Just watched Unbreakable tonight. Didn't like it...way too weird. Just plain out creepy. ::shiver:: I really like Bruce Willis and Sanuel Jackson is awesome. But - very weak in the movie...

You will marry JAMES BOND (most recently played by Pierce Brosnan) from the James Bond movies, live in many expensive penthouses filled with many girls and many martinis (shaken, not stirred), and spend your days driving explosive foreign cars and spying on villains with big egos and small brains.

What's YOUR M * A * S * H future?

Shouldn't be too hard for me to live with this... (link via Erin)

WOW! Just finished watching "Bridget Jones' Diary" - alone of course. GREAT movie. I think I am completely in love with Colin Firth :::swooning::: Hugh Grant is a pig but he has those fabulous eyes.. and of course that voice. I love good strong voices - I just melt when I hear them. Renee Zellweger looks marvelous. The best I have ever seen her - she looked gorgeous. I can't believe how Hollywood was calling her FAT for God's sake. Hasn't the freaking film industry figured out that there are a HELLUVA lot more women out there who don;t look like Lara Flynn Boyle or Calista Flockhart. Jesus - those 2 NEED a fucking sandwich. Just plain nasty looking. And YES, in case anyone out there in blog-land is wondering, I am NOT one of those barfing babes! How I managed to get through school without pulling a Columbine on a few of my fellow classmates is beyond me. All I can say is getting tortured in school made it a living hell for me. To this day, I can still remember all those awful things some of those assholes would say... Ya wanna know what the worst part is?? I look at my pics from high school.. and I looked pretty fucking good. One my my best photographs was my senior picture. I *wish* I had the balls then to tell those fools to go screw off when I had the chance.

"It's another Saturday night..... and I ain't got nobody..." That's right - I ain't got nobody - at least nobody HERE. The girls are asleep and Paul is STILL out! (Grrrrrr!) Well, I can't really bitch too much.. He was at my Mom's today since 930am, working on her Dell. It was crashing a lot and running really slo. He put on Norton's anti-virus, ran scan disk, defraged the drive, essentially cleaned it up for her. When I spoke to her today, she mentioned how much faster it was running. BUT - as he was leaving my Mom's place, his Dad calls. Seems he was having problems with HIS computer, trying to run LapLink. Sooooooooo, here it tis, 10pm and I am BLOGGING and folding laundry! Someone - please shoot me.

ARRGGHHHHHH! They broke up! I gotta go cry now ::sniff sniff::

I have been watching the old episodes of The Sopranos lately. I tuned in mid season last year, with Ralph beating the stripper to death - nice, huh? I am also addicted now to Sex and the City. John Corbett (Aidan) is a cutie ::sigh:: I have had a crush on this guy since "Northern Exposure". Now - Carrie is ripping his heart out and stomping on it with her Manolo Blahniks!

In the immortal words of Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer and Paul Leka aka Steam "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" Steelers WIN! 27 - 10 Off to play the Patriots next week for the AFC championship! I am SO HAPPY! YAY YAY YAY!

Go Pittsbugh.. Go Pittsburg.. Go Pittsburg! ::::doing Happy Dance:::: 20 to ZIP!

The snow is still here! Bleeeeech! Just put "Shrek" on now - so far, it's pretty stinkin' funny. I love Smashmouth.

Snow. Such a pain in the ass. I hate it. The girls, on the other hand, were SO excited. Paul took them out before dinner and they managed to build a snowman. Paul took a picture of them. I will post it later tonight and link to it. I am still sick. Now sounding like a cross between Kathleen Turner and Harvey Firestein. Ooooh, how sexy. I am popping Robitussin Cough and Cold capsules. We managed to get to Pathmark to pick up a few things (honestly, I was going to buy stuff - no panic shopping for me). Also stopped at Blockbuster and picked up Shrek, Bridget Jones's Diary, Unbreakable, and One Night at McCools. All of which are 5 day rentals. Woohoo! Made dinner tonight.Completely wimped out by making open face turkey sandwiches with gravy, corn and tater tots. Hell - everyone ate. They were freezing from being outside. I am freezing. I hate snow.

