I have to get up early tomorrow morning. After the 830am service (!!!!!), there will be a coffee hour where people can meet the Sunday School teachers. I suppose I should go or I will be known as the teacher who doesn't actually attend church. G'night all!

::sigh::

Susan's finally posted some pictures of her new place. WOW - I love the office color. WAY cool! By the way - she's also gorgeous!

Trading Spaces + Doug + Leather Pants = Kate very happy. hehehe

AND - A Happy Belated Birthday to Susan! ::smooches:: You are awesome!

Nice and cool today. Cloudy but very cool. Actually, there's been a pretty strong wind all day. It's about 67 degrees right now. Paul worked on the front door and I got the usual house stuff done...Moira spent the day at a friend's house and Olivia kinda played all around.. I have to give the kids a bath and then it's TRADING SPACES night! Catch ya'll later!

I was up wayyyyy too late last night chatting with Joie, Rich and Da Goddess. :::yawn::: But, it was a lot of fun!

I cancelled tomorrow's BBQ which was rescheduled from LAST week. So - I have no plans this weekend. YAY! I hope all of you guys have a great (and safe) labor day!

We're back. The visit went smoothly. The allergist LOVES my girls. He actually said that I should look into TV or the movies. He cannot believe how well behaved and calm they are in the office. :::proud mommy::: I guess he sees some horrible kids. Plus, some of the tests are pretty vile to administer to little kids. The scratch tests really sucks. Well - I have to run. I have 3 Brownie scouts and their moms coming over to fill out paperwork. Moira is thrilled to have 3 of her friends over today! Hopefully, they won't be here too! ::grin::

The girls have an appointment with the allergist at noon. By 3pm, I will have 2 of Moira's buddies here. I will have to keep Olivia distracted. She loves when the big girls are here. Moira, of course, acts like a total creep to her little sister when her friends are here. ::sigh:: Perhaps it would be a good time for the infamous PlayDoh to be reintroduced to Olivia. Hopefully, she won't eat it today.

Ok ok - I'll do it.. 1. My favorite color is red. 2. I like blue too. 3. I love being a Mom 4. I love blogging. 5. I used to work for MacWarehouse selling Apple computers, peripherals and software. 6. No - I am not the girl who used to be on the cover. 7. Yes - she is a real person and her name is Kerry. 8. Some days, I wish I could just up and GO - no worries.. no cares. 9. I have made a lot of online friends. 10. I have met about 10 of them. 11. My parents divorced when I was 14. 12. Yes - it was a good thing. 13. High School was hell for me. 14. I used to cut class. 15. A lot. 16. I almost didn't graduate because of it. 17. My Mom went to the school and made a huge stink on my behalf. 18. I graduated on time. 19. My best friend wasn't so lucky. 20. My first car was a blue Pontiac Phoenix. 21. My Dad gave it to me for Christmas and I loved it. 22. I am 5'2" 23. I used to be a short order cook. 24. I hate porkroll. 25. I have had long hair most of my life. 26. Only because I am too chicken to cut it. 27. My first dog was a black Lab named Rugby. 28. I am a Gemini. 29. So is Paul. 30. I never finished college. 31. I am still beating myself up about that. 32. I used to be VERY shy. 33. I am still shy but I tend to hide it. 34. I get panicky when I have to speak in front of a group of people. 35. I am overweight. 36. Paul, on the other hand, is skinny. 37. We look odd together. 38. He loves me anyway ::smile:: 39. My Dad had a triple bypass in May 40. He's healthy as a horse now. 41. Mom is recovering from Non Hodgkins Lymphoma 42. I am very busy. 43. I don't like to delegate. 44. We just redecorated our master bedroom. 45. I really really like it. 46. The living room is my next project. 47. I love buying clothes for the girls. 48. My actual hair color is brown. 49. I used to be a blonde. 50. It looked pretty bad. 51. Now I am a redhead 52. Sometimes, I still bite my nails. 53. I love to read. 54. It isn't uncommon for me to be reading several books at a time. 55. I have known Erin since Kindergarten. 56. I wish we stayed closer while in high school. 57. I have never been mugged. 58. But - I have been in several car accidents. 59. I wrecked my Dad's car in one accident. 60. Yes - it was my fault. 61. I live in a small ranch house. 62. My cat's name is Darla. 63. People tell me I have a sexy phone voice. 64. I love my eye color (hazel). 65. Paul has almost the same color eyes as I. 66. I very much resemble my maternal Grandmother. 67. She died May 19, 2001 68. I was on my way to the hospital to visit her when my Mom called me on my cell phone. 69. I miss her so much sometimes that it hurts. 70. I never met my paternal Grandfather. 71. I have family in Iran. 72. My family visited Iran in April 1978. 73. I was an obnoxious brat while there. 74. My birthday is June 13, 1970 75. My Mom and I have the same birthday.. 76. I once dressed as C3PO for Halloween 77. I am terrified at the thought of death/dying/non existance. 78. It keeps me awake at nights. 79. I would love to be able to go to the movies. 80. I need to find a good babysitter. 81. Paul has a life threatening allergy to peanuts and all other nuts. 82. He was the first person I knew with food allergies. 83. My 2 year old suffers from multiple food allergies, including peanuts, nuts, eggs, dairy and fish. 84. I haven't eaten scrambled eggs in over a year. 85. I love scrambled eggs. 86. Trading Spaces is my favorite show. 87. I want to see Bare Naked Ladies in concert. 88. I have shot a 9mm and a .22 89. I like the 9mm. 90. I saved the target from the shooting range and it is hanging on the side of my refrigerator. 91. I am a Conservative. 92. I do not believe in abortion. 93. I love musicals. 94. Shoes are my downfall. 95. Especially red shoes. 96. I love my Hyundai Santa Fe. 97. Paul drives a Saturn. 98. I belong to a Bonkos group. 99. I can't wait for the Sopranos to come back on. 100. I have been told I am a very nice person. ::whew::

Just got back home.. We had dinner at my Mom's house tonight. I had to leave early (615) in order to attend a 7pm meeting at church for Sunday School preparation. That will be starting September 15. I chose to teach at the 11am service. I will be teaching 3 weeks on and then 3 weeks off. Got a call from Moira's soccer coach. She starts practice September 4th - her first day of school. So - most likely it will be soccer on Mondays and Wednesdays, Girl Scouts every other Friday and Sunday School/Church every Sunday. Shoot me now. Oh and Mary, that is why I started my Christmas shopping early! ::grin::

Happy Birthday Danielle! Have lots of fun! ::wink wink::

I have had a hard time sleeping lately. I go to be early (well, early for ME! I haven't been falling asleep before 2am. Ugh. I hate that. I will have to change my entire sleep schedule around so I can get up at 645am every morning, once school starts. I am so NOT a morning person. In my opinion, morning should start around 10, lunch around 3, nap until 5, dinner around 9. Works for me! I have seen a few 100 things lists out there (Erin, Karen). I am debating whether or not I should also write one.

