Finally....

I went down in my scraproom and did something! It took me a while to get everything organized, but I actually finished something. I did this mug for my dh. The photos are not the greatest, but I couldn't wait to take them. I was able to get me, dh, the 4 kids and the dog all on here. DH just loves it.

This shot has ds Joseph, Lacey and ds Jonathon.

This side has ds DJ and dd Shannon.

And this side has dh, and me.

I think it could've been better, but dh only likes the color black so that is what I did. I also stuck a few epoxy stickers with sayings like: WE ARE FAMILY, THE CLAN and MEMORY LANE, just to add a little more color.

Maybe doing this has given me a little spark. I can only hope.

2peas challenge for today. Let's post a random picture that we have recently taken. Kind of like a photo of the day type topic. Ok.. here we go.. This is one of the proudest moments for me of my ds DJ. This was a huge accomplishment for him, since the doctors told us he would not be able to wrestle again. He proved them all wrong and overcame many obstacles to get here being #1 in the toughest League in NY State. btw... did I mention that it was the the 2nd time that I ever cried at a wrestling match. No could believe that I was crying like a baby. It was just very emotional.

Ok... have to get Joseph up for school.... I'm counting the days! Its not going fast enough that is all I can say. Have a great day!

I'm good at.....

2 peas challenge for today: List 3 things you're really good at... blog about them.

I'm really good at:

1. Cooking- I love to cook most of the time. My kids and dh say they love my cooking. I just get caught up in cooking sometimes. Of course there are days that I don't even want to think about cooking. Today would be one of those days. It's 91 and humid... Can we say BBQ

2. I'm told that I'm really good at being the Wrestling Team Mom! It is something that I really love to do. I love the kids and thats what it is all about. Sometimes I wonder if I really am good at it, especially when I get really stressed out close to tournament time. Then everything works out just fine and we did an awesome job.

3. I think I'm really good at encouraging others (not myself, for some weird reason). Its funny, I never think about encouraging "me". I always encourage my kids to do better and keep focused. I will always encourage the wrestlers to do well each match. I will always be there for others, but just can't for myself. I guess that is something that I will need to work on.

Ok... that's it for me right now. Have a terrific evening.

Making a list

The 2 peas challenge for today is: Make a list of your top ten things on your mind right now. At the time you blog. Date it.... mark down the time.. and just number 1-10 and write the first 10 things that come to mind.. no censoring.. this would make one great layout.. a moment in time!

My top things on my mind right now!:

1. I really need to get off this computer and do my laundry!

2. Where the heck is ds DJ! and why didn't he call me last night to say he was staying out all night? (can we say grounded)

3. Why the heck am I sweating like crazy at 9:21am?

4. I really need to clean this freakin' house.

5. Good golly it is so damn humid out

6. I could really use another cup of coffee

7. Where the heck is my sister, she is late this morning getting on this computer. (we web cam every morning)

8. I think I just want to go back to bed

9. What should I make for dinner tonight?

10. I really should color my hair today.

Todays date: July 29, 2007

Time: 9:23am et

There you go, I'm probably the most boring person on the planet. Nothing exciting here that's for sure. Just me being lazy.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

3 Foods....

Here is the 2 peas challenge today: If I had to choose only 3 food items to eat for the rest of my life, what would they be??? This is a tough one, but one I think I can answer pretty quickly.
1. CHOCOLATE!- I'm not living the rest of my life without it that is for sure. I probably wouldn't last more than a week without it anyway, lol. That seems to be my life source lately. I would go into withdrawal by the second day.

2. Chicken- I don't really get too tired of eating it. Don't get me wrong... there are days that I'm like "I'm just not having chicken today".

3. Hmmmmm. tough decision..... I'm going with Pizza!- At least it has 3 of the food groups in it. I should be good with this as one of my food items. Plus,, I can always change it up by putting my chicken on it. I love chicken cutlet pizza!

There you go... set for life, lol. This was a really fun challenge Bonnie Rose. This sure would make for a cute layout. It sure is the first thing that has given me a little spark to get down in my scraproom. I wonder if I have any M&M's bags sitting around?....

