:::whew::: What a day!! Family got here around 345pm. Dinner was set up earlier and was simmering in the crockpot. MAN - did it smell good! J (ML) complimented me on the smell!! Dinner was delicious. J&D scarfed everything. Boy - I was running around like a maniac, making sure everything was ready on time. It was.. and it was good too! They brought the Christmas presents for the girls from all 3 of my sis in laws and themselves. The girls cleaned up quite nicely. One of my sis in laws decided it would be cute to buy Moira a BEAD kit - the make your own necklace, bracelets, etc kind of kit. Oh - I am so thrilled with that - NOT! They left around 8pm. It was a very nice visit. We will be stopping at their place on Christmas afternoon with their presents. We weren't expecting them to bring the presents for the girls - it was sweet of them to do so. Sometimes, they do surprise me.

The In-Laws are coming! The In-Laws are coming! J&D, my Mom and Dad inlaw, are coming to dinner tonight with 1 of my sis in laws and a niece. I have been trying to figure out WHAT the hell to make for dinner.... My MIL can make a WICKEDLY good roast. While I am a pretty damn good cook, I have a hard time with roasts. They never seem to turn out nearly as good as my MIL's roast. Maybe it's because she has had so much more cooking experience that I have. Because, she is older, you know :::MEOW::: I couldn't resist! Hahaha! I did decide, this morning, to make chicken cacciatore ::drool:: Wish me luck! It never fails, whenever my inlaws come over to eat, I inevitably dork something up with the meal. Christ - she makes me SO freakin nervous! A little about them - J (MIL) and D (FIL) have 4 children. My hubby (eldest and only male) and 3 daughters, 2 of which are married (each with 1 child). The 3rd daughter is in a long term relationship, in which she and her b-friend are quite comfortable. My MIL has 1 daughter in law (me) and 2 sons in law. She hates 1 of her son in laws and the other one she tolerates. Out of the 3 of us, I think I rank highest on the in-law scale I have known this woman for 12+ years and I am *still* uncomfortable around her. I have to watch what I say because it usually comes back to bite me in the ass. ::sigh::: She also bitches about some members of the family to the other members. I cannot believe some of the shit I have heard from her. I can only imagine what the hell she says about me and DH! I have no idea how my hubby turned out so decent. Must take after his Dad, whom I adore. Such a nice guy. Will write more later and fill you all in on the juicy details!

Moira will be on Christmas break from Saturday 12/22 through 1/1. YIKES! Now they will BOTH be home. 2 magic words can save me - PLAY DATES! WIll have to start calling potentials ASAP!

My MS Optical Mouse died on me yesterday - piece of crap. I don't think I have had it for a year. I had to go into Moira's room yesterday, crawl under her computer desk, while Olivia is poking me in the rear end, to steal... err.. BORROW her mouse. Moira, of course, wants a new mouse too. Now, HER mouse is just a 2 button MS mouse and I never liked that mouse when it was hooked to my Dell system (PIII/500mHz, 384MB, 10GB). Of course, it's ironic that my bells and whistles mouse is now a paperweight and I need to use this archaic piece of shit. Hopefully, Santa will bring me a wireless scroll mouse. I have been a good girl this year! I never realized how much I like that nifty little feature.... until it was gone :::sob:::

Busy day around them homestead today. The usual morning mess - kids up, dressed, bus stop... Then, I was lucky enough to bring Olivia food shopping with me. If I am lucky (and fast), she is pretty good. I have to marathon shop, within 30 minutes or less. Anything over that, she gets so bored and tried to do cart dives out of the shopping cart. The belts don't stop her. At the checkout, she was tired.. so she grabbed a bag of frozen broccoli and placed that on top of a large box of frozen chicken tenders (great stuff - I know) and rested her head... ON the frozen broccoli. The checker thought it was cute - until I had to wrestle the broccoli and chicken away from Olivia. She decided to express her displeasure by screaming at me. Cute..very cute. Just wait until you are older kid ::hehe:: Paybacks are a bitch. I have Boncos tonight. It's a dice game that involves drinking and lots of food. I missed last month - Mom was in the hospital (blood clots) again.Click here to learn more about Boncos. I couldn't believe there is a website for it!