Here, if anyone wants to read about it, here's the link for the news story about power outage.

YAY! I got my ABC order. Most of the girls' Christmas items were in it. I don't have to shop for too much more. I also got gifts for my 2 nieces. I can't believe I started (and almost finished!) my shopping.

About the power outages, we don't normally have problems like this. I have no idea what happened at the power company the other day. Fron what I heard, there was a small problem which immediately spiraled into a rather LARGE problem. Lucky freakin' me!

My sis in law was brought to the ER last night with a fever. Not good, especially if you just had a baby and have low blood pressure problems. My father in law called last night to let us know and to check on us about the power situation. The girls and I will be visiting my friend who had a baby a month ago. Her name is Haley. Can't wait to meet her!

Well, I lucked out. The power stayed on for the rest of the day today. Hooray! I threw the steaks on the grill tonight and also cooked up corn and mashed potatoes. Moira got back home in a totally grouchy mood. Nothing like 2 grouchy kids. They got the worlds fastest bath and book. VOOM in to bed. I haven't heard a peep out of them. YAY! Well, off to do some more Girl Scout paperwork. I need coffee.

The power shut off again for about 30 minutes. I have now filled up the bathtub with water and filled 2 pitchers. I also cranked my central air down pretty low. This way, if the power goes off again, I can stay cool AND use the bathroom. Gee - maybe I should build an outhouse in the back yard... ::grin::

I'm hooooome! OY! I cleaned out the fridge - had to toss out the deli. Yes, the deli. My $30 per week Boars Head that I have to buy due to Olivia's allergies deli. Dammit. I also had to get rid of the milk, the ground beef I had defrosting from yesterday and some leftovers. Luckily, the meat in the freezer stayed frozen. Thank you God! I dropped Moira off at her buddy's house and she won't be home until 7. YAY! Olivia is half asleep on a pile of blankets on the floor, watching Sesame Street. I have some a lot of laundry to run plus I have to clean some things up. Paul vacuumed last night (thank you honey! ::smooch::). I have a TON of emails to read, blogs to catch up on as well as cooking steaks tonight (YUM). Sure as hell beats McDonalds ::gag:: Anyone want some tomatoes?

ACK! Dial-up stinks. Yes, I am still at my Mom's place. ::yawn:: I am SO tired. The girls didn't fall asleep until midnight. My Mom has a futon so they slept in that and I slept on the floor, on a couple comforters. By 6am, I had to go to the bathroom so I tried to be as quiet as possible. Of course, the bedroom door SQUEAKS horribly so the girls were awake when I came back into the bedroom. Damn! I folded up the futon because the girls wanted to lay on the blankets on the floor. Okie doke. I turned on the TV and the girls just lay there, mesmerized. So I fell back asleep on the futon. Woohoo! Moira tiptoed out around 8 and Olivia and I slept until almost 10. I won't be doing this again (if possible) ever again. Moira was ok but Olivia was just out of her mind. She's never really slept anywhere else before.

WHAT a fucked UP day! I never did get to cook dinner tonight. The power went out around 2pm. Poof. By the time 530 rolled around, I took the girls out to McD's to eat. Ick. But, we we killed time by wandering around in Walmart for a while. We got home around 730 - STILL no power. SO pissed! My well and pump (toilet too) are also powered by electric. I couldnn't take it anymore so around 830 I packed the girls up and drove up to my Mom's place. Our house was 80 degrees. Power was out at over 2,000 houses in my neighborhood. Paul was at my Mom's place. He called Conectiv (power company) and they informed him that the power would not be on anytime soon. Grr! So, Paul talked to his parents and found out they had a freezer that we could use . He drove home (while I drove up to Mom's place) so he could finish shutting off some equipment and pack up the meats (about $100 worth) in our freezer and bring them back to my inlaws. The power came back on by 945pm. The girls and I are still staying at my Mom's and Paul will stay home. Lucky bastard.

It's Monday ACK! So much stuff to do today. Debbie is on her way over. I cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and living room. Vacuumed and dusted. Again. I swear, we have a TON of dust. If I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't get the overhead vents for my heating/air unit. Paul changes the filter monthly and it is always covered with gick. It's so gross. I can't imagine waiting to change it every 3 months. EW. On a happy note, my tomato plants are FINALLY kicking out tomatoes. They are delicious! I planted the "Big Boy" variety . Seriously, I will be overrun with tomatoes very soon. Olivia and I are the only ones who eat them. Moira freaks out at the thought of eating one and Paul doesn't really care for them. I think they taste best when just picked, with a little salt. YUMMY! Paul will be home late tonight. He is stopping to help my Mom with some stuff around her place. The girls and I are on our own for dinner tonight. I am not too sure what I want to make yet. I have ground beef defrosting now. Any suggestions?

Debbie, the leader for our Girl Scout troop, will be coming over after lunch on Monday. She will be bringing her 2 daughters. One is Moira's age and the older one loves to play with Olivia. Debbie and I need to plan the troop meetings, etc. Should be loads of fun. Actually, I am looking forward to this - I loved being a Girl Scout

Ok - photos up! Click here and check them out. Don't forget to let me know what you think!

So many projects got worked on today. I will be uploading pictures tonight of the painted front door (still needs another coat), the master bedroom and various images of the house. Stay tuned!

Comments are down again. They've been whacky all day! I am off to bed.. will update more tomorrow!

Susan! Post some pictures woman! I would love to see that orange room!

Paul and I have been glued to Trading Spaces all night. Of course, I am chatting with Scott and Shelley while watching. So, the 3 of us were coming up with some hysterically funny running commentary. My sides hurt from laughing. I love you guys!

I've been watching this show on the Discovery channel - Surprise by Design. The homeowner writes in to the show, asking for help to redesign a room to surprise the other person. 2 designers come in, with a $2500 budget and work their magic within a particular time frame (usually 8 hours). So far, I have liked the rooms they have redone. Check out the show, it's pretty good. It's no Trading Spaces but it's certainly enjoyable!

The BBQ tomorrow has been postponed and rescheduled due to pending thunderstorms all day tomorrow.

I spent WAY too much money on Moira's Brownie uniforms. I am still in shock. The good news is that she will look completely adorable.



