the dishes are still out on the deck!). Danny is really po'd with them both and so am I now! I've already warned them both that I want all those dishes in this house and cleaned or there won't be an Easter dinner! They just lol. I'm not sure I'm liking them much right now.

Today my goal is to figure out where to put all these flowers I received and get my dining room table cleaned off (this could take days to actually accomplish) and I would like to clean up my kitchen that they distroyed while I was in the hospital. I'm also going to go for a walk again today. I'm trying to slowly get back in the swing of things. Did I mention that we are having wind gust of over 50mph! That makes it very cold out for walking, but I'm going to go around the block at least.

Ohh well... that is enough rambling for today. I hope everyone has a terrific day!

ABC's

2008-03-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

Ok.... the other day my friend Heather had this wonderful ABC's tag on her blog and well... I decided to give it a go.

A: Attached or single? Attached

B: Best friend? Well... I have 2 best friends. The first is my sister Tracy and then my best friend of 30+ years Sandy.

C: Cake or pie? I love both, but if I had to choose it would be chocolate cake.

D: Day? Hmmmm.... any day I get up is a good day for me.

E: Essential Item? bronzer... I have to have it.

F: Favorite Color? Orange

G: Gum or Mints? I think I really prefer mints, my jaw gets tired from chewing gum.

H: Home Town? Well... I've been here in Lindenhurst, NY for 25 years now so I guess it's here.

I: Indulgences? Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. Did I mention chocolate?

J: January or July? July, I love warm weather. If it were dry it would be even better.

K: Kids? Yep... 4- 25 year old son, 21 year old daughter, 18 year old son and 16 year old son.

L: Life is incomplete without? My Family, Friends and memories.

M: Mexican or Italian food? Italian!

N: Number of siblings? 2 brothers and 2 sisters all younger than me!

O: One word that describes you? Talkative.

P: Phobia? I think this has to be spiders.

Q: Quote? You never stand so tall as when you stoop to help a child-anonoyms

R: Reason to smile? It looks better than a frown, ditto.

S: Season?Summer!

T: Tag? Everyone who reads this better post it on their own blog!---ditto

U: Unknown fact about you? I graduated from the same High School that Burt Reynolds did. Did you know that he bought it (all ten buildings) to make into a dinner theather, but it never happened.

V: Vegetable you love? Corn and yams

W: Worst Habit? I talk to much.

X: X-ray or Ultrasound? Sad to say, I've had them both! Plus, MRI and CAT scans!

Y: Your favorite food?I know that it may seem boring, but Baked Ziti is my favorite food.

Z: Zodiac Sign? GEMINI! Now you know why I talk sooooo much! I have to talk for two.

Now 2 peas challenge for today: How often do you and your families try to get everyone together?
It is hard to get together now that we live soooo far apart. When we lived near each other we got to everyone together every week. It was great! I miss those times.
Well... I've got to get off this thing now. I hope everyone has a terrific day.

Ellen with her Hawaii Chair

2008-03-17T17:22:00.001-07:00

OMG! this is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. I could not stop laughing and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

St. Patricks Day

2008-03-17T03:53:00.000-07:00

and Happy Anniversary to me! Yes.... I was one of those wacko's that got married on St. Patty's day. It actually happened by accident. I did not want to get married on St. Patricks Day at all! My in-law's were married on St. Patricks Day and I didn't want to share that day with them. I wanted my own day. So what do I do? I decided we are getting married on March 16th! Wow... a real big difference. What in the world was I thinking? I'll never know.

See.... We weren't having a big wedding. It was just us, our parents and sibling's, that was it! We got married in a beautiful room that overlooked the water by a judge. Very simple. I wore a white pant set and he wore a black suit. Nothing really special, we just wanted to get married. Unfortunately..... we forgot to get the marriage license by the 15th in order to get married on the 16th. In NY you have to get your license at least 24 hours prior to the marriage. So we ended up going on the 16th and getting married on the 17th that is how it pretty much happened. Now I'm stuck with it.

Year's later.... we did get married in the church with a small reception and friends there. It was very nice. My sister's were crazy and decided that they wanted to wear Emerald Green dresses and I figured... they are the ones wearing them so I don't care.

I'm going to look for that wedding album... where did I put that thing? hmmm... I will try to post a photo later of our 2nd ceremony, lol. I swear there is something wrong with me! I didn't marry him once, but twice! What was I thinking? lol

On another note..... I actually did something creative yesterday! I can't wait to take pictures of everything and post them. Of course, I was so excited to be doing something that I put everything right into an album as I went along, forgetting to photograph them. It's not the greatest.... but it is something and really got me going for the amount of time that I can sit comfortably. I didn't realize how much I miss using my ATG gun!

If anyone hears of a developing coupon for Clark or York for like 3 or 4 cent prints please let me know. I have about 900 more photos from wrestling that I need to get developed. This is usually the time that they will have one of those specials and I want in.

Oh... well... 2 pea's challenge for today: What are you doing today to celebrate St. Partick's Day?
So today I have my follow-up (post op) doctor's visit this afternoon and then who knows. Danny and I might go out for dinner tonight. We usually will go out for a movie and dinner, but right now I can't sit for very long so the movie might have to wait until I'm feeling better.

So there you have it. I hope everyone has a great and safe St. Patty's Day!

Let's see.......

2008-03-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

The 2 peas challenge for today: One thing I want to accomplish TODAY is... Well... I would like to get the dog to the groomer and get her cut. She is all matted since I went into the hospital and no one in this house wanted to brush her. With all the rain we've had it only makes her hair worse. This would be a big accomplishment since I'm not suppose to be doing anything. I actual have to get my dh to drive her to the groomers. That will actually be the BIG accomplishment.