Found the 2 snowball stories from The Mighty Geek Snowball Story #1 Snowball Story #2 Read these and weep. I had tears in my eyes, I was laughing so hard. GeekMan has a wonderful writing quality that I truly envy...

The Mighty Geek's "Little Blogger Boy" is GREAT! Check him out - he is a great storyteller. There are a couple snowball stories that had me crying... will surf for them and also link in the morning.. I am REALLY headed for bed now.

From Allan - The Castaway Quiz I am Maryann

The Castaway Quiz deems me:
	Mary Ann

Visited my Mom tonight. I get up to her place about once a week - no girls - no hubby. Nice to spend some time with her alone. She is in her 3rd week of chemotherapy. She has 3 more chemo treatments left and then she gets another test to see if the cancer has regressed. She was diagnosed with Stage IV NonHodgkins Lymphoma. My Mother has had many health problems within the past 10 years, including 2 hip replacements (10 years apart), shoulder problems (surgery required), knee and ankle problems, skin cancer (successful laser treatment), numerous blood clots, and I am sure there are a few that I have missed. Needless to say - it is pretty freaky to think that my MOM could die. Shit - she is only 53 years old. My Nana (Mom's Mom) died in May... the holidays remind me so much of her... This past year has pretty much sucked. When I was at Mom's tonight, she gave me a couple things that she didn't want to wait until Christmas to give me. One was a beautiful daughter plaque, another was a heart shaped Mother/Daughter charm that breaks into 2 pieces - I would have 1 and my Mom would have the other. So - I cried when I opened them.. she cried... But, all in all, the evening was quite productive. I wrapped more presents and then we worked on some Christmas ornaments to give as gifts.They turned out so nice! I will try to take a few pics tomorrow and upload them. Well - off to bed - I am pooped!

I read an interesting article in my local paper - the Asbury Park Press by Jan Denise. It was about how we give gifts because we expect them in return or we give only give because we have been given a gift - not giving from the heart. She writes : "There is no better example of attachment than offering a partner conditional love - I'll love you if you love me, or I'll love you if you live your life my way. When we offer a partner conditional love, holding on to whatever pleasure, or security, that offers us, we sacrifice the greater pleasure. The greater pleasure is unconditional love. When we withhold it from a partner, we also withhold it from ourselves and miss out on what we really want. Until we are known and loved for who we are without any conditions, we don't feel loved. So, in giving gifts, and in giving love, why not give what you really want: something from your heart with no strings - or anything else - attached."

This made me feel sad.

Welcome back! I did add more pictures to my album so please check it out again. PictureTrail. Let me know how it looks.. and of course you are also free to tell me just how gorgeous my children look! I have got to start going to bed before 1AM - it's killing me. I was up late last night. Made a couple more batches of chocolate chip cookies. Now, I think I have about 8 dozen cookies. I hope it's enough! We have 2 bus driver gifts to give as well as 2 teacher gifts. Plus, we are going to my Dad and StepMom's place on Sunday. I promised I would bring cookies and my homemade chocolates. I also made the STUPID suggestion to Paul about inviting his parents down for dinner on Saturday night. What kind of crackhead idea was THAT? So, not only are my Father and Mother in law (I adore my Father in Law) coming down, so is one of my Sis in Law and my adorable niece, Isobel. The 4 of us, plus 4 more! Arrgghh! I have a tiny little ranch type house - I don't think they will fit around my table! LOL! Oh well - I am sure I can muddle through. Have to clean the place up and plan a menu. Hmmm - if I make roast chicken, I can make homemade soup for Christmas Eve dinner (we will be home). I will be very busy on Friday!