PS - the images were snagged from the Girl Scouts website

It's Friday! 1. What is your current occupation? Stay at home Mom. Is this what you chose to be doing at this point in your life? Absolutely. Why or why not? It is SO worth it. 2. If time/talent/money were no object, what would your dream occupation be? Pastry Chef 3. What did/do your parents do for a living? Mom worked in Social Services, assisting the mentally ill. Dad runs the entire food service program for a college and also teaches. Has this had any influence on your career choices? I never wanted to do what my Mom did. My Dad works hard. I really think he enjoys it. Teaching has always appealed to me. Perhaps that is my future profession! 4. Have you ever had to choose between having a career and having a family? Well, I had to decide whether to work or stay home with the girls. I didn't have a "career" in as much is was just a paycheck. So, it really wasn't a hard decision to make after all. 5. In your opinion, what is the easiest job in the world? Chocolate taster. What is the hardest? The person who has to build all those cool giant Lego displays. Why? Have you seen how many pieces they use? Ei yi yi!

Well - the pool blew another hose. Dammit. Of course, we are having another BBQ on Saturday. Paul will have to stop at the pool place tomorrow while on his way home. The girls and I will be buying Moira's Brownie uniform tomorrow. After that, I want to head over to Target. Then, I have to do some food shopping. Again.

Allison! Please email me.. I have a question for you. : - )

Take care Quinn! ::smooches:: Don't stay away too long. What other place could I get naughty links AND dish the dirt about Tony Soprano?

Moira's last day of the reading program is today. Then, later this afternoon, one of her buddies is coming over (the same one from Saturday's BBQ) to go swimming. I really like her Mom - we hang out and chat. It's a nice time. On the downside, I think I am catching the summer cold that is going around. My throat is scratchy today and my nose is sniffly. Great. I have to make a doctor's appointment - still need to have my wrist checked out. I bumped the (ganglion) cyst the other day and I thought I was going to either vomit from the pain or pass out. It hurt that much. Geez - I am falling apart!

::yawn:: Off to bed. Wow - I am exciting tonight.

Happy belated birthday to Marc! Go on, leave him a birthday message in his comments! : - )

Hello all you lovely people in cyber space ::smile:: We spent most of the day up in Staten Island visiting my stepsister and her daughter. We all had so much fun. We had a nice lunch and went swimming. My stepsister was watching her cousin's daughter. Oh my gosh - she was SO SO SO cute. HUGE but cute. She was a year old but I swear she weighs at least 30 pounds. Hell - Olivia isn't 30 pounds yet! Such a sweet and happy baby :::sigh::: We didn't leave until 515pm. I was afraind we would get stuck on the Outerbridge but we sailed right though and had NO problems at all. I stopped at McD's since the girls were whining "We're huuuuungry!" LOL! I had promised McD's for them anyway. So, we stopped in Wall Township and had a nice (well, nice for Mickey D's!) dinner. We got home around 715pm. Not bad at all. The girls are watching Junkyard Wars now. Moira was so excited that it was coming on tonight. Great. My kid is a geek. Heeeheee!

Still Up! I am doing laundry. How sick am I?

Paul goes back to work tomorrow. Yay! He has been driving me crazy today. ::sigh::

We did a bunch of errands, deli, farmer's market.. etc.. boring boring.. Moira is at another friend's house for a few hours. I'll be picking her up around 745pm tonight. Life is good. Tomorrow, the 3 of us will be going to visit my step-sister and her daughter for the day. They live up in Staten Island. Hmm..I'll be near Ikea.. hahaha. No, I will restrain myself. Well.. I'll try!

Whee! I'm an auntie again! My sis in law (finally!) had her baby this morning. He's 6lbs 14oz and 20" long. He was born via C-section (OUCH!). Mom and baby are fine.

WOW! This blogging once a day thing has GOT to stop. Paul throws my whole day off when he is home. We never made it to Storybook Land. Olivia was up all last night and morning. She has been blotchy, had a few hives and was pretty itchy. I think she was reacting to cantelope and honeydew melons ::sigh:: poor damn kid. So, we went to Target and got Moira some sneakers. Paul and I picked up a really pretty picture for our bedroom.

It matches the walls nicely as there is a faint hint of lavender within the flowers. There was also great sale on notebooks. .15 each! Woohoo! Stocked up baby! After that, we stopped at Payless. Paul and Olivia stayed in the car while Moira and I ran inside to get some shoes. I got Moira these adorable Hello Kitty pink suede boots

Aren't they adorable? We made it back home around 4pm. I cooked dinner (sausage and pasta) and we goofed around with the kidlets in the backyard for a while. I gave them a bath while Paul hung up my Bessie Pease Gutmann plates. She was a great illustrator of children's books and also has many pieces of art, figurines, plates, etc. Ebay is loaded with them! I can't believe that the bedroom project is almost complete! YAY! Off to do some reading!

Didn't get too much done today. Gee, I can't imagine why not! ::grin:: Very lazy day today. Our friends, who were supposed to come up from PA for a BBQ today, cancelled last night. Their youngest son fractured his foot! Poor kid. I have a ton of food left over... we'll be eating hot dogs for a couple days. ::burp:: So, we did a bunch of errands. Had to return sneakers to KMart. A few days ago, I had bought Paul a pair of sneakers. Upon closer inspection at home, we discovered they were, in fact, 2 different sneakers! Both sneakers were all white. They looked *almost* identical. So, they got returned. Then, we walked over to get a particular battery from Radio Shack for our doorbell. Of course, the battery didn't work and Paul got so annoyed at the doorbell that he threw the whole thing in the garbage. Cranky cranky! Next stop, Walmart. ALWAYS fun to visit on a Sunday. Ack. Picked up some motor oil and an air filter for the Santa Fe and Saturn. We headed over to Payless to check out sneakers for Moira. She didn't like any of them ::eyeroll:: Paul is off for the next couple of days. This was supposed to be our trip to Baltimore ::sigh:: it fell through. Damn. I hate that. But, we are taking the kids to StoryBookLand in Egg Harbor Township instead! The kids will freak! It's really a lot of fun for the younger kids (to about 8-9 yrs old) No crazy rides like Six Flags. Just strictly kid stuff. Plus, I can pack a cooler and we can eat in the picnic area! YAY! I am going to try to do some laundry. This place is a mess. I missed Sex and the City tonight ::grrr:: so NO ONE tell me what happened! I do know that the new Trading Spaces season starts next week. YIPPIE! Oh, and don't forget about the college campus shows. Looks like Doug is wearing leather pants in that episode too. I should tape it! I can't believe Doug is such a cutie! Sometimes, he can be SUCH a bastard to the team working with him.

ew.. my head hurts

Did anyone watch Trading Spaces tonight? Doug looked absolutely delicious in leather pants!