Ugh... It is time for me to get ready for work. I'm actually enjoying the time away from the house. I'm around a great group of people at the deli and they are really fun. It is a great 4 hours away from dh and the kids. I know that that sounds mean, but it was just getting crazy here with them. Ok, I'm out of here for now, oh btw... I'm thinking of going to crop tomorrow. The just sent me an email that there were still openings. I'm seriously thinking of going. The only thing that is holding me back is the fact that I know this place has little space and everyone is a little tight fitting in there. Oh well.... I think I might still go, I'll keep you posted. Have a great weekend everyone.

Life Challenges

2peas Challenge --- Blog about some of the challenges in your life that u are now facing. If any. Be as blunt, or bold as u like.

Ohhhh my... I wouldn't even know where to start! There is so much going on right now in my life that it just feels like I'm on a rollercoaster. I think my biggest challenge right now is that I need to get healthy again. I've been depressed for about 3 months now and it was just getting worse. All I really wanted to do was eat junk and sleep. So to say the least I've gained some weight and have gotten a lot of flab in the abdomen area that was not like that 4 months ago. Also my RA has been flairing up so I also have not been exercising or walking my 2 miles a day for months now. And since I was having problems with my health insurance I was not able to get my Remicaid treatments for the last 5 months. This just makes me more depressed! I'm not comfortable with my body right now and this needs a lot of work.

With this depression, I just don't want to do anything. So you guessed it, No scrapbooking. I just can't bring myself down there to do one single thing. I don't know what it is, it's not like I don't have the time to do it or the supplies, I just don't want to go down there or even try to get started on anything. This makes me sad since it is something that I truly love to do. I know it will come back to me, but when?

Well, I think this is enough for one day for any person to write or read. So on that note I will close this chapter and move on.
Have a Terrific Thursday!

Found Money

2 peas Challenge: Consider this and blog your answer: If you found a $100 bill on the sidewalk, what would you do?
a/put it in my wallet, hello new shoes!
b/Pass it by, gross, germs!
c/Give the money to charity.
d/Add it to my savings.
Pick your answer and then blog/expand on your decision..

Unfortunately my answer is going to be D even though there is no savings, it would be going towards all my bills (would my answer then be A?hmmm). Especially right now in my life things are really crazy tight with the finances. I know that it sounds greedy, but right now that is just how it is. If you would've asked me this question 2 years ago I would have given half to charity and then the other half would've gone into the savings.

I have to make this short and sweet today. I have to get ready to take Joseph to school (2 1/2 more weeks of this!) and get ready for work.
Have a Terrific Day!

Stamps

2 peas challenge for today: Do you use stamps with your layouts? I have used stamps in layouts, but don't use them regularly. I love my alpha stamps and do tend to use them more often then anything else. Right now I'm not doing anything! I haven't been in my scraproom for weeks now. Hoping to get down there in the next few days to hopefully get some of the clutter out of there. I also need to finish DJ's Wrestling Album for this year.

The other day I got out the camera and actually took some photo's of my dreaded apple tree. I have soooooo many freakin' apples falling from this tree it is silly. The side of my yard is covered with rotting apples, ugh! This first picture is pretty much the full tree. Now mind you, there is a second tree to the right of this tree that is much smaller. This breed of tree needs to have to 2 within ( I think 1/2 mile from each other) to produce fruit. I don't know if that is true or not, but what the heck.

In this photo it is a little hard to find to the apples. I always thought it was a crapapple tree... well... its a granny smith. So the apples are green.

This photo is showing all the apples on the ground... since this photo was taken, there are alot more on the ground.

And finally a good look at some apples on the tree!

Ok... I really have to get my behind in gear here today. I've got to get Joseph up in 1 hr for school and then be at the deli by 10am. The fun just never ends, lol.

Have a wonderful day!

CRAZY!

Things here have just been crazy the past week! I can't believe that I am just now getting on here to catch up. As some of you know... I've been down in the dumps and also not feeling well the past few weeks. My doctors seem to think that I have depression and I have to agree with them. My primary doctor who has been treating me forever just looked at me and said "Lynn, you are depressed!" I was like why? and he basically said to me " Hello.... look who you live with and spend 24 hours a day with! You've got to get out of that house a few hours a day." So... with that said... I got a small p/t job in a local deli 4 hours a day. Its been good, but I have to say that I've been exhausted everyday. I think its a combination of everything together. So hopefully, this week I will be able to update more often.

With that said... It is now 9am here and well I've got to get myself ready to take Joseph to summer school (3 more weeks of this) and then go to work. I think each day will get better. It has to. I will try to update with the 2 peas challenge later this afternoon.