Howdy hi gang! Sorry I haven't posted ALL day but I have been trying (and trying) to upload pictures so I can link them to my Blog. AOHell has been giving me so much grief today - I want to scream.:::::::DEEP BREATH:::::: Arrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Ok - I feel better. Nothing like a good cyber scream to clear one's head. I did manage to upload about 6 pictures so far - here's the link PictureTrail Check 'em out and let me know what ya'll think. Sign my guestbook - please! I am hoping to add comments back in soon so please be patient with me. I will have to sweet talk Mike into walking me through it. This is my other link for my Webshots pictures

From NJMike Colorgenics This is a little creepy to admit - but most of this is SO on the money. My Colours 1 3 5 6 2 0 7 4 (Blue, Red, Purple, Orange, Green, White, Black Yellow) You have always been on the move seeking affectionate, satisfying and harmonious relationships. Your ultimate goal has been the realisation of an intimate union in which there could be love, self-sacrifice and mutual trust. It has often been said that "True love is just around the corner"...and maybe... if you haven't found it as yet - you possibly soon will. You like the better things in life. You are sensuous and emotional. You are a follower of the Arts ... and you seek an environment that will give you the fulfilment to the senses that you need. You lack confidence and that is a great pity because deep down you are indeed a warm caring person. This lack of confidence is making you wary to be drawn into any open discussion or conflict and so you feel as if you should let matters lie ... and leave well alone ... but there may be a pleasant surprise in store for you. You are beginning to grow .. and very soon - sooner than you believed possible - this warm loving new you will be available for all to see and to appreciate.. Matters have not gone well for you. You are experiencing severe stress trying to guard yourself from further disappointments.It would seem that all of your hopes and dreams have not been realised .. and you are now beginning to doubt yourself. You no longer wish to be further advised by anyone and you insist on going it alone... to control your own destiny. Even though deep down you doubt whether things will get better in the future... you have one consolation - and that is that they couldn't possibly get worse. Unwilling to give up anything that you possess, you are looking for some sort of security as a protection against any further setback or loss of position and prestige. You are so negative that you tend to exaggerate your problems and refuse to accept any advice from so called well-meaning friends. Since in the recent past all of your hopes and aspirations gave been denied you, you are now convinced that the future will hold nothing but anxiety... so therefore... "why bother?" You would love to get away from it all, to escape from the trials and tribulations of this mundane existence and fall into a peaceful and harmonious relationship, which will protect you from the lack of appreciation and give you the chance to start afresh..

Take this quiz to find your Exotic Name I am "Busty Melanie Mischief" I like it! I had heard on a talk radio show that the way to create one's porn (or stripper) name is to use your street name and your middle name. So, using that formula, I am "Stormy Maryam". Not as good as Busty Melanie Mischief but I suppose it would work, in a pinch.