My quilt and shams arrived today! YAY!

:::hic::: had a great time today.. had a lot to drink too! Woohoo.. I had more to drink today than I have the past 9 months. By the way, Mike's hard lemonade is really good... Another BBQ tomorrow - yay!

Oy - it's Saturday already?? The house is vacuumed, dusted amd set up (sorta) for company tomorrow. Moira even cleaned her room... well, after I asked her to do it. But, she did a great job and I am proud of her. ::smile:: I just put the pie in the oven about 10 minutes ago and my house smells yummy! All that apple pie goodness just wafting through the house. Anyone want some pie?

We did great food shopping. Moira was a big help. I picked out some sweet, delicious grapes and got a bunch of apples. I am going to make a pie for tomorrow's BBQ. I also will be making pasta salad. Yummy. All the food tomorrow (and Sunday) will be Olivia safe. Makes life SO much easier. Hell - if she can't be comfortable here, where can she?

Did some cleaning and laundry so far. I have to go do some food shopping in a little while. I am dictating my shopping list to Moira. She is writing everything. Such a smart girl! Will write more later - I have 2 BBQ's to organize!

(list snagged from the charming Mitch) 1. Living arrangement? Happily with Paul 2. What book are you reading now? I *just* finished "The Mole People" by Jennifer Toth 3. What's on your mouse pad? Optical mouse baby! 4. What's your favourite board game? Trivial Pursuit 5. What's your favourite magazine? Martha Stewart Living (stop laughing! LOL!) 6a. Favourite smells? rain 6b. Non-favourite smell? vomit, feces 7. Favourite sound? My girls laughing 8. Worst feeling in the world? Being alone 9. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Not again! 10. Favourite colour? Red 11. How many rings before you answer the phone? 2-3 12. Name of future child? HAHAHAHAHA - NO MORE 13. Most important thing in life? My girls 14. Favourite foods? Italian 15. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla Bryers 16. Do you like to drive fast? Oh yeah! 17. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? Does Paul count? 18. Storms? LOVE 'em 19. What type was your first car? Oh man - a 1982 Pontiac Phoenix - THANKS Dad! 20. If you could meet one person dead or alive, who would it be? 21. Favourite drink? Water 22. What is your zodiac sign? Gemini 23. Do you eat stems of broccoli? Yes 24. If you could have any job you wanted what would it be? None at all! 25. Have you ever been in love? Yes : - ) 26. Is the glass half full or half empty? Half full 27. Favourite movies? "Better Off Dead" "Gone With The Wind" "The King and I" "Star Wars" "Mystery Men" - so many more! 28. Do you type with your fingers on the correct keys? No - but I am getting better! 29. What's under your bed? Photo albums 30. Favourite song? "Wind Beneath My Wings" - Bette Midler 31. Favourite sport to watch? Football 32. Your favourite age in life so far? 26 33. Say one nice thing about the person who sent this. Mitch is just the sweetest! : - ) 34. Name a person who you will send this to and is most likely to respond. Hmm - well I think either Joan, Danielle, Kat or Shelley might do this 35. Name a person who is least likely to respond. Scott : - )

I'm baaack! LIke y'all missed me anyway ::grin:: The Girl Scout Service Unit meeting went well.. long but well. It was all paperwork and forms to be filled out. The troop got a ton of paperwork too. ACK! But, I am trying to learn a lot more about it, just in case Debbie (the leader) bails out. I don't think she's planning on it but it's better to be safe than sorry! I am off to read blogs. AND - I have been invited (thanks Joan) to join a group blog. Yay! I think..

A wonderful and charming friend of mine sent me the following link: KateExpectations Love you David! ::smooches::

Moira will be spending the day and early evening at a friend's house. In fact, Peggy (friend's Mom) will even pick Moira up from the reading program (friend is there too)! Woohoo! I have a Girl Scout service unit meeting tonight so I will pick up Moira after the meeting. Olivia is all sniffly, which explains why she was up most of the night and early morning Tuesday-Wednesday. ::sigh:: I think she is getting another ear infection. Poor kid. We were supposed to visit my Mom this afternoon but I cancelled the visit. I don't want her to land in the hospital again from Olivia's sniffles. For lunch, Olivia wanted crackers with butter. I tried a veggie wrap. Rice and Vegetable teriyaki. It was ok. Kinda. I had to drink a lot of water with it.. to wash it down. Heehee!

(link snagged via Heather) Wedding Enjoyed by No One But Bride

Morning everyone! Wow - it feels weird not to have blogged for a while... all 16 hours of it ::grin:: I want to say thank you to Joie, Joan, Danielle, Shelley and Kat for your kind comments. I just had to get away for a little while. The news stories about the children being kidnapped/missing just really struck me, somewhere deep in my heart. See, when I shop with the girls, I load the stuff in the car while Moira climbs into her seat. I usually put Olivia in her seat, buckle her, close the car doors and put the cart back. I try to park by the cart storage areas. What happened to the Chavez family could have happened to me, although the woman who snatched little Nancy was looking specifically for an infant. It almost happened to Joie. She encountered a situation which is a lot scarier than my "what if" situation. I can't understand WHY people do things like this. It boggles the mind - at least mine. The Amber Plan should be implemented in all 50 states. There is NO doubt in my mind that, due to the enormous publicity of the missing girls (Nancy Chavez and Jessica Cortez), it has played a huge role in retrieving those girls, safe and alive. The Amber Plan states: "The AMBER Plan was created in 1996 as a powerful legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, a bright little girl who was kidnapped and brutally murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas. The tragedy shocked and outraged the entire community. Residents contacted radio stations in the Dallas area and suggested they broadcast special “alerts” over the airwaves so that they could help prevent such incidents in the future. In response to the community’s concern for the safety of local children, the Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Radio Managers teamed up with local law-enforcement agencies in northern Texas and developed this innovative early warning system to help find abducted children. Statistics show that, when abducted, a child’s greatest enemy is time."

QUANAH, Texas — A woman with a baby has been detained in this town about 125 miles north of Abilene, and police say the child may be Nancy Crystal Chavez, the 1-month-old girl snatched from a Wal-Mart parking lot Tuesday. I will try to blog later... I am not up to chatting right now...