Have a great day everyone!

It's Routine

The 2 peas challenge for today: Blog about 5 things you do every day , without fail. List 5 things you do each and every day, weekday or weekend...
1. Get up at 6:30am to take 1st pill for thyroid
2. Make the coffee!
3. Brush my teeth
4. At 7:30am take 2nd pill
5. Check my e-mails
6. Call my dad before he calls (he calls about 6 times a day)

Ok... I listed 6 things and I'm sure there are a lot more.... I'll have you know that this is usually all done before 9am. I'm usually calling dad at 6am his time. He's up already.

Ok.... getting out of here for now... We are going to take the boat out and go fishing today! Hopefully I will have photos to post tomorrow.

INVASION of ........

the squirrels! For the past few weeks (about 5 to be exact) I've been telling dh that there seems to be an awful lot of squirrel activity on my bedroom side of the house and every morning you can actually hear them clawing at the side of the outside wall. I never went to that side of the house. This is a side of the yard that is never used due to trees being over there and nothing else pretty much. Well on Saturday dh decides to finally get dd's new airconditioner up in her window. So I mentioned again (since he was going to that side of the house) about the squirrels. Now mind you this is a side of the house that we have not re-done because we are still undecided about extended the back. Well.... this is what we found!

They were eating right through the house and nesting! All the noises were them actually in the outer beams of the walls. They even ate a through vinyl siding patch he put up there about 7 weeks ago. Pretty amazing! So now everything is patched up and I've been able to sleep a little later in the morning.

Friday the 13th!

WOOOOOOO..... I think we get 2 Friday the 13th's a year. I'm not really supersticious when it comes to that. I know a lot of people that are, but to me... it's just another day.

I can't believe that I'm such a slacker the last week. It has been a pretty wacky and crazy week here to say the least. And the same goes for the weather here.

Last week (Thursday) my doctors decided to put me on a new medicine. Well.... lets just say that it kicked me in the behind. Of course they warned me that it might have that effect on me for the first week or two, but I was not really prepared for it. I just couldn't do a thing. I really didn't want to function, all I wanted to do was sleep! Well, sleep is what I did.

This morning I woke up feeling a little peppy! I'm not going to start jumping through hoops or anything like that any time soon, believe me, but it does feel good to be walking around and doing something. I'm actually thinking about going down to the scraproom and attempting to do something. I'm not sure what at this moment, but hopefully something will spark. I haven't been down there in weeks and have got nothing done at all. I'm baffled as to why I'm in such a rut. Hopefully, this will be the end of that rut.

As for the weekend, we have no plans at all. This is a big surprise and relief since the last 3 weekends we've been on the go none stop. It will be nice to just relax this weekend at home. Maybe I will BBQ tomorrow, we'll see how I'm feeling.
I hope everyone has a TERRIFIC weekend. Hopefully, I will have a layout or 2 to post.

Big Surprise

I was completely surprised and amazed this afternoon when I got on here and started checking out some of my favorite blogs. Janet-Of cats and cardstock- mentioned my blog on her blog. Wow.... Does this make me a Rockin' Girl Blogger? I would never think that I am. Really, what do I post about??? Mostly my boring life and of course dh, and the kids and then there is Lacey when I remember. Ok... every once and a while I actually have a great photo to share with everyone, but does that qualify me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger? I just want to thank Janet for this. It surely brightened up my day. It is funny, I went to tell my dh about this and he was just dumbfounded. He was like what is a blog? Need I say Clueless!

Now I'm not sure, but as Janet had stated on her blog, she picked 5 of her favorite blogs so I guess I will do the same.

{ A Life So Simple}- Great everyday post's, very motivating, great scrapbooking, arts N crafts, and some of the best photos

strawberry fields forever- Awesome photos, receipes, layouts, and just an overall great, fun blog

A Life - Unrehearsed- Very inspirational, motivating, encouraging and educational blog

...grazing in the meadow of creativity!!- A wonderful, down to earth blog! Great photos

Colour Therapy-Love the great posts, photos, and encouragement

Go check them out if you haven't already!

Today is my BEST Friends Birthday! Isn't she the lucky one...... 777! That is like my favorite #. It is hard being so far away from each other on our B' Days and holidays. Next year for our 45th we are meeting (my B'day is 6/7 hers 7/7) June 22nd and having a 3 days girls alone time. I think we decided to meet in Maryland which will be nice at that time of the year. We will see. I should post a photo of her, but I have to find them. lol she will kill me if I post one.