I thought this was a pretty cool counter. There has been some discussion regarding smoking on one of my main message boards. This link was posted and I found this online quit meter These are my results as of now - Time Passed - 320 weeks, 6 days, 9 hours, 14 minutes, 49 seconds Cigarettes Not Smoked - 44,927 (EEEK!) That's approximately 2,246 PACKS Money Saved - $ 7,525.27 Quit smoking people. Save your life.

When I came home from the Daisy meeting, I still felt really crappy. I had my headache for about 6 hours. I ended up crashing out for a almost 2 hour nap while Paul finished up the evening routine with the girls. I woke up in time to tuck them in. My headache was gone! YAY! The weather prediction for this weekend : Tonight Mostly Clear 22°F Sat Jan 19 PM Snow 33°F 23°F Sun Jan 20 Mostly Sunny 37°F 28°F ICK - I hate snow.

Ugh. I am sick. I am getting laryngitis! Arrgghh!! ::cough cough:: I cannot get laryngitis again. I have gotten it for the past 7 years, always about this time of year. Right now, I sound like Kathleen Turner with a *little* deeper tone. Lovely. I get to be all throaty and breathless sounding and I have to waste it on getting sick. Had to hit Wal-Mart today and shop with the rest of the wackos that aren't attempting to bite people. I didn't blog much yesterday. I somehow picked up an organizational bug SOMEWHERE. I painted some moppe boxes for my kitchen from IKEA. GOD - I love that store! Gonna go shopping there next week with Mom and Olivia. I have my eye on this really nice entertainment center and possibly more moppe boxes! They do come in bunch of different configurations like this. I also cleaned out my closets and tossed out 5, yes 5 bags of clothes. I drove right over to the donation bin and dumped them ASAP! I have a Daisy meeting today too - and I don't feel like going. I am feeling grumpy and I have a headache. At least I get to play hookey for the next one on 2/1 because I will be driving up to MA for a wedding. I can't wait to sit in a car for 6 hours.. joy of joys. I have to map out my route. Not too many choices - either take 95 through Conneticut or take the 87 (NY Thruway) and turn right at MA. I will probably take 87 - I hate 95, especially in CT. There is ALWAY construction.. no matter what time of the day or night. I gotta go sit and have some coffee.. later guys!

I took the IQ test I found linked on Erin's site. Looks like my IQ went down as well. I believe I tested at 147. Now, according to this test, I am 135. From the email I received: "Our test gives you a quick and fast measurement of your abilities, and that can indicate directions for you to take. Average: 85 - 115 Above average: 116 - 125 Gifted Borderline Genius: 126 - 135 Highly gifted and appearing to be a Genius to most others: 136 - 145 Genius: 146 - 165 High Genius: 166 - 180 Highest Genius: 181 - 200 Beyond being measurable Genius: Over 200 It's the girls' fault. I now have Mommy brain ::sigh:: Hopefully, when I am 70, I will still be able to feed myself!

I visited Mom tonight. She had me do a bunch of little projects that she can't quite do so easily. Climbing up on a stool to fix some wallpaper, move stuff around. I organized and color coordinated her sweaters. She has about 60 sweaters (now neatly organized) in her new storage boxes for the top of her closet. I helped her carry some stuff down to her basement. She has a great workshop set up down there for ALL her stuff. You name a craft - she has the supplies. It's like a mini craft store! It's nice to be able to hang out with her and talk. It's so hard to do when the girls are around. We chat about all kinds of stuff, usually making ourselves cry. I am really hoping and praying this course of chemo really kicks the shit out of the lymphoma. She wants to take us all to Disney World for Christmas. When I say all of us, I mean the 4 of us, my brother, Dan (her boyfriend) and herself. Talk about a huge expense! I am of 2 minds - I really want to go. But - always a but - the girls are SO young. It would probably be a little difficult with Olivia, given the age and the food allergy issue, but I know it can be managed. Paul doesn't want to go - being stubborn. He wants to spend Christmas at home, says that the girls should spend it at home because of Santa. Whatever ::eyeroll:: I told him to take it up with my Mom. Olivia has been breaking out in hives quite a bit lately. All on the backs and sides of her legs. Poor munchkin. I think it's the cat that is the root of most of her problems. Darla is about 12 yrs old and is ... well... fiesty. No one in our extended family likes her. She yowls and hisses. Attacks feet at random. Especially WHITE feet - like bare, covered in socks or white sneakers. She is fixed and declawed. Because she is such a maniac, I am pretty damn sure no one would want to adopt her if I brought her to the animal shelter. In a nutshell - unadoptable. Someone would be electing a pope with her. Kitty Cremation. I don't want to KILL my cat. I don't want Olivia to suffer.