ABILENE, Texas — A woman snatched a month-old baby from a van in a store parking lot Tuesday and drove away as the child's horrified mother held on desperately to the getaway vehicle. The mother was dragged more than 30 feet as the car sped away. She was later treated for cuts and bruises, police Sgt. Kim Vickers said. The abduction occurred about 4:30 p.m. at a Super Wal-Mart. The mother, whom police did not identify, had just placed her three children, including a 2- and a 6-year-old, into the family's van and was returning a shopping cart to a storage area about 10 feet away. She then saw her infant girl taken from the van and placed into a car. "The woman started screaming and trying to get the lady to stop," Vickers said. "The mom got there in time to grab onto the car and was drug about 30 to 40 feet." I can't even begin to comment.. my head is spinning..

Thank God.. oh thank God she is safe

Happy Birthday Allison!

Joan aka Da Goddess kindly answered my questions about the Cocodile Hunter. When and where did you meet the Irwins? I met the Irwins back on May 20, 1999. I was badgering the producer of a morning radio show about getting me in and he got me in! What were they like? Bindi was only 9 months old at the time. Sweet baby! Steve and Terri are just 100% real. Tell me about the fan club. I found the JeffMajor.com site that had a report of Steve's demise......wrote to Jeff and told him that was untrue....because I'd just met the Irwins and he put my letter up on the site. People started writing me. One lady had a Yahoo club. I joined. Then, I started my own. Fluke.....mine has more members. Actually, mine is the largest on the Net. I think the fact that I met them and that I really stand behind their message of conservation has helped propel the group forward When did your group start fundraising? When Steve's mom died, our group raised money ($400+) to donate to her Trust. I have a plaque hanging on the wall in my house now. Also, while this was going on, I was introduced to Pat, who runs Wildlife Protection Association of Australia. Tell me about WPAA and Pat. Pat's group was sponsored by the Irwins. Pat and I got to be friends and exchanged a lot of ideas on what we could do if our club joined up in his efforts. Unfortunately, just after that, his wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Somehow or another, Pat and I became very close. I was one of the only people he could confide in during the ordeal. He's a class act all the way. He would clean, feed, comfort his wife throughout her last months. He stayed by her side. Only I knew how bad it was. Sometimes, we'd exchange emails 20 times a day. In the end, he held her as she died. He's the most loving person I've ever come to know. I am sorry to hear about the death of Pat's wife. What happened after that? Following his wife's death, Pat sold his farm. The Irwins used the money from the merchandising and such to support, 100%, WPAA. They offered Pat a house at the zoo. That's where he now lives. I have a standing invite to stay with him. Pat has sponsored a kangaroo for the kids, sent presents....and we've sent him a million and one things as well. What about the events leading up to the movie release?(click here for the official site) So, the Croc Hunter movie release was approaching. A reporter joined my group. Asked a couple of questions. I emailed her back and next thing you know, I'd loaned her almost my entire collection of Croc Hunter stuff. Magazines, articles, photos, videos......you name it. Spenser, your son, is really into the Irwins. What did he give the reporter? My son also handed her a little stuffed croc for Bindi with a note asking her to marry him. (He gave up being Steve just before he turned 5.) Did the Irwins remember you? When the reporter met with Steve and Terri to interview them for the movie, they remembered my group and the donation. Then, they were FLOORED by Spenser's proposal. Our story ended up in the local paper and I'm sure we'll be getting a package from the Irwins sometime soon. Is that all? That's it. Weird stuff, eh?

Decided to run up to the mall (again!) tonight. The kids wanted McNasty's for dinner. Paul and the girls grabbed a table and I stood in line to order. While I was waiting to place my order, I was lucky enough to stand behind a young couple. The girl couldn't have been older than 15 but was dressed like most young girls - midriff baring shirt, hip hugger jeans and on her feet were weird looking platform sandals, complete with toe ring. Her suitor was approximately 5'10-6' tall, 17 years old and dressed in loose fitting jeans and a T-shirt. They looked like they could have stepped out of an American Eagle advertisement. The young girl resembled Sarah Michelle Gellar - blonde hair, pointy chin and nose and she REALLY looked like she needed to eat something. I was watching her constantly touch her date by either hugging him, rubbing him or leaning on him. Her constant need to touch him was pretty disturbing pathetic. At times, she would lean into him and he would respond by putting his hands on her ASS! WTF is THAT?? Thank God the kids were with Paul at the table. This was something I didn't want to explain yet. The most disturbing part - they KNEW I was standing right behind them. Like *I* want to watch her ASS get rubbed! Geez - we are standing in line at a food court, not taping Real (Underage) Sex! (Boy - Google will have a field day with that) I was almost hyperventilating I was so angry. I think I will work on building up my girls' self worth a LOT more. God help anyone who touches their ass. Paul and the girls went for a ride on the carousel while I returned (more) stuff to Old Navy. They met me in the store and I let Moira pick out a shirt for school. Out of a selection of at least 10 rugby shirts, she actually picked the very one I disliked (the colors were ugly) the most. ::sigh:: Oh well, she has to wear it. I asked her several times (in desperation) if she was sure she liked it. "I LOVE it Mom. It has my favorite colors!" Ack! Well, at least I can control all her other clothes. No pants that have images or words written on the ass. No backless shirts. No halter tops. No SHORT shorts or mini skirts. It makes me SO sick to see clothes for such little girls that are just not appropriate. There were plenty of examples in the mall tonight. Lordy I must be getting old. I can't take this. We didn't leave the mall until almost 9pm. The ride home was fun. The girls were playing some kind of game and were making each other crack up. I mean, they were laughing so hard they were snorting! LOL! They demanded to hear Bare Naked Ladies and we all sang along to "1,000,000" and "Pinch Me" and a few other songs on the cd. They finally got to bed by 1045pm. Oy - what a night.

I should get some work done around here. I just don't feeeel like it! ::grin::

The girls LOVE listening to this

Mornin' gang.. I crashed out last night. Lordy I was tired. Olivia has developed the habit of waking up in the morning and coming into my room. I can hear her doing this over the baby monitor. She stands by my side of the bed and watches me. When I open my eyes and look at her, she gives me a huge grin and says "Good morning Mommy". Now, isn't that the nicest way to wake up?

Moira has been in and out of bed for the past 3 hours. The last trip out, we took pity on her. She was coughing and sniffling quite a bit. So, she got to stay up for about 30 minutes and chugged a shot of Tylenol due to a sore throat. I just tucked her back in with a warning for her *not* to emerge until morning. I hope it works!

Acidman has now decided I am "a fine figure of a woman, despite living in New Jersey." Whatta hunk of man ::sigh:: Not bad for a southern boy.