2 words that scare me silly - BUTTER COOKIES Yes - you read it right. BUTTER COOKIES. Before you think I have truly gone daft, I will explain: When I was in high school (circa 1984-1988), I decided that, during my Junior and Senior year, I was going to go to Vocational School. For Baking and Pastry Arts. I was going to be *THE* best baker around. Come September 1986, I am standing outside the cafeteria doors, with Wall Township's finest (finest WHAT, I am not too sure) for the bus to Voc (as us insiders called it). The bus turns the corner and it's the LITTLE bus. You all know the little bus. Usually for the Special Ed kids. Also known as the Tart Cart. "Grrrrrrreat" I am thinking. We all load on the bus and away we go. The driver's name was Mrs. Losch. I will never forget her ::::twitch:::: The bus drops off all the kids at Neptune VocTech. The girls who are taking the Hair and Beauty class. The guys who are taking Auto Shop and Marine Repair. I am the lone student left on the bus. I was driven to Asbury Park Vocation School for my class. Anyone reading this who is unfamiliar with these NJ towns, let me mention that Asbury Park is akin to Newark, NJ. Or perhaps Harlem, NY. NOT the nicest area around. And here I am, middle class little white girl, off to school. Thank God all the other Voc kids had arrived on their own town's version of the "Little Bus". The bus stops - I get off. Go inside and find my classroom aka bakery. Thank GOD the VoTech was not as scary as the rest of the town! The High School it was next to is another story! John Ratkowski was my teacher. The BEST teacher I have ever had. He was abrasive, loud, rude, and obnoxious. And - I loved him. Not in the "Lolita" or "American Beauty" way. I just idolized him. Mr. R was a baker who had owned his own shop and run it for many years. All in all, I am not too sure he came about to be a teacher for "Baking and Pastry Arts" I and II. But, my class didn't care. We all loved him. So, what about the butter cookies? Keep reading, oh faithful one... The Voc School had a working bakery and a restuarant. We (my class) would provide all the baked goods for the Dining Services program as well as stock our bakery. The prices were a steal - one could eat lunch and have dessert with coffee for about 7.50. Our bakery was very popular and inexpensive. We would have special orders for sheet cakes, cheesecakes, large batches of cookies.... Thanksgiving was a nightmare. We must have churned out several hundred pies. And at Christmas, we made butter cookies. LOTS of butter cookies... possibly even thousands butter cookies. The 1lb box of butter cookies would sell for $2.50. An excellent price. I seemed to be in charge of boxing the cookies most of the time. I think it was a punishment for talking too much. I would box and box and box cookies for 2-3 hrs. Still chatting with my fellow classmates. Mr. R got so infuriated with me one time that he brought me to an empty classroom with a cooling rack with 15-17 sheets of butter cookies and made me box all by myself. God - I remember being SO pissed at him. He, on the other hand, thought it was quite funny. He always come up with some outrageous ways to get us inder control. He didn't have to do it too much. I believe I must have packaged (between 2 yrs of Voc) about 250-300 boxes of cookies :::shiver::: I hate butter cookies.

GOOD MORNING class! :::grumble::: I hate mornings - they should be banned. I am such a night person, always have been. I still stay up until 1230-130am and have to get up by 7am. I am such a moron. "What the hell is she doing up that late at night?", you might be asking yourself. NOTHING. I am doing nothing... important anyway. I read message boards and surf really bad websites and blogs. Gee - how productive! Actually, there have been nights where I am folding laundry at 1am. Needless to say, by 1pm, I am pooped. Crash and burn. I snooze. Well, only after I put the little Princess down for a nap. Even now, I should be doing something productive but I cannot. I am addicted to blogging! I need to make more cookies...Paul was chowing down on a lot of them. So was Moira. How the hell can I say no?