Other than that nothing else is going on here. Just some little aggrivation from Joseph, but that is normal and I would like to get this house clean. Unfortunately, again.. no one in this house wants to pitch in, so it won't be happening today.

I'm making this short today so I will catch up with some of your blogs today. Hope everyone has a Fun Friday!

Recovery

2008-03-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, just wanted to update quickly on how I'm doing. All of you have been just sooooo wonderful with your comments, emails and snail-mail that all I can say is Thank You from my heart. You all are terrific and have made this journey that I'm on right now bearable.

I'm taking it very easy and everything seems to healing pretty well. We will know more on Monday when I go from my doctors visit and he checks everything. I've been up and moving about (but definately not over doing a thing). The house is falling down around me and believe it or not.... I really don't care! DJ still has a sink full of dishes and I am not saying one word. I'm not getting myself worked up about it at all. I did however have Joseph do a quick vaccuming of the floors because I just couldn't stand looking at the dried up mud (from dh's boots) all over the place and the dried out leaves that everyone was bringing in since the rain last week. Other than that I've been perched on the couch!

Now the 2 pea's challenge:
Three things you'd donate to charity right now are...
Lets see .... hmmm......
#1. I would donate my hair! I know that seems a little crazy, but I would if I could find a place that would take processed hair. I think that is one of the most giving things to do for someone.

#2. I have a closet full of clothing that I know I will never wear again. I usually give to Big Brothers and Big Sisters 2 times a year.

#3. Well... this one I do all the time anyway. I give my time and a lot of it.

#4. I know you only asked for 3 but I've got one or two more. I have a huge jewlery box that I never even used that I am donating to a fund raiser for one of the schools.

#5. And I've also made up a basket full of scrapbook supplies that I don't use, never have used and there is a ton of stuff that I bought thinking that I would use one day and I just never have. I have to get rid of it to make room for new stuff that I will probably never use, lol. This is also going to the same Chinese Auction as above.

Ok... I hope everyone has a terrific Thursday. Going to check up on some of your blogs now while I feel pretty good.

How's the Weather?

2008-03-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Todays 2 peas challenge is:
Share what the weather is like in your area? If you want post a photo

Well... today the weather is really nice, I'm happy to report. The sun has been shining most of the day and it is fairly warm as compared to last week (from what I'm told). It is slightly windy, but nothing like the past weekend with gusts of up to 50 mph. This is pleasant. It is suppose to get warmer tomorrow. We will see. These weather people are hardly right.

This is just a quick update today..... Things in the recovery department are moving slowly all of a sudden. I go to the dr for my post op appt on Monday and we will see how things are healing. I've just been taking it very easy the past 2 days now and Danny has just been wonderful. He keeps feeding me even when I don't want to eat and then I feel bad that he made something for me so of course I eat it! I'm going to gain weight from this thing with him around.

Well... thats it for me ... going to catch up on some of the blogs while I still feel up to it. Have a great day!

I'm Back!

2008-03-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone...... Yes, I'm back! It has certainly been a long week. As most of you may know I had surgery on Monday morning, which went pretty well. I did have to stay in the hospital for 4 days though. I came home Thursday evening and I've just been trying to relax and not do a thing. Trying to follow doctors orders...lol.. this is very difficult for me... No lifting, No standing for long periods, No pushing, No pulling, No bending, No reaching, No stretching, No up and down stairs. Pretty much just sitting, a small walk and laying down. I'm tired of sitting and laying down already.

I'd like to "Thank" everyone for all their well wishes during this time. It really does mean soooo much to me. You all are just wonderful!

Ok... I am going to try to update again in the morning. Just need to take it easy.
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Exhausted!

2008-02-28T04:08:00.000-08:00

Well... again last night I couldn't sleep due to the hot flashes! I think that may be a big reason behind the weight gain. Some of you were so kind to post about Thyroid Disease. Well, in short I know ohhh to well about this little wonder. I was diagnosed with it 17 years ago. I have (had) Graves which is a form of hyperthyroidism. Yes, weight loss, hair loss, mind loss, and exhaustion are all part of it. I had every single symptom, but my drs at the time didn't have a clue what was wrong with me. I must've had it for at least 1 1/2 years before I had major eyesite problems that brought me into an eye dr. The first thing he said to me was OH MY GOD! you have Thyroid Disease. I never heard of such a thing. My first words were ....What the hell is that? and Can I die from it? He in turn explained in short detail what it was and said to me... (words I will never forget) I'm surprised you are not dead yet!

He then proceeded to pull out my insurance book of dr's and found an Endocrinologist (dr who specializes in this), called them and told them that I needed to be seen immediately. I left the eye drs office and went right there. They hooked me up right away to an EKG machine and yep... I was actually having a heart attack right there. Amazing. My own dr's couldn't tell me what the heck was wrong with me, but an eye dr that I never saw before takes 1 look at me and saves my life. Needless to say, as soon as I could get another dr I did. So in short... its not my thyroid (I've had to have it total removed ohhh about 15 years ago) I just had all my blood work and my levels are good. Thank you all for wonderful concern for me. It is a disease that is frequently overlooked by most dr's.

So... Saturday I took my friend and we went to the Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium. It was a cold day. Very gray and gloomy out. It actually looked like it was going to snow, but didn't. Here are a few photos of our trip to the North Shore.

This is the entry way. That is my friend Tina posing and the Long Island Sound in the background looking out at CT.

Here is the Planetarium building. They have a little gift shop in there also. Very nice.