Man - I can't believe the weekend is over. The bureau is almost finished. I can't wait to put my STUFF in it! Arrgghh! We have STUFF all over the place until it is complete. My shelves are up and just need a little bit of touch up paint. YAY! Then I can put more of my SHIT away.

I am burning a cd for myself. This will be the first audio cd I have created so I hope it turns out! Anyone have a particular CD burner program they like? I have NTI CDMaker. It came with the CD-RW drive. It's a bit of a pain in the ass to use. Moira's hard drive on her computer crapped out ::sigh:: Paul replaced the drive and is working on it now. How weird is it that we just happened to have a hard drive hanging around? I don't want to replace her computer... at least, not yet.

Dad and Millie just left a little while ago. It was so much fun. The girls adore them. I saw the new Lexus. VERY VERY nice. They got the Coach edition. It smell yummy inside - all leather!

Trading Spaces! Woohoo!

Taking a break right now. Paul and I have done a lot of work today. My brackets are all primed and painted. So are my shelves. I have some priming and painting to do in the bedroom. We are going to do that tonight. We just finished a fine quality meal of Sabrett hot dogs and tater tots. At least I had some broccoli out to even out the meal. The girls are sniffly today, poor kids. Olivia started wheezing so she is getting a nebulizer treatment. Ahh - nothing like an albuterol high! Wheeeee! She's outside now with an ice pop. She's like a freakin junkie with those damn ice pops. I think I have a ganglion cyst in my left wrist. It husts. Of course, now I have been bumping it constantly. I suppose I should get to the doctor and get it checked out. I'll update more later.. time for some coffee!

I an watching Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet right now. Mary, a *really* old croc (over 100 years old) died. Here's an excerpt from Discovery.com: "And Steve suffers a huge emotional loss when Australia Zoo's matriarch crocodile, Mary, suddenly dies." Steve is bawling. He actually said he loved Mary like he loved Terry, his wife. Okayyyy... right.

The charming and lovable Rich has finally posted a picture of himself. Go post some sweet nothings in his comments.

I feel a little better. Moira is at a friend's house. Olivia ran around out front while I mowed the lawn. After that, I turned on the sprinkler and she had a blast going through that. I was able to clean out my garden, which looks like total shit this year. I have a lot of work to do to clean it up for next year. Dinner tonight will be BBQ chicken drums, pasta salad and fresh corn on the cob. Yummy!

Tough morning with the kidlets ::sigh:: They just kept driving me crazy. Moira is so darn whiny. I just want to scream! In fact, I hollered at them and now I feel like a turd. ::big sigh:: I can't get anything accomplished today.

(link snagged from the Captain)

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Low
Schizoid:	Low
Schizotypal:	Low
Antisocial:	Low
Borderline:	Low
Histrionic:	Low
Narcissistic:	Low
Avoidant:	Low
Dependent:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Low
-- Click Here To Take The Test --

Geez - I am so bland!

Must. Sleep. Now.

Wow! I was the 3rd person to post up at Friday Five! Woohoo!

Friday Five baby! 1. Do you have a car? If so, what kind of car is it? I drive a 5 speed 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe (LOVE it!) and Paul drives a 1996 Saturn 2. Do you drive very often? All the time. I prefer to drive 3. What's your dream car? Hmm - a car, possibly a Volvo C40 convertible, top of the line Mercedes or BMW 4. Have you ever received a ticket? BAHahahahahaha! Heeeeeeeeeeee! Oh boy ::wiping eyes:: That's a funny one. The answer:yes. Several. 5. Have you ever been in an accident? Yes. The accident happened about 2 years ago at 1245am while I was driving home from my computer sales job on the Garden State Parkway. I was rear ended (I was doing 70) by a 2000 Corvette (who was doing 95+). He and his buddy, who was driving a white BMW, were racing. The BMW zipped around me and cut me off. The Vette, well... didn't. He smashed me into the concrete barriers dividing the north and southbound lanes. We were apparently connected from the impact, according to witnesses. We hit something and it spun me back across 3 lanes, breaking me and the other car apart, into the guard rail. I was driving a compact car (Plymouth Sundance) at the time. It was totalled as well as the asshole's vette. It was all over in about 10-15 seconds. I remember the airbags blowing up in my face. I remember screaming at the top of my lungs "Oh my God, Oh my God", over and over again. But, when the car stopped moving, I was able to open the driver's side door and get out. I thought the car would explode or something. Thank GOD there was hardly any traffic or I probably would have been killed. I had minor injuries, a few scrapes and a couple burns from the airbag. The asshole asked me, "Are you ok?" I started screaming at him. "Are you fucking joking? LOOK at my car! You fucking idiot!" He looked like Headwound Harry. I don't know if he had his belt on or not. Idiot.

Paul got home around 1030 tonight. He and his Dad ended up having pizza and chatting for a little while. Must be nice! The girls and I want to KMart and picked up a couple things. I found a nice deal on Martha Stewart sheets so I snagged 2 sets. YAY! I ordered my new quilt, bed pillow and shams. The quilt is on backorder (shit!) but should be coming soon! PLEASE PLEASE don't sell out! I decided on this one.

Arrrggghhh! I *need* my archives! Where the hell are they? Why can't I reference them?? ::rant over::

I finally sent off a cd that I burned for my girlfriend. It had pictures of her wedding. From February.

Go check out Danielle! Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging.

I love the fact that people are doing the smell association with fellow bloggers. Very cool! The 3 that mentioned me (Joan, Rich and Erin) were pretty much on the money. Thanks guys, you are all DA BOMB! :::smooches::: I managed to get a few errands done today. I stopped at Bruno's, with Olivia, to pick up our weekly deli order. As we walk in, music by Frank Sinatra is playing over the sound system, "Luck be a Lady". Olivia immediately starts clapping and dancing. It was adorable. I also grabbed a loaf of fresh Italian bread.. ohhh... it was so good! We also stopped at the little roadside stand and picked up some more fresh corn, peaches and apples. Paul will be stopping at his parents place tonight to help his Dad hook up to the well. His Dad called last night to ask if Paul was able to "Come over and play" on Thursday. Too funny. Of course, it was fine with me. My only condition was that they feed Paul dinner! The girls and I will go do something after dinner tonight. Well - off to tinker with my blog and then I suppose I should take care of the kidlets! Look for some new pictures coming very soon.

NEW YORK - Former Tyco International chief executive Dennis Kozlowski used millions in company money to indulge his lavish tastes — including a $6,000 shower curtain (a gold-and-burgundy, floral-patterned shower curtain) — and few of the transactions were reported to shareholders, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Now, will someone please enlighten me and tell me where the FUCK can one purchase a $6,000 shower curtain? Is it lined with mink? Crusted with diamonds? Corporate bastard.