Picked this up from a message board on AOL. Some really funny ones here... "Somebody said, 'What good will it do to kill Osama bin Laden?' I said, 'I don't know, let's find out.'" -Don Imus "CBS News finally received anthrax in the mail. As usual, we're number three." -David Letterman "The FBI is urging all Americans to beware of any letters or packages that have badly misspelled words. Man, this is going to be terrible news for the rap industry." -Jay Leno "Last night the Taliban offered to release eight Westerners if the U.S. promised not to attack. The State Department declined but thanked the Taliban for the offer, saying it really felt good to laugh again." -Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" "President Bush continues to have the highest popularity rating of any president ever, current rating 130 percent... In fact, Al Gore carries in his wallet a picture of him and Bush at the debates and says, 'Yeah, I know him. We used to hang out.'" -Jay Leno "Today President Bush urged all Americans to be patient with the war on terrorism. I think we're pretty patient. Election day took what, three months?" - Jay Leno "New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is lobbying now to stay in office another three months. And today Clinton said, 'You can do that?'" - Jay Leno "Today in New York, we had the primary elections for mayor. To improve their chances, all five candidates changed their name to Rudy Giuliani." -Conan O'Brien "People want to say there isn't racial profiling at the airport, but let's be honest. If you first name is Mohammed, and your last name isn't Ali, leave a little extra time." -Jay Leno "Do you remember the good ol' days when Congress was only unsafe if you were an intern." -David Letterman "The big question now is who will take power in Afghanistan once the Taliban is defeated. I was thinking, how about Al Gore? He's not doing anything, he needs a job, and he's already got the beard." -Jay Leno "Things have really changed here in Hollywood. Used to be people in this town couldn't wait to get an envelope full of white powder." - Jay Leno "Postal inspectors have been given advanced warning that Publishers Clearinghouse is sending packets of laundry detergent that could be mistaken for anthrax. Oh, good timing. What genius came up with this promotion? What's next - a ticking alarm clock? Let's put that in a box." - Jay Leno "More and more news coming out about this Osama bin Laden guy. He's 6'5" and has 42 children. Or, as the NBA calls him, a rookie." -Jay Leno "The Mirror interviewed one of Osama bin Laden's sons and said bin Laden has 42 children. That's going to happen when you sleep in a different cave every night." -Jay Leno "In Pakistan anti-American protesters set a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on fire. The protesters mistakenly thought they were attacking high-ranking U.S. military official Colonel Sanders." -Jimmy Fallon on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" "Security here in New York City is still very tight. Hookers in Time Square now are demanding two forms of fake ID." -David Letterman "President Bush has urged people to get back to normal and today Congress announced that they are accepting bribes again." -Jay Leno "Clinton and Dole are joining forces to raise $100 million in scholarship money for the families of the victims. But you know who also deserves a pat on the back, Elizabeth Dole. Her husband is on Viagra and he's gone on the road with Bill Clinton - that is one trusting woman." -Jay Leno "It's a tough time to do humor, but it's not the only tough time. There have been other tough stretches in comedy. Remember a couple of years ago when President Clinton stopped dating for a couple of weeks?" -Jay Leno "Now this really annoys me; all these people getting on the Internet and saying Nostradamus predicted this. If Nostradamus were alive today his name would be Miss Cleo and he'd be charging $2.99 a minute." -Jay Leno "People are being much, much nicer to each other in New York. And I have to be honest, it's kind of weird. The other night at Shea Stadium, instead of yelling 'You suck!' at the Braves, Mets fans were yelling, 'Others are better than you!'" -Conan O'Brien "This Osama bin Laden guy, spoiled rich kid worth $300M. I have three words for this guy: Anna Nicole Smith. We send her over there,she'll get his money, he'll be dead in a week." -Jay Leno

Found a neat link for you guys, right to the Dept of Defense. All the news transcripts, photos, press releases, and more. Of course, I checked out my main man Don I just love him! Must be that thing for the older guys...

Busy Saturday so far. Olivia kept waking up last night before we went to bed. Finally, brought her out in the living room to she could calm down for a little while. Talk about gas! The poor kid - kept SODs (Stepping on Ducks aka farting) BIG time (she takes after her father - what can I say?). Must have been the hot dogs and all the fresh veggies she had for dinner. Lovely. I get her tucked back in bed by 1215am. We crashed by 1245am. 1AM - Waaaaaaaaaah! I get up and get Miss O (again!), head back into the living room and plop down in the recliner to cuddle.You know, little kids are so darn snuggly and warm. Next thing I know, it's 315AM and she is still sound asleep in my arms! Tossed (not literally!) her back into bed and I crawl back into mine. Back up again at 8AM. My Dad and StepMom came down for a quick visit. The girls were thrilled to see Gampa and Nana Millie! They leave - the girls eat lunch. Olivia in for a nap. While she is napping, I made cookies - a LOT of cookies. I am now cooling off about 100 chocolate chip cookies on my dining room table. My house smells pretty darn yummy. Paul will be hanging the lights outside. Better him than me - it's *really* windy out there and cold to boot. 47 degrees. I don't know what the wind chill factor is but I am glad I am not hanging any stinkin lights!