Oh, well.. I am off to go find a babyshower gift for a shower that is tomorrow. Nothing like waiting for the last minute. I just haven't felt like doing anything. I did watch Wimbeldon today. Today was the Ladies Finals and Venus Williams won. I was rooting for her and now the men are playing for the semi-finals. Roger Federer has won his match and now Rafael Nadal is playing. I hope he wins it. Ok.. I'm really done now. Have a great weekend.

What a 4th

I really don't have much to post here. Our 4th was a very crummy day. It was probably the worst weather we've had on the 4th in ohhh about 20 years here on Long Island. We had very cold, damp and wet weather for most of the day and then about 6pm came all the torential rain! Horrible. We did still manage shoot off fireworks in between the rain sessions and then I gave up at about 11pm when the thunder started.

We had to give Lacey a tranquilizer so she wouldn't freak out, but I gave it to her at about 8pm when everything was really starting to go off. Well, it must've been to large of a dose for her and she was almost comatose for the entire night and half the day yesterday. I was scared to death. I stayed up with her the entire night just watching her breathe and hand feeding small morsels of food to keep her strength up. That was the scariest thing for me. I thought to myself OMG I've killed my baby. Thank goodness when I called the vet yesterday morning I wasn't the only who apparently gave too much to there dog and they said to watch her she should be fine. I only gave her 1/2 of her pill, but it was just too much for her little body to handle so the vet said they will lower her dose for next year. I was like, I'm not even going to give it to her next year.I'll just put all the tv's and radios on full blast and put her down stairs where you don't really hear much.

Since the weather has been so crappy here the last week, it has knocked me for a loop! I've been in horrible pain and just can't function. We are going to experiment with some new meds and hopefully that will do the trick. Other than that I really haven't been able to do much. I have no ambition to do anything or even go downstairs to scrap. Lord knows that I have a ton to catch up on, but it's not happening.

ok... getting off here for now. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Beach or Pool??

hmmmmm. This is the 2 peas challenge for today: With summer here and alot of kids out of school. Let's share if we like to go to the beach or city pool more? Share one of your favorite summer beach/pool pics with us as well. I think I would have to say BEACH! I lived the first half of my life in West Palm Beach, FL. You drove down by the beach, parked your car, then walked about 40-50 ft to the water! Gotta love that. When I moved up here (insert *sigh*), I went to the beach the first time and I had to walk about 1 mile from the car to the water! I was not going to be doing that again. Since then.... We take the boat out when we want to be on the beach and we will anchor her up over by our Favorite spot Sore Thumb. Now, if I had to choose between the beach or my back yard pool.... it would have to be my backyard! I don't have to pack extra clothes, a cooler, lunches etc. NO SAND!

Here are some of my favorite beach photos:

Silence...

is golden in this house. I can't believe that it is so quite here this morning. Shannon stayed with her boyfriend last night, so she is not here yelling at the top of lungs about something. DJ stayed at a friends last night and won't be home til' this afternoon to change for a graduation party. So he is not here banging the pots, pans, drawers, cabinets or anything else that he needs to get into to make his usual Sunday breakfast. Then there is Joseph..... still sleeping! That one can sleep until 12 noon. It is just peaceful here right now and I'm going to take it all in because I'm sure it will end shortly when Shannon comes home in a little while.
I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday.
To all the Canadian's ... Happy Canada Day! Enjoy.

Stormy Weather

Last night we got hit with some MASSIVE thunder and lightning storms. Lets just say that the lightning was lighting up the skys for most of the night. Then add the unbelieveable humidity to the mix and it sure made for a very uncomfortable night that is for sure.

Well, yesterday afternoon my mom left to go back home. She said to me " I can't believe its time for me to go back" I was like "Mom, that's what happens when you only stay for 4 freakin' days". She thinks she is going to miss something at home. I could tell her she is missing nothing at all except about 110 weather. Of couse it probably felt about same here with all the humidity we've had the last 2 days. Oh well, she made it to her mid-point stop, Chicago Mid-way, and then they got the delays due to all the storms (the ones that hit us last night). Her plane finally got into Las Vegas about 7:30 pm and her and my dad sat waiting for the luggage with about 40 other people. Finally, they decided to check it out. And you guessed it, All 40 of them did not have luggage that followed them! My dad was pissed. Who knows where it is???? No one, but I'm upset with my mom, I told her not to put her medicine in the suitcase and that she needed to carry it with her (she does have a lot of med's), but she didn't want to. Now she doesn't have any of her medicine. I hope they find everyones luggage soon.