"If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would I get into heaven?" I asked the children in my Sunday school class. "NO!" all the children answered. "If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would I get into heaven?" Again the answer was, "NO!" "Well," I continued, "then how can I get to heaven?" A five-year-old boy shouted, "You gotta be dead!"

Other than the stats problem.. I had a pretty nice day today. Donna never made it over.. her appointment ran late so we postponed for another time. Hopefully, the baby will still be a baby when I see her ::grin:: Moira was playing with a buddy down the street before and after dinner tonight. Olivia ate ice pops and played on the swings. Ahh - the life!

Ok - My stats site is *way* the fuck off! It says I only had 24 visitors today! 24! ::sigh:: Oh well. It's a free stat site. Anyone else use Extreme?

Check out Joan's post. She associated food/candy with the bloggers that she reads... this is mine: Kate is Bubblicious! Sweet and lasts all day.. Love ya Joan! ::smooch::

My friend Donna is stopping by in about 45 minutes with her new daughter, Haley. Can't wait to meet her! I also dumped blog chalk.. it screwed up my blog. Thanks Erin, for letting me know.

Oh - Mom cancelled for today - her throat is sore.. she's not sure if it was from the endoscopy last week or if she was coming down with a cold.. but my Dad is coming down this Sunday for a visit! YAY! I get to see the new car - A Lexus SUV! Woohoo! Go Dad and Millie!

The girls LOVE this song from Mob Hits - "Eh Cumpari" by Julius La Rosa Turn on the speakers and play it loud! There are some great songs from Mob Hits - "That's Amore" - Dean Martin (love him::sigh::) "Al-Di-La" - Jerry Vale "Volare" - Dean Martin "Mambo Italiano" - Rosemary Clooney and a bunch of song by Louis Prima... awesome..

NYC to light Eternal Flame on 9/11

Luuuuucy! I'm hoooooome! ::giggle:: We had a great time at my sis in law's place. My niece got along well with the girls for a while. Until she got tired and cranky, that is. We made it back home around 545pm and I whipped up a quick and easy dinner for the family... Mom is coming down tomorrow for a little visit.. should be fun.

Just caught the Staples commercial with the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year". LOVE it!

Good morning! Moira has her reading program today and then we will be heading out to my sis in law's place again. It will be fun to see my niece - she is just so adorable! Catch ya'll later!

Susan is back home! YAY!

Is anyone else having problems with their stats? I use Extreme Tracking and it seems WAY off base, especially if I compare it to previous Mondays. Werid.

Nice to see you back Chris! ::smile::

::sigh:: Olivia got hold of some stamp pads and a paintbrush. The palm and 3 fingers of her left hand are bright pink. It's also on both legs, in assorted spots. Oh, yeah.. and my freakin couch too! Good thing I have slipcovers! I couldn't get the ink off her fingers so I don't know if it will come off my slipcover.

Wow - thanks for all the nice comments about my "new face". :::warm fuzzies::

(link snagged from Amy) This is so funny. Make sure your speakers are on.

Only a total of 10 minutes. Not bad for a Monday. The girls and I are going to BJ's Warehouse Club for much needed supplies. Shampoo, conditioner, paper towels, you know.. the essentials!

Let's see just HOW long NJ Blue Cross Blue Shield keeps me on hold.. so far.. 5 minutes..

A Vern Yip Fan Club! A great Vern article. Ty fans? Check this out! One more cool Trading Spaces fanpage AND lastly, Scott, this link is for you! Hehehe!

Oh - I think I lost some links when I dumped Blogrolling. If I misplaced anyone's, please let me know in the comments!

I just watched the first 20 minutes of the Anna Nicole show on the E channel. Oh my God. What the hell happened to her? She was such a beautiful woman. Now, she's .. well.. pathetic. So she's fat, she is still gorgeous. I think even Ozzy must have watched this show and said "Damn, she's messed up!"

Moira's home! YAY!

Oh! "Hungry Heart" by Bruce is being played right now. I love this song

Ugh - 106 I am a dope!

(link snagged from Joan) I took the 5 minute times test and scored 133! Woohoo! I be smart! I wonder what my score will be on the Verbal IQ test.

Paul left a little while ago to pick up our eldest child. He is picking her up at the rest area off the NJ Turnpike. Bleech! But, it beats driving all the way out to PA! Olivia and I are having shells and sauce. She is on her 3rd bowl! A hungry little girl. She must be going through a growth spurt. She's getting a treat tonight and is watching Toy Story. I preferred TS 2 but I can deal with this. She is zoned out, watching the movie. Heehee! I have to figure out where I want the new wall uplights placed. They will be over the brass headboard so each one of us will have a light for reading. Paul has to wire them and attach a thumbswitch. We are disagreeing on the cord cover. The lights will be mounted on the wall and the cords will be hanging straight down. I want to cover the cord with a brass strip (headboard is also brass) and he wants white. The walls, if you lovely readers recall, are lavender. What do you think? White or brass wire covers?

Well - I decided to lose the blogrolling... it never seemed to work for me. I rearranged Olivia's bedroom. It looks better. She has SO much stuff that it was hard for her to play in there. Ack - I need a bigger house to hold all my stuff!

I am having problems with trying to link my archives! Arrgghhh!

Hrm. I will fix this later..Any suggestions would be appreciated! Bye!

Not bad...

hmm - is it working?

Good morning everyone! Today is National Kids Day. American sumo wrestler Emanuel Yarbrough is 6-foot-7 and 730 pounds. He's also in a bit of a bind - he's living in his parents' basement in New Jersey. More work to be done around the house... will write more later!

SUCH a busy day... The 3 of us went to Home Depot and I managed to spend about $200. Paint, supplies, wall anchors and other hardware to hang the wall lighting. We have so many projects to work on around here. She had a blast, as usual. We grilled steaks (yummy!) and I made mashed potatoes, which Olivia loves. Oh - happy day for her. She dropped some on the floor and was quietly grinding them into the carpet. ACK! Paul took Olivia into the pool tonight and then we watched both episodes of Trading Spaces. I really loved what Lori did in the bedroom of the 1st house. I cannot believe the wife's reaction when she saw her bedroom. What a snot. I wanted to smack the ungrateful bitch. The next episode was the home with the hay on the walls. Unreal. Absolutely unbelievable. Oh - and I also folded about 3 loads of laundry. Paul is zonked out. Woofuckinhoo. So much for my glamorous Saturday night. So, now I am watching Me, Myself and Irene on HBO. God - I love this movie. I crack up every damn time I watch this movie. Renee Zellwiger is adorable and Jim Carey (whom I normally don't like) ROCKED! Well .. time to surf around and check out my fellow bloggers. G'nite!