I just love this picture. It is so pretty, even though it was gloomy out. That is the Sound again looking at CT.

As we were walking down the wonderful brick road to the Mansion I shot this photo of the top portion of the Mansion. It is truly beautiful.

Here is another photo with the bridge going into the Mansion gates.

Ok... I've got to jump into the shower before DJ this morning. I will try to post some more photos later of tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a terrific Thursday!

Buying?

2008-02-26T17:50:00.000-08:00

2 peas challenge for today (Wednesday): Are you the type of scrapper/card maker that buys things to use on items your creating now. Or do you buy with the future project you could be creating? This is a good question. As most of you might know... I'm at a standstill right now in the creating department. It really stinks, but I have to say that still look and buy items that I know I will use in the future. When I'm really rockin' and rollin' I will buy items for things that I'm working currently and in the future. I'm weird, I know.

Things here have been very quite. I like it that way. I've been attempting to diet again. I went for my pre-admit testing yesterday and got on the scale and almost died! My dr. said it's due to all the med's I'm taking right now. I really don't believe him. I've gotten lazy and have stopped walking due to the flair up of RA. I've got to get my body back. It wasn't great back then, but much better than it is now that is for sure.

Its been raining off and on here today. ugh.. I just hate this weather. I almost can't wait to get away. I know that I promised that I was going to post photos fromt he Vanderbilt Museum but I forgot the camera in the car and well... I just don't want to go out in the pouring rain to get it. So tomorrow I will have to post them.

Ok... I'm getting out of here for now. I hope that you all have a Terrific Day!

Create?

2008-02-25T18:15:00.000-08:00

2 peas challenge for Tuesday is: Share with us something you have recently created. Now normally I would share something, but as many of you may already know.... I have not created one single thing since October! I swear something is wrong with me, but that is a story for another day. I keep thinking I'm going to go on down into the dungeon, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I don't know what it is. I think I just don't want to be down there possibly. Its a mind thing. I really think I need to take the time and clean it up down there. Maybe change the color so I'm motivated or at ease being down there. Its either that or I have to find another room to occupy with all my scrapbooking stuff and that won't be easy. Tomorrow I will update with some photos of my trip to the Vanderbilt Museum. It was really nice.

Stop the Snow!

2008-02-22T17:34:00.000-08:00

Now I know that I have no right to even really say that. We have been very lucky and this is the most snow we've had all year! I was hoping that the little dusting we had a few weeks ago was going to be the most, but I was wrong. I know.... I have no right complaining.

This is what we woke up to this morning here. I took these at about 7am this morning.

Can you say "Freakin' Cold" well it is out there. I just can't seem to get warmed up. I really should've gone for a tan. That would've done the trick.

Now as for tomorrow... I am kidnapping one of my friends because her family is a bunch of losers and she needs some time away from them. When she is not working with them at their deli, she is babysitting her neice on her day off from work. So I told her we were going to spend the entire day together doing something she hasn't done in a long time or maybe never has. She does not have a clue what we are doing. Her family keeps trying to get me to say, but I'm not giving in. It's a secret (thank goodness none of them know about my blog). We are going to the Vanderbilt Museum · The Planetarium I hope we will have some fun. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Afterwards... I'm hoping that we will be able to see a movie. We both have been dying to see Fool's Gold with Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson. Look's very cute. Of course, we will be stopping to eat somewhere. I haven't really decided where yet, but I'm sure it will be good.

Well... I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I hope to update on Sunday about my adventure tomorrow.

How Old???

2008-02-20T04:12:00.000-08:00

2 peas challenge for today: How old would you be if you didn't know your real age?

This is a very good question. Here is the short and sweet of it in my eyes. My body feels like its in it's mid 80's. No I'm not kidding. My mind tells me that it is mid 40's, lol. Still working hard and not to forgetful. Then my appearance says it could be around 40. So in short...... if you average everything out.... 63!

I really don't have anything too exciting going on here at the moment, which is nice. I have to tell you that since getting back on here.... I've been catching up with everyone's blogs and the cards you guys have been making has me a little interested in making some myself. I really don't know where to start and to be honest... I haven't even been down in the dungeon in months! I know its a mess down there. DH has been down there moving stuff all over the place looking for his little boats and stuff. I'm looking forward to getting back into doing some stuff and catching up a little.

Ok.. like I said this is going to be short and sweet today. I hope everyone has a great day.

What a weekend!

2008-02-18T18:38:00.000-08:00

Well.... Folkstyle wrestling has officially come to an end for us here. This weekend was a doozy! Non-stop wrestling from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening at about 9:30pm. I was ready for bed when I finally got home.

My boys didn't do as well as we had hoped, but one did place 5th in the County. If anyone knows about our counties here they well understand that Suffolk is the largest county in NY. Its a little hard to believe but apparently true. Placing 5th is a huge accomplishment and I've very proud of him. Great job.

Now we are gearing up for Freestyle/Greco Roman wrestling. DJ will be training to be an official. Which means I guess I'm going to States in May! This is upstate in Binghamton during the Mothers Day weekend. Of course it is! They wouldn't have it on Fathers Day. Why ruin their holiday. Men!

The past few days I've been feeling pretty stiff and sore due to the weather. It has been very rainy and a little on the cold side with the exception of today.... it was 55 and poured all day.

I finally got a date for my surgery. I'm going into the hospital on March 3rd and I'm suppose to stay in for 2 full days. We will see. So no infusion for me next week.

Now for some weird reason... ds Joseph wanted to bleach his hair. I figure you know what.... there are better things that I could fight over with him (and do). This is small stuff and it will grow out or he will get a hair cut (boy does he need one, ugh). Here is the new Joseph!