Making a very kid friendly dinner tonight - chicken and fries. Bleeech.

From my buddy David - Look out Phil!

JUST made the bus this morning! Good thing I drove down to the bus stop! Olivia and I went to K-Mart and then Pathmark. Woooohoo. Such a wild and crazy pair are we!

Please take note that Erin Aid is still operating and can be yours for the taking ::hehe::

Good morning ya'll! Moira just stumbled out of her room a few minutes ago. Poor kid - this coughing at night business is really taking a toll on her. She is on a lot of different medications now. She is finishing a course of Zithromax for the ear infection, which has hopefully cleared up. She normally takes 2 tsp Zyrtec daily, Flovent and Flonase for her asthma and allergies. The Zyrtec doesn't seem to be helping her so I took her off it (for now) and she gets Triaminic Cough and Cold. Zyrtec was once a day. Triaminic is every 4-6 hrs. She barely clears 4 hours before the next dose. Nighttime is the worst for her. That damn post-nasal drip. Between that and the cold air, I think I will have to pull out the nebulizer for her if she coughs herself into an asthma attack. She is still coughing - hope the Triaminic kicks in soon. Besides that, the night went pretty much as planned. I even made a chocolate cake. Olivia wants candles on it so she can blow them out. She must think that every cake is a birthday cake! Silly lil booger!

Oh my gosh - it's been over 24 hours since I have blogged!!!!!!!! Actually, I have been busy. Moira has been going through some serious mood swings ::sigh:: She's only 5 fer cryin' out loud! Hell - I have my OWN mood swings to worry about! She gets SO frustrated at times that she just starts crying and freaking out. I wish I could make it better for her sometimes.. I think she has such a long day with school that she is a mess by the time she gets home. She gets up at 715am... bus by 820am, lunch at 1045am, snack by 1pm, home by 330pm. Of course, she has all her classes and activities during school. Poor kid.. I have been working on a webpage (albeit on AOL Hometown) that is dedicated to food allergies. I would be providing links for information, places that support food allergies, and recipe sites for food allergic people. I have already gotten several emails and I am not even finished on the page. I guess there's a lot more people with food allergies! I will post the link up soon. Probably won't be blogging until later tonight - Dinner tonight will be chicken cacciatore, corn, and linguine. YUMMY! Ta ta for now!

:::Sigh::: Woke up late this morning since I stayed up too late watching "Castaway". I did miss the first 20-25 minutes though (I ALWAYS do that! LOL). I tuned in when he washes up on the island. WOW - what a great movie! I bawled like a baby at the end. I cry at Disney movies. Bambi is awful and don't EVEN get me started on Dumbo. I even cried at ET (all 4 times that I have seen it) when the damn muppet died. My father in law and Paul were looking at me like I was insane.. What can I say? I am an emotional person! I had to drive Moira to school because I overslept. I have so much stuff to take care of today... phone calls, filing, car rental for the wedding next month (I am driving up), registering for my class, plus the usual cleaning around here. Oh yeah - and I have to take care of Olivia too

I will be watching the games today.. I never really watch them until playoff time anyway. BUT - the 2007 SuperBowl will be played at the Meadowlands, NJ! Way cool! I would love to get tickets for that. I wouldn't even care who was in it.

Oooh - a bad Wesley Snipes movie on HBO! OK ok.. I am going to bed!

Why am I still awake?!?! I am going to bed....really.

I set up another page with pictures if anyone is interested. I put a few pics from the party today. I also put up a picture of my Nana when she graduated Jamesburg High School Class of 1941. I think I resemble her the most. She was the only one in the family who had hazel/green eyes. I look nothing like my Mom OR my Dad. If I didn't look like my Nana, I would swear