Other than that, nothing else is really going. We are suppose to get more storms this afternoon and boy this is killing me. I'm in sooooo much pain from all the humidity that its even hard to sit here today. So.. on that note, I'm going to get off here for now and go watch some Wimbeldon! Lets see who advances today. Any tennis buffs out there??? I really hope James Blake advances today.

Lets eat cake!

This past Saturday, my ds DJ graduated from High School. The day was perfect. We had decided a long time ago to give him a party, but we were going to have it on Sunday. Makes for an early night, so we thought, lol. Anyway, just like with my older two children I had a cake made up. It will ,usually, have a cute little saying on it. This year was no different! I thought long and hard on this one. My dd's cake was so easy to do. I put two photos on the cake, one was a baby picture and the other was a Sr. picture, they were side by side on the cake. They saying was... "You've Come A Long Way Baby!" The cake was awesome and no one wanted to cut it was so beautiful. My ds Jonathons cake was cute also. It had a picture of him on crutches ( he was always breaking some bone somewhere) and it said: "Try Not to Break the Other Leg! Good Luck"

Now it was time to think of something new for this one. It was a difficult challenge for me. Then all of a sudden I was looking through pictures of DJ and said this is it! I saw a photo of him doing a muscle pose (one of many) and decided this is it and the saying on the cake is going to be "So.... You Muscled Your Way Through, Congratulations DJ!" It was perfect.When he saw the cake, he couldn't wait to show it off to all his friends that were here. Then we started to cut the cake and he was so funny.. he wouldn't let anyone have a piece of the picture. His friends were like you are kidding? He said here you can have this little sliver from the one side. I was cracking up. He is so funny. We did eventually eat the entire cake. It was really terrific! So here you go a photo of a great cake.

It was also my ds Josephs Birthday on Sunday. I figured kill two birds with one party. So of course we had cake for him also. It is so difficult being 16! He did nothing but complain most of the day. He was very helpful getting everything set up and then he didn't even want any of his friends really. I was a little surprised. Oh well, maybe next year he will want it.

Who Graduated???

It would be ds DJ! I can't believe it. Boy does the time fly. It just seems like yesterday that I was dropping him off for his first day of Kindergarten.He had a big smirky smile on his face and he was waving good-bye as he walked into the Rall Elementary School all those years ago. It is funny, because as he was walking onto the field with the procession and he passed me, I got that same big smirky smile and a little (kind of a fake) wave. He looked so handsome out there with the rest of the 559 graduates. Thank goodness, it was a very nice, pleasant day out there. The weather was just perfect!

After the ceremony, all the graduates walk back over to the gym. The parents, family and friends usually get together and take some photos. Well.... lets just say that no one, and I really mean no one could find DJ. Not even his friends! They were all looking for him so they could take some photos with him. No one could find him. About 30 mins later he comes out of nowhere. I was like where the heck were you? He said I went right into the gym to get my diploma! By that time... all his friends were now on line in the gym getting there diplomas and well you guessed it. I got no photos of DJ with anyone except my mother and he had no cap or gown! Oh well.. I guess that is the way the cookie crumbles.

Danny and I decided to have a party for DJ on Sunday instead of Saturday since so many kids were having parties on Saturday I really wanted him to enjoy his day. He first went to his friend Steve Pappas' party and stayed for about 2-3 hours and then headed off to Nick Chionchio's at the China Buffet for a few hours. Then he came home threw on some shorts and headed over to his friend Justin Anderson's for the rest of the night. He had a great time. And I have to say that I am very proud of him. He did not drink any beers or liquor at the first 2 parties. The last one he did drink beers and was driven home by one of the other kids moms. I'm am so thankful that he is a very responsible kid. As parents, we know that the law says they are not allowed to drink at this tender age, but also as parents we know they are going to! You are a lucky parent if your child knows how to be responsible while they are doing this.