He thinks it looks cool and he looks like a surfer and a rocker. He is such a dreamer. lol

Speaking of dreams.... 2 peas challenge for today: If you could go on a dream vacation where would it be and with whom?

I would love to take a cruise to many different countries. Cruise Greece, Italy, Alaska, Europe, Austraila just all over. I would want to be alone! Peace and quite. I would never be able to travel with anyone except my youngest sister for that long of time. We don't get on each others nerves at all! I couldn't be at sea longer than 7 days with dh. I've done it and wanted to throw him overboard after day 1, lol! He is no fun!

Ok... I'm out of here for now. I have to try to get some sleep! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

I'm still here

2008-02-15T03:56:00.000-08:00

yep, I'm still here. DH seems to have a million and one things that he wants to look up on the computer and the first time in ages has sit here for hours on end. So I never got a chance to get on here. I think its almost time for me to get my own computer.

Yesterday, for me was very hectic. I had a million appointments and one after another. I went to the Rheumotologist and he was not too happy with how I looked. To be honest I'm not happy with how I look,lol! And apparently I now have to stop taking some of my meds due to the fact that I'm having surgery (finally) on March 3rd. Plus, I can't have my infusion in 2 weeks either. Oh well, priorities.

Then, again, I must've sleeped the wrong way (not hard to do when dh is constantly pushing me off the bed lately), because I woke up yesterday with something pinched in my neck and shoulder blade. So I went to the Chiropractor to see if he could relieve it a little, he did, but it seemed to come back again a little last night.

Then I was off to the podiatrist. Boy was I just having fun on Valentines Day! He told me to soak my toe in white vinegar. ok thats what I'm going to do.

I then finally got a call from the ob/gyn surgeons office. They were finally able to get me a date for my surgery. I have to have a full hysterectomy and they have to also put my bladder back up. I will probably be in the hospital for a day or two according to the dr. I surely won't mind having a bed to myself for a day or two! I'm looking at this as a mini vacation.

So that was my wonderful Valentines Day! How was yours?

Today, I will be heading off to the Stonybrook Sports Complex for the County Wrestling Championships. I sure hope my 3 boys do well today. They really need it. If they do well today, they move on to tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed. I will keep you all posted.
Ok... I've got to get my butt moving here. I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday.

On a Roll

2008-02-13T03:24:00.000-08:00

Wow... 2 days in a row. I almost can't believe I'm getting this done. It really feels good to be back on here and communicating with my friends. I've missed you all. I feel like I've missed a ton of stuff in the past few weeks. I can't wait to catch up.

Now that the regular wrestling season is almost done, things will be a little less hectic thats for sure. Freestyle/Greco Roman will start up in about 3 weeks from now. DJ will be training for that. It will be nice to see him out on the mat again. It's hard to believe that its been about 8 months since he has been really out there. Of course, he has been down in the room with the High School guys and helping them most of the season, plus he is one of the Kid Wrestling Coaches. He really loves it. He is also planning on being an official. I think he would be great at it.

As for me and my health... things are about the same. Still waiting for a surgery date. I don't really understand why I'm having to wait, but hey what do I know. Apparently, both dr's now want to be in there and they can't find an opening for the OR when both are free to do the surgery. I say that my regular dr. does not have to be there. First of all... why did he send me to his friend who specializes in this procedure for anyway? I just want to get it done and over with already. I'll keep you all posted when I get a date, finally.

2 peas challenge for today: Where do you see yourself one year from today? To be honest with you.... in exactly one year from now I see myself right where I am right now. Hopefully there will be less of me (I'm trying to get back into my walking now also). Not thrilled to be here, but doing it for Joseph and counting down the days til' the end of June 2009. Thats when I see big changes for me. I'm soooo ready to move out of here. I'm sure Danny will be grief about it the whole time, but I don't really care. I've stuck it out here for so long for everyone else, now it's time to do for me! I can't wait for it all to finally happen.

Ok... that's it for me today. Hope everyone has a Wonderful Wednesday.

It's been a long, long time

2008-02-12T11:04:00.000-08:00

since I've posted anything on here. I've just been so exhausted and haven't had any time to even jot down a line or two. I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things here now that the main wrestling season is just winding down. I've been training a mom to take over as head team mom and dropping down to assistant (hopefully) next year. BTW-- did I mention that I don't even have a kid on the team (Joseph refused to join this year).

I also haven't been feeling great lately. Just too many things going on at once. I'm just run down. It's just been hard to take it easy lately.

Here's a quick update on the family...... Danny ... well he is still Danny. Nothing has changed much for him. Jonathon and Shannon are doing very well. Jonathon just got a newer car and very happy about that and him and Shannon just got a puppy (just what they needed, lol). She is a mix and her name is Cleo. She is very cute. When I get some photos of her I'll post them. Many of you may remember that Shannon moved in with Jonathon back in November. She is doing great and starts her recertification classes in May. Now as for DJ.... he is going to college. He is attending SUNY Farmingdale (nice college and close by) and taking 12 credits for the spring. He is hoping to transfer up to Oswego for the fall. As for Joseph... he is just the same. A big pain in the behind. I never saw a kid who didn't care about a thing. He just drives me nuts. And I can't forget about Lacey... she is doing good. She is in desparate need of a hair cut, but doing good.

I want to thank all of you who continued to drop by and check on me. Thank you all so much! You don't know how happy that makes me feel. You really are true friends. I've missed you all. I hope everyone is doing well, and I will be visiting all of your blogs this week to check in and see what I've been missing (I know its alot).

Well my friends... you all have been in my thoughts, and thank you again for keeping me in yours.

I'm still standing

2008-01-14T04:37:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, Sorry that its been so long since I've been on here. Things here have just been so hectic with wrestling and some medical issues, that I just don't know where the time goes. By the end of the night (9pm, lol) I'm so exhausted that I've been passing out.

Just a quick update, Everyone here is doing fine. Danny is ... well... Danny. He pretty much stays out in the garage most of the day. DJ well, you all know him pretty well. He spends about 4-5 hours at the gym lately. He is suppose to register for school for the spring semester today. He has decided to go to SUNY Farmingdale this semester and then transfer to Oswego. I almost can't wait for that. That school is 8 hours away. He won't be home everyday and my house might actually stay clean! He has just been working my last nerve that last few weeks. I almost wish he would go now! As for Joseph, a lot has happened since I last reported. On New Years Eve, Joseph and 2 friends were robbed at gun point! They took his brand new Zune that he got for Christmas and his cell phone, pluse the 2 girls purses with their cell phones, gift cards and one Ipod. It was 2 hispanic looking men in their mid 20's one had his face covered and the one didn't. The one that didn't shot at them and the bullet hit Joseph's bicycle actually cutting through the chain. The police that finally decided to arrive on the scene were mean and nasty to the kids because they thought it was a prank. I have to say that I'm filing a complaint against them due to the fact that they picked up 3 minors, held them for questioning and never contacted a parent until 11:30pm which was 2 hours after the incident. Needless to say, they still have not caught anyone and probably won't. As for Shannon and Jonathon, they are both doing fine. They have not killed each other yet so that is a good sign. Other than that not to much else is going on. Wrestling, Wrestling, and more Wrestling.

I will try to post more this week, but it is a very busy week for me. Our tournament is this weekend and I have to get started with all the phone calls and buy all the drinks and snacks. It's a lot of work. Danny will probably come with me again, especially since I'm not allowed to lift anything right now. Oh well I guess that's enough reporting for now. I update again this week.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday.

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T03:39:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Sorry that I have not been feeling up to getting on here lately. There has just been so much going on and I've been exhausted and physically drained lately. Hopefully, with the new year approaching, things will get better.

I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a wonderful one! Mine was ok. I must say.... I'm glad it's over. I have be come the complaint department. Just letting you know that this year my response is "I don't care". That really gets them.

D.J. and Joseph got the Wii this year.

I bought the extra remote and nunchuck for it so they didn't have to fight over it. I also got D.J. the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 game for it and some other golf game that he was asking for. I got Joseph the Boxing game. Joseph also got a video rocker chair,

and Guitar Hero III for PS2 which would've been great if the guitar was not cracked and ohh yeah... his PS2 didn't decided to conk out Christmas morning! Yeah, welcome to my hell! All he did was complain all morning and all day. Thank goodness for the 80gb Zune he got because if that didn't work I was killing myself just to not hear him anymore. D.J. got a ton of DVD's that he asked for and CD that he really wanted replace that was lost. He also got a ton of clothes! he has outgrown everything since September! Basically, all his t-shirts and sweatshirts. It's rough having a 44 inch chest and almost 17 inch arms. They don't fit into M's any more.

I think the best was Lacey! She had a blast this year. She was so funny opening up her presents and everyone elses for that matter.

She's like having a 2 year old around. Non-stop energy. I think I took more photos of her than the boys. She is a lot cuter.

Besides all the Joseph drama, everything else was pretty good.

Now.... for the inquiring minds that want to know what Ribbons are..... Ribbon's are I guess another name for BowTies according to my friend Linda. I made a batch of "Ribbon's" for Linda's house since she invited us over last Sunday and she kept saying these are the best "Bowties" I've had in years. Now I have to say.. I did take photos of them, but of course dh deleted them from the camera before I could upload them to the computer. So I will have to make another batch either today or tomorrow (because we ate the double batch I made last week) and get the photos up here. I will also post the receipe. Very easy to make and very addicting!

Well, that's it for my update. I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Finally!

2007-12-17T04:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm still here. I've just been so tired and so busy lately that I just don't know whether I'm coming or going, and when I'm not coming or going, I'm sleeping! Things have just been very hectic. I just seem to be running all the time. I also feel very run down lately. I think I need to go for a tan to rejuvenate. Last year I tanned almost every day and I felt pretty good most of the time. So far this season I think I've tanned 2-3 times. Not good.

Lets see, I really don't have much to report. Wrestling is going strong right now. We had a meet on Wednesday (did very well) and then Saturday an all day tournament (did very well). The tournaments are killing me though. Sitting on the floor of a cold, smelly gym for over 12 hours is just insane. I think I'm crazy!, but I just love it and the boys love it that I'm there (I think anyway). I took 255 pictures on Saturday! The boys really look forward to seeing their pictures, especially on the website that I started last year.

Other than that, It has just been very cold and windy here. We did get 2 ice storms, nothing like snow here. Just been busy and hardly on this computer except to upload photos and edit them. Hopefully next week will be a little less hectic.

2 peas challenge today: What is one thing you look forward to during these last few days before Christmas?
I look forward to spending some time with great friends and family. I can't forget the baking of cookies and ribbons in my house. My family has already eaten a full batch of ribbons that I made on Friday night! I think I'm going to have a triple batch this week.

No Time

2007-12-07T04:23:00.000-08:00

NO time! Lately that is how I've been feeling. Going from dr's to school and then everything else in between has just run me ragged the last week. I have had no time to get on here at all to update or to even check out all my wonderful friends blogs, sorry guys. I'm hoping for a little down time on Sunday so I can catch up with everyone.