We had a kickass storm last night! Thunder, lightening.. it was sooo cool! I love storms. Unfortunately, I was driving through most of it ::grin:: Olivia and I were at the mall for a couple hours and then we headed over to my Mom's place. We had McD's for dinner and just hung around for a while. The wind was really picking up by the time we left (9pm). Once we were in the car, about 15 minutes into the trip, the skies OPENED up. Whooosh! Rain everywhere. Olivia and I were watching lightening strikes. The sky was turning green and blue during some of the strikes. It was amazing... just beautiful. Of course, I was extremely thankful I wasn't too close to the lightening strikes. We didn't get home until 10pm. I hustled Miss Olivia into bed after her teethbrushing. I had to sing the usual 3 songs (Mary had a Little Lamb. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and You are My Sunshine) before she would even go to sleep. She pretty much zonked out. Paul didn't get home from PA until 1045pm. He also got stuck in the storm. I wasn't able to log on last night because of the storm so I was able to watch Dennis Miller (love him!). I ended up watching TV in the bedroom and watched "Real World" on MTV. :::shamefaced::: I don't know why I have been watching it - they are all a bunch of idiots. Whiny little shits.. but still I watch. It should be called "Unreal World".

Well - we are leaving in a couple minutes.. Olivia and I are off to Freehold Mall. Wheee! Shopping! I'll update later! Tata!

Good morning.. Moira will be spending the weekend at my sis in law's place. YAY! Paul and I have so much work to finish up around here. I will be driving Moira to Paul's office. This way it will save him the commute ride back home to get Moira and THEN head out to PA. Olivia and I will be going to the mall after this. I have to exchange some things from our last mall trip. Then, I am going to take her to McD's! She loves the happy meal toys. We might stop to see my Mom, if she's up to it. She had an endoscopy done on Tuesday.. the following is from Mom's email: "Was down in the workshop - Minding my own business, mind you - when Dr. G***, the GI Doc, called...He advised that the location of the ulcer he found is very rare (in keeping with my uniqueness, I guess) & he had heard back from the pathologist today regarding the biopsy of it he took yesterday...The path guy said the sample is odd, & too hard (as in the nature of the sample) to determine with that sample whether or not it is benign or malignant...He said the location makes it 1,000 times more risky than if it were located anywhere else...Thus, Guss wants to do it again in 4 weeks & take another sample...In the meantime, he said the ulcer may be caused by all the celebrex & now vioxx I've taken for the knee pain & I was to stop it immediately, along with any aspirin-containing stuff that could irritate the ulcer...He advised that it could easily become a bleeding ulcer & that if that occurred he would have to give me that drug that reverses the coumadin - in the hospital - which would probably cause another blood clot...He did suggest another new pain med on the market that might work better for the knee & at least not risk the other problems, but I need to discuss it further with M****,(cancer dr) with whom I've an appointment in the morning...I asked if this meant we would cancel Friday & he said - HA HA - no, it was even more imperative now to check the "other end"... I just got off the phone with my Mom.. she's already home from her colonoscopy. No polyps! She's feeling a little.. uhh... sore... right now. Poor Mommy.

The pool is SO nice. Olivia finally had enough and asked to get out ::grin::

Moira is now at another friend's house for a couple of hours. I think Olivia and I will go swimming. It it *so* hot and humid today. Ick.

Did you ever have a song bring back some really fond memories? I was driving Moira to her reading program when I heard "Why Can't This Be Love?" by Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar). Instantly, I flash back to the summer of 1986 and the guy I was dating/seeing at the time. CJ was a sweetie. He didn't have the greatest home life - His parents were divorced and his Dad wasn't around. His Mom was a bit of a nutcase, according to him. He would never let me meet her. He was from Manasquan, the sworn rival of my hometown of Wall Township. He used to bike over to my house during the summer. I distinctly remember listening to Van Halen's "5150" tape. Our song was "Love Walks In". ::smile:: We dated through the summer and a bit into the fall. Things happened, we broke up. I hated him, as only a broken hearted 16 year old can hate someone. Time passed.. One Saturday, I bumped into him one day on Main Street in Manasquan. He was thrilled to see me. I was thrilled to see him too (not that I let him know that!). We hugged and chatted for a minute. CJ said he would give me a call tomorrow and we would get together and hang out. I had to go since I was with my Mom, doing errands. We hugged again and he cycled off. He never did call me on Sunday. I was so mad at him for not calling. I never called his house because his Mom would freak out and start screaming at him and whoever else was on the phone with him. I really think she had some psychological problems. Monday, I'm at school. My best friend came up to me and was asking me if I was ok. "Sure", I replied. "Why?" As long as I live, I will never forget Christine turning white. "What?" I ask, getting nervous. "WHAT?" CJ was hit by a car Sunday evening, around 9pm while biking towards his home. The driver didn't stop. A Wall Township police officer had found him on the side of the road. The fuckwad that hit CJ just left him there, like a pile of garbage. I didn't know. I was angry that he hadn't called me and now he won't ever be calling me. I remember shaking my head and crying "No... NO! He was going to call me! He can't be dead" Kids in the hallway were staring at me. Christine knew about the accident because her dad was on the First Aid squad. They took him to Jersey Shore Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Sunday, February 20, 1988. The police department did catch the shitbag that killed CJ. He LIVED on the same road where CJ was killed. New Bedford Road. A patrolman spotted the car, which was completely totalled, in the guy's yard. He hit CJ so hard that CJ went through the windshield. Joseph Harney stopped the car long enough to push CJ back out on the road, before taking off again. Harney was later arrested and indicted. I think of CJ quite often. He was the first person that I *really* knew who died. We had so much fun together. Hanging out at the beach, the boardwalk, biking all around. I visited his grave several times. His Mom never got a headstone for him. But - even though I cry when I hear any song from that particular Van Halen album, I still smile. Because it makes me think of him.

Gonna try to list some things on ebay. I found some of my Duran Duran stuff (ok, stop laughing! LOL!) and I think I can sell some of it off. Extra cash is always good!

Oooh! This is the bedspread/quilt pattern that I like. And, the best part, it's ON SALE!

AND - I want these curtains for Moira's room. They are so pretty. Pottery Barn is expensive!

I am already starting my Christmas shopping. I found a TON of stuff for the girls for great prices at ABC Distributing.