So now it is Sunday, our party day. I was cooking up a storm from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. Danny and I were on again, off again to the whole idea of allowing beer (beer only) at this party. Finally, about 1 hour before the guests were to arrive we decided to go for it. Of course we had rules! DJ's friends had to be dropped off by a parent, picked up by a parent and if they drove I was to get their keys the minute they walked in the yard and before they left they had to pass my drunk driving test. I'm so happy to say, that I'm please that so many parents decided to be hands on this weekend and they were dropping off and picking up. I had a total of 3 boys that drove here and I have to say that 1 of them only had 1 beer the whole time he was here and was completely sober when he left 3 hours later. One of the others left his car here and was picked up by a parent. and the other passed my tests with flying colors. I had kids here from 3pm-1am, they were soooo good and at 10:30pm I asked them to tone it down for the neighbors and they did. DJ was soooo happy that we gave him this party and I was happy to do it for him.

Ok.. I rambled enough for today.... I will try not to do that tomorrow.

What is it?

In answer to many of your questions yesterday about my photo for the challenge, this photo was taken in October 2005 and it is one of my favorite sunset photos. It was taken on Fire Island (Long Island) on Democrat Point. This is right at the ocean inlet for the Town of Babylon beaches and the furtherest point west you could possibly go on Fire Island. I love it there. It is very unfortunate though that they have just recently closed that area off due to beach erosion.

Ok... It is getting down to crunch time with ds DJ's graduation this Saturday! It is hard to believe that it is here already. We are having a party for him on Sunday and (again) it just happens to be ds Joseph's B' Day so I'm killing 2 birds with one stone as they say.

I still have tons to do. Right now I took a break from cleaning the bathroom. Still need to do the kitchen, livingroom, all the floors need to be done as we have had rain the last 2 days and clean all the patio furniture. Tomorrow will be dedicated to prep cooking. Plus, my dear mother is flying in tomorrow night.

2 peas challenge: Are you a spender or a saver? Blog about it. As of right now... I'm a real spender! I use to be a great saver. I don't know what happened to me in the last few years. Now I can't stop spending.

Well, I'm off to see if I can manage to get this all done today. Wish me luck! Something always sidetracks me along the way.

Its a Challenge!

The 2 peas challenge for today: Wordless post... make a wordless post. Just post a pic, and let the pic speak for itself.. this one should be fun!

Who turned 21 today???

It would be my dd Shannon! Yep, she turned 21 today. She was very excited. We ended up celebrating last night because her and her boyfriend were leaving last night for Atlantic City for a few days! She is so funny. She wanted to be sitting at a slot machine at 12:01 am this morning. That girl really makes me laugh. We had of course Chocolate Fudge cake (again)! and then some fireworks!

Here we have the wonderful Fudgy cake! Let me tell you,,,, this cake is to die for! If you love Fudge this is one. I wish I could say I made it, but I did not. I get our fudge cakes from the local grocerys bakery dept! They love me in there in June!

These are just a few photos from last night. We had a good time before she left for the 2 hr ride to Atlantic City.

Hope everyone has a great day!

This weekend

2 peas challenge for today: Fathers day is this weekend? What are your plans? Any? blog about it. We really don't have any plans for this weekend. We pretty much play it by ear. The kids are older and want to be with their friends. On Sunday, Fathers Day,we usually have a BBQ and cake, but that is really it.

I went to Target the other night and was surprised to find scrapbooking supplies in the $ spot! This never happens in my Target. So here are a few photos of what I got. Sorry about the glare from the lights and flash. Some cute papers and they are very colorful!

Heres some stickers and rub-ons.

And last we have some miscellaneous items: pens, diecuts, clue sticks, ink pad.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Finally able to get on here

Yes! it is another gloomy day here and it doesn't look like its getting any better in the next day! ugh This weather is very depressing to me. I keep trying to do things that will give me a little spark, but to tell you the truth, nothing seems to be working at all. Ohhhh well.. Life does go on.

Yesterday I was visiting Sabrina's Grazing in the meadow of creativity blog and stumbled upon this blog game SCATTERGORIES ! So here are the rules...use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions...they MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. And one more rule...you CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

*Famous Singer/Band...Linda Ronstadt/ Led Zepplin
*4 Letter Word...Love
*Street...Lafayette Street
*Color...Lilac
*Gifts/Presents...Locket
*Vehicle...Lexus
*Things in a Souvenir Shop...Lighters
*Boy Name...Luke
*Girl Name...Lily
*Movie Title...Longest yard
*Drink...Long Island Iced Tea
*Occupation...Lawyer
*Celebrity...Luke Wilson... Lindsay Lohnan
*Magazine...Life
*U.S. City...Lexington
*Pro Sports Teams...this one has me stumped.. Long Island Ducks??
*Fruit...Lemon/Lime
*Reason for Being Late for Work...Lost my shoe
*Something You Throw Away...Lint
*Things You Shout..."Lets GO!"
*Cartoon Character...Hmmmm... not sure there is one with an "L"

Ok.. thats it for me. enjoy

Rain, Rain Go Away!