I don't know if I mention that ds Joseph was wonderfully expelled from school last Thursday for 5 days! He had a pack of cigarettes on him but the kids that he was hanging with outside the building had drug paraphenial basically a pipe. All 3 expelled for 5 days.

So since I didn't have to worry about getting him up for school I slept in since dh keeps waking me up when he gets in at 3am! The early am is usually when I have my time to myself and I can get on here, but since I slept in I did not get on here all week.

Quick update, Shannon is doing wonderfully! She seems so happy and Steven (the ex) seems so lonely and sad. He is here everyday! He is getting better though. Danny has been spending quite a bit of time with him which Steven likes.

Other news.... DJ has lost mind. He has been overworking himself and now is getting a cold. He has been going to the gym at least 5 days a week. He goes and does his regular 2 hour workout, comes home for protein shake and some light meal then goes back for 3-4 hours of cardio! I see a re-lapse here, but he tells me no! yeah ok.

I went for my Remicaid infusion last night. I hope it really kicks in! I've been in horrible pain for about 5 days now. The weather hasn't been the best here either so I don't know what to blame. I just don't want my feet and back to hurt so much. Especially my feet!

Lets say the last time I posted I was hoping to get the tree up. Well dh didn't want to put it up that soon. So guess what? No tree yet. I have no idea when that baby is going up in this house with my hectic schedule. Maybe Sunday I will get up and then get the lights on it and the boys do the rest. They love doing it! I love watching DJ. He just gleams while putting on all his ornaments that he has made. It's funny that my kids at their ages still love doing it. My friends tell me their kids don't want anything to do with it.

Ok... this is enough for today. I'm going to see if I can catch up on some of your blogs before I have to leave. Have a Freaky Friday!

Crops

2007-12-01T04:14:00.000-08:00

2 peas challenge for today: Do you prefer to attend crops online or in person? Explain why you like one over the other.

I first need to say that I've never done an on-line crop! I'm not sure I would like it, which is probably why I've never done it. I really do enjoy in person crops though. I love to see and watch what others are doing. I love it when the others give ideas and tips while I'm doing something. And when I'm stumped on something someone always has an idea to spark something in me. I enjoy all the noise and hustle and bustle in the room. It is just very interactive. I love being in a group sometimes. Of course there are times I just want to be alone.

Let's see what do I have planned for this weekend. Cleaning, and more cleaning. I really would like to try to get my tree up this weekend. Next week is the real beginning of wrestling season and then I will have no time to do it! I also would love to get my truck emptied out with all the gifts that I have hiding in there. As I bring in the stuff, I wrap it and put it away! Thats the only way to do it! I write everything down that I wrap this way I don't get duplicates (which will not happen this year since I'm pretty much done, just gift cards left really). I only have one more box that needs to be shipped out next week and that is it for me!

I also need to go grocery shopping! The boys said there is no food in the house, lol. There is food, just nothing that they want at that time. The kill me. DJ would be perfectly happy with his Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Polander Grape Jelly. DJ kills me, he goes through 2 big jars of peanut butter a week! Joseph would be ok with chicken nuggets! I've also been told that we need ice cream and Apple Jacks! That is what is on their grocery list! Gotta love it.

Alrighty then, I guess I really should stop procrastinating and get my butt moving and do something productive here today. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Skill's

2007-11-29T04:35:00.000-08:00

2 peas challenge for today: What's one skill you've wanted but don't have? Wow, this is a great question and a very difficult one for me. There are sooooo many things that I've wanted but don't have. The list could take me forever. I would have to say that the one skill that I wish I was really good at would have to be ORGANIZATION! I really stink at it! I have crap everywhere. Of course I know where it all is, but it is everywhere. I'm less organizied at home. When it comes to wrestling and work (when I worked) I was pretty organized with that stuff. Unfortunately, my home is not. I really hate it that I don't have a home that is neat and organizied, but I don't have a lot of space and NO closets or storage space in this house. So everything is left out in the open and it all looks horrible.

I keep saying that I should apply for that show Clean Sweep and let them come in and do some magic. It would be amazing to see what they would do to help my situation. Plus, they usually do 2 rooms in the house! Yahoo.... I would pick my basement and .... my bedroom! It would be a lot of work. Both rooms are cluttered with tons of stuff. Oh well... a girl can dream, can't she!

Let's see... nothing else is really going on. The cold weather has come in and I'm sure I mentioned in the past that I really don't like cold weather. It just makes my days more difficult. I tried to do some on-line shopping the last few days, but nothing jumped out at me. I think I only got my boys the extra remote for the Wii. I still need to get Jonathon and Shannon gift cards and mail them. I would love to be done by December 8. That is my plan. Other than that, everything else here is pretty quite. I hope everyone has a great day!

Shopping!

2007-11-27T04:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know that most of you have started your holiday shopping. I for one started a while ago! I started to pick up CD's and DVD's months ago that the kids and dh were asking for. I had a stock pile of stuff! I have to say that I'm pretty much finished. I did the major bulk on Black Friday and now I only have a few minor things to get and gift cards (which I always save for last, you can get them anytime). I also did some shopping on-line yesterday. I was able to get a few small things that I missed out on, on Friday.

The boys are very funny. They are at an age that they know the things that they are asking for are very expensive and since dh is not working it is very difficult. So each of them listed like 4-5 things.

Here is Joseph's list: Guitar Hero 2 or 3 for PS2, a video rocker chair, GPS (I had to laugh, he doesn't have a car, lol), and the Wii.
This is what he got so far: Guitar Hero 3 with 2 guitars for PS2, the video rocker, Zune 30gb, videos, cds, clothes, and the Wii (which will be shared, because DJ had that on his list also).

DJ's list: Wii, Golf game for the Wii, Bourne Ultimatium DVD, and Vitergo CGL (a weight lifting supplement), and Red Hot Chili Peppers cd.
This is what he got so far: The Wii (see above), Bourne Ultimatium, other dvds, Red Hot Chili Peppers cd, Vitergo CGL, clothes, cell phone, golf game for Wii.

The other 2 are getting AMEX gift cards. Its just easier and this way they can just go and get what they need or want.

That is it for me. I can't wait to be done. I would like to have everything done by the end of next week. That is when wrestling season kicks it up into high gear! Then I have no time for much of anything.

How are your shopping plans going? Tell me about it.

Ohhh Boy!

2007-11-26T04:30:00.001-08:00

Well, things here have been a little crazy! This wonderful called a computer decided to CRASH on me. Just crazy. I pretty much lost everything and it took days for it to be fixed.

When the kid fixed everything... he decided to upgrade it for me to Vista! I have to say.... I really don't like it and I'm about ready to call him and tell him that I want it downgraded back to XP even though he said it runs on XP. Now I'm sure I've said this many times before.... I don't have a clue about anything with computers! Also, he lost a program that I use all the time. So he will be coming back to find it!

Thanksgiving here was pretty boring! I did all the cooking (of course). It was only Danny, DJ, Joseph and me this year. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are the holidays that I wish I was in Las Vegas with the rest of my family. Then there is Black Friday, which is a big thing in my family. I go all by myself! My mom and sisters go together! We call each other, but it's different with a 3 hour time difference. This year I had to get my sister to buy a few of the items that I couldn't get here. Like the Wii, Guitar Hero III with 2 guitars and the Zune! We love AMEX! especially when its daddys, lol. I have to say that I'm pretty much done with DJ and Joseph and I only have to get Danny one more thing. As for Jonathon and Shannon its going to be AMEX gift cards. I only need to get my dad and my niece and nephew who are all getting gift cards. Then I'm done with the exception of Laceys gifts.

Other than that.... nothing much is going on here. I gave my kids and dh my Xmas list and they all lol. They have some nerve. I really didn't ask for anything outrageous. I have a very simple list. I need a new pair of cushionie slippers, warm gloves, I would love the Xyron 510 or 900 (I would be happy with either), and my own camera (dh keeps taking mine and now it works like crap, plus I can never find it. He keeps locking it up in the garage!). So that is pretty much my list! I think its pretty reasonable, what do you think?

Oh well,,,, that is it for me today. I hope everyone has a great day.

MIA!

2007-11-17T06:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm sorry to say that I've been Missing In Action. The weather here this week just made my RA flair up so bad I couldn't even sit at the computer really to get anything done. Pretty much all I've done is sleep during the day since dh seems to think it is funny to wake me up at 2am lately just to annoy me and once I'm up I can't get back to sleep. Lately, I'm not liking him much.

Shannon made it across the country just fine. She got a job the day she got there. I'm so proud of her. She is going to be just fine. As for Steven (ex-bf) I'm not so sure. He is having a very difficult time with all this. He was here last night almost in tears over the whole thing. I really do hope he starts to grow up a little and hopefully they are able to work things out. I know they love each other, but she is just tired of him being a teenager wanna be. She is growing and he is stuck in time. Whatever will be , will be.

Of course this is my hectic time of the year. Wrestling just started and as most of you know I'm still doing the team mom thing even though none of my kids are on the team. I am training someone to take over for next year though. There is so much to do this year and I'm hoping that I stay healthy this year so I can get it all done. The coaches had a parent meeting the other night and the one coach was like Lynn can no longer be called a Team Mom since she doesn't have any kids on the team so now we will just call her a Team Groupie. Most of the parents were like "Coach, she will always be the Team MOM" I think that was so nice of those parents. I think that is because none of them want the responiblity of keeping this team all together. Oh well, as long as I'm here I will continue to be a part of this team.

Nothing else is really going on here. I am getting my list ready for my Black Friday shopping spree. I hope to have most of my shopping done by the end of that night! I am not going crazy this year (can't afford to), but I am getting everyone the main thing on their list.

Ok... at least the sun is shinning this morning. I hope it continues to shine the entire day. I'm tired of looking out side and it is awful gray and dark and looking like snow or rain. I hope everyone has a terrific weekend.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2007-11-13T03:52:00.000-08:00

Yes... Shannon is at the airport as I type this. She is awaiting her flight to Las Vegas to start on her new life. I think this is going to be great for her. She was very emotional last night and this morning. I have a to get a box or two so I can send everything that she left behind that she could not fit in her luggage.

Steven (the boyfriend/ex-bf) was driving her to the airport this morning. She was not thrilled with him this morning to say the least. He didn't want to get up. Almost like he wanted her to miss the flight, which was pissing the hell out of her. We are pretty lucky that the airport she was going out of is only about 15 mins away from the house. He acted like he has never been there and wanted her to write down directions. Hello.... you are only driving on 2 roads the entire time! You can't get lost.

Well, lets see.... nothing else is really going on here. Pretty much the same ole' crap just a different day to be honest. Yesterday it looked like it was going to snow, but never did and today it is looking pretty much the same way. This is not going to be good for me I can tell. The Remicaid has not kicked in.

2peas challenge for today: I spend a lot of time online because... I usually am trying to avoid doing something that needs to be done. Like clean the bathroom or cook dinner! Or I'm just not motivated to do anything else and don't want to sit and watch tv or read a book. I've become very boring in my old age I think. I just can't be bothered somedays to do anything even get on here.

Alrighty then.....on that note, I'm getting off here. Hope everyone has a great day!

Flylady, Fly!

2007-11-09T04:45:00.000-08:00

Well.... it is fastly getting to be that time of year again. I don't know about you, but I do get somewhat frazzled with everything going on. I mean really! how am I suppose to clean, cook, shop, get gifts, scrapbook, work drive everyone (ok... just Joseph), decorate and do wrestling all at the same time! It just can't be done I say. Well maybe it can,,, just not by a sane person, which of course I am not!

So here is a little secret. I've joined Flylady.com a long time, but fell off the wagon. Its now time to jump back on this horse (or fly) and get myself organized and clean. She is very inspirational and has it down let me tell you. When I'm doing it her way... my house never looked so good. So I'm recruiting all the kids (ok, DJ and Joseph since Shannon leaves in 4 days) and DH to get themselves back to helping me out. I mean really, it's their house also. I can't even get DJ to get the garbage to the curb on garbage days even after I remind him, I swear.

Well, Flylady has a great check list FlyLady.net: Cruising Through The Holidays really a good thing. Go check it out and you will be flying through the holidays with no worries. Also, if you join Flylady, she will send you emails throughtout the day as reminders. I have to be honest..... I have not done one Flylady mission in months! That is why my house and the rest of me is a mess.

She also has a book that she wrote: The title is Sink Reflections and you can get it here- FlyLady.net: FlyLady’s Gifts and Gift Ideas Check out her website FlyLady.net: Your personal online coach to help you gain control of your house and home She is really great and let me tell you if you want a great featherduster her's is the one to get! I bought it for my sister and she will never use anything else. I should get one for me.

Ohhh well.... I guess I should be flying out of here right now. Have ton's to do again today. I hope you all have a Fun Friday!

Favorite Quote

2007-11-08T04:23:00.000-08:00

Todays 2 peas challenge is: Find a quotation that moves you and write it down. Why does it move you?

My quote is:

You never stand so tall as when you stoop to help a child.

I have loved this quote for over 24 years. I saw this when I moved up here from FL. It is on a huge sign (smaller than a billboard) on the side of a main road. The sign is surrounded by trees. I thought that it was weird that this sign was sitting on the side of road near the cementeries, but no matter how many times I go past it, I have to slow down and get the whole effect of it and read it slowly to myself.

I'm not really sure why it moved me.... maybe because I was a fairly new mom when I first saw it and it really made me think... you know to a child we are tall and strong. When a child needs help with something and we bend over to help them... guess what? We are STILL TALL! we've just come down to their level to help them out. That is what a child sees. A giant helping them.

Well that is my take on my favorite quote. I can't wait to read others.

Today, there is alot going on. I have work, plus I really need to clean this house a little and then I have my 4-5 hours of Remicaid infusion. I am really hoping that the Remicaid kicks in this time around. It really didn't do a thing last month to be honest. I go back to the dr. next week and I know he is going to take me off it if it doesn't work this time around.

Other than that, that is really it. Not sure I could any more than that today anyway.

Hope everyone has a Great Thursday.

More Halloween

2007-11-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

Ok.... I know it has taken me awhile to get this on here, but lately it's been a process. So here we go just some more photos of Halloween.

The first few are Joseph carving his pumpkin (finally). I think he did a great job on it. His pumpkin was very big also. Almost as large as DJ's.

I also did another pumpkin so Joseph wouldn't feel all alone (which he should've since he ditched us all the night before to hang out with friends). Now, Shannon decided to dress up as a clown for Halloween while working at the deli since a bunch of kids were going there from the "Make a Wish" Foundation. She thought it would be cute to be a clown. I have to say she looked pretty good, but she also looked a scary. I didn't get to see her until she came home that day from work and it was funny because she soon realized that alot of people (adults) are afraid of clowns! Who knew? Oh well like I say... Live and Learn.

Then she changed for a party that night into her Dorothy costume. She looked very cute. DJ was joining her there, but decided to go as himself...... a bodybuilder. He just kills me!
Well... thats really it for me today, I have work and need to get my behind moving here.

Earliest Memories

2007-11-05T03:54:00.000-08:00

2 peas challenge for today: What is your earliest memory? Why has it stayed with you? Wow this is another great question. I remember being 4 years old and having to wear a patch over my right eye and also having to wear these baby blue & glitter cats eye glasses. I don't know why I remember that, maybe because it seemed to be very tramatic for a 4 year old to have to go through. I'm not really sure which was worse... the patch or the glasses. Apparently, it worked... because I only needed to wear them for about a year or so and then no glasses for me until just recently.

Creativity?

2007-11-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

2 peas challenge for today: What does creativity mean to you? Wow! This is an incredible question for today. What does creativity mean? There are so many ways to be creative. So here are a few that pop to mind right now.

1. Creativity is in the mind of the beholder (everyone is creative in one way or another)

2. To produce something (anything) that can be admired by the creator and others

3. To think outside of the box (try something you might not or have never thought to try before)

4. Do what you love!

5. Create what you feel not what others want you to feel

6. Use your imagination

Everyone is different and create in different ways. Like ... take my kids... I have Jonathon who is very creative in writing. He can write just wonderfully. Then you have Shannon who has a very good eye for color and clothing design. Oh then you've got DJ he is the archetech. He can design awesome buildings and homes. Now lets not forget Joseph... he is wonderful at drawing and designing modes of transportation. He just loves drawing vehicles, motorcyles and planes. He also loves to give them awesome paint jobs. Each one is creative in their own way. That is what makes them unique.

Well... thats it for me today. I hope everyone has a Super Saturday!