I'm so done with the rain! Yesterday, it rained on and off throughout the day. It has been raining here now since about 4:30am! Its not a down pour.... its just a constant light rain that is very annoying! This is the type of weather that really gets to my bones. I just can't move. It started yesterday afternoon and then the depression started to roll in along with it. WOW! as I sit here it has just started to pour out. I really do not like this weather. Oh well, that is just me. I might have to go and get a tan just to feel a little better.

Yesterday, ds Joseph went to see about getting a job! His very first real job. He will be 16 next Saturday and he tells me that he was just waiting to be 16. Yeah right. So he is going to be the clean up guy at an Auto Body Repair shop. This field is something that he is interested in. Painting and designing autobodys. I hope it works out for him.

Today, ds DJ is going to his first graduation practice. This should be fun. He is already "bitching" that he has to get up to go to the practice.

I really need to get my house cleaned! It is less than 2 weeks away for DJ's graduation and my Mom and nephew are coming to stay here. I don't like cleaning, especially when I live with a bunch of people that really don't give a crap anything but themselves. I don't know how that happened... I'm not one of those types of people so where they got that from ... WHO KNOWS!

Todays 2 peas challenge: If you were to take a class on photography. What is one thing you would like to learn. This is something that I've been thinking about for a long time now. I really do want to take some classes on photography, but seem to keep hesitating for some weird reason. I would love to learn just about everything! I don't think I know much about photography and I just love taking photos. I think one of the most important things with photography is lighting! So that would be very important to learn. I'm also interested in "old" film developing, not just digital. Hmmmm, you've got me thinking about taking some classes at the college now. AGAIN!

Hectic Weekend

Boy, did I have a hectic time since Thursday, MY BIRTHDAY! This time of year in my house is just non-stop, I tell you. The boys have finals in school and then Regents (which is a State Exam and of course NY is the only state that requires you to pass them in order to graduate!) Also trying to get things a little more organized since my mom and nephew are flying in for DJ's graduation in less than 2 weeks. If it is not one thing it is another.

Thursday, was spent pretty peacefully at home! The kids and dh surprised me with cake, cards, balloons and well gifts. dh thinks it is fun to do scratch off lottery games! I'd much rather have the money he spent on them to tell you the truth. Oh well... I did end up winning $50. off them. Here is a picture of me and my cake! UMMMMM... just love this cake! all chocolate with dark fudge frosting and fresh strawberries on top! Everyone who is born in June asks for this cake for their birthday! Boy do we have a lot of June birthdays!

Friday, Danny and I took the boat out for the day! We went to our favorite spot, Sore Thumb! It is very clean there and I love to relax and watch the party boats drift for fish.

Saturday, I went for a manicure! yeah for me. The first one in months! The weather was not the best, but tolerable. Plus, I ended up having the invasion of the ants in my kitchen. So I was scrubing and throwing away everything in the cabinets.

Sunday, was just another day relaxing and well laundry! It was pretty overcast so not much sun out there. I took some photos for the Funky Photo Friday challenge that Heather started. We were to use the Macro setting on our camera (if we have one) or zoom in! Now I've got to tell you that I have the Macro setting and I never really use it! I usually just zoom in! I tried it yesterday and really didn't see much difference. I think its me though. Here is one of my photos for that. You can check out the rest of the photos if you want on my Picture Nut blog : http://picturenut.blogspot.com/

2 peas challenge:If you could write a letter to your younger self, knowing what you've learned in life already, what would that letter say? Wow this is a very good question. I really have to think about this one. There are a lot of things I would want to say. One that pops right out at me is : Don't waste your time arguing about the small stuff. There are a lot bigger things that need to be argued instead. Pick your battles wisely, don't just jump right into the flame. Live each day to its fullest. Learn to say NO ! You don't have to do everything that crosses your path. Cherish every moment you have with your kids. They grow up fast and won't be around as much. You will miss them even thought the teenage years will make you crazy, you will it.

Well that is just a little bit. Of course it would be in a nice letter form not just all jumbled together.

Who's 44?

Oh my! It's me! I still can't believe it. How did I get so old? This is a question that I ask myself time after time. After speaking with others and finding out how old they are, I'm actually the youngster in the group. We came to realize that I'm also the one with the oldest kid! Go figure. As my father say's," Your only as younger as you feel!" Well then I really should be a lot older, cause I feel like I'm more around 80!

Here is one of the only photos I have from a young age. I am 1 1/2 years old in this photo. It is pretty beaten up. I actually cropped it because this photo has my younger brother in it also.

This is the original photo.

And here I am today! What a big difference!

Todays 2 peas challenge: What one wonderful thing happened to you today? Well It's my Birthday! and I was shocked that my kids and hubby all said Happy Birthday to me before the left this morning! Usually, they forget and don't say it until they get home!

Varsity Awards

Last night was the Lindenhurst Varsity Awards Dinner which is held at the Marriott Banquet room each year. What a wonderful night it was. DJ was honored with MVP for Wrestling! I was sooooo happy for him. He really deserves it! He had to sit at the dias table (which he didn't like). Poor kid looked like he was bored out of his mind up there. He wouldn't let me take photos of him either! I wish my table was sitting right in front of him, but it wasn't we were at the other end. I only took a few photos there last night. The lighting was so poor that it was hard to get a good photo and it took forever for the flash to go off. (I still have to figure this stuff out). I did manage to get a few photos after the banquet was over that included me, my co-mom Josephine, the coaches and the boys, those photos came out pretty good because the lighting was a little brighter.

The first photo is Coach Frole (the Head Coach) and DJ as they introduced DJ and all of his accomplishments this year.

This next photo is DJ and Coach Frole right before they honored him with his MVP Medal.

Here we go.... Me and Josephine. I look horrible (Josephines son Steve took this photo and really didn't want to be bothered taking it). Josephine looks like she was just hit with headlights. lol At least she doesn't looked all doped up like I do.

Next is Coach Russo (Assistant Head Coach), Nick C., Nick D., DJ, Steve, and Coach Perez (Assistant Coach)

And lastly, Coach Frole, Me, Cookie, Mary, Josephine and Coach Perez

We had a Wonderful time.

Who just turned 69?

My DAD! thats who. He is 69 years old today. My dad and I are very close. I guess that could be because I'm the oldest of 5 or the fact that I'm the first daughter. Maybe it's because our Birthdays are only 2 days apart and on every newborn baby photo he would put the date down at June 5, 1963 (btw I was born on June 7th). Who know's? Not me. It just happened this way. It is hard for me living across the country and not being able to spend birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays together all the time like we use to when he lived only 10 mins away. I really do miss those times. This is one of my favorite photos of my dad. It was taken June 1981! We were at Disney World. I just love the hat. Thats the way it was back then growing up in FL.

Whew, What a Weekend!

Saturday we headed down to Cedar Beach for the Annual Wrestling Awards Picnic! It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze coming up from the beach. This is something the coaches do every year as long as the weather is good. Everyone has a awesome time reconnecting since wrestling season actually ended back in February for most of the team. There are a few that do summer wrestling like DJ.

Here are a few photos from the day! When I first arrived at the beach, I noticed 3 men getting some rays! I was a little shocked that it was our coaches. The first photo is of Coach Russo. He has been coaching for 28 years!

This next photo is of my closest wrestling friend, Josephine and Coach Dan Perez. Josephine is my partner when it comes to getting everything done for wrestling and I was a little sad since this is her last year. Her son graduates with DJ in 3 short weeks.

And here is DJ taking a quick break from the handball court.

Here we go.... there I am (wish someone would've told me I was so wide again) with Josephine and one of the other coaches Mark Frole.

Everyone had a terrific time. I will truly miss the boys and their families that leaving this year. Some of them I've watched wrestling since they were in 1st grade.

Now yesterday, the weather was just really crazy! It was sunny and hot, and humid in the morning. Then you started to feel the dampness come in. Eventually, the thunderstorms came and it was just really sticky. I did venture out earlier to a new LLS. It was very nice, but also very small. I hope they will do well there. They are only 10 mins from my home. The next closet LLS is about 40 mins from me. I still have Michaels on 15 mins away, but sometimes you just want to run in for scrapbooking.

How was your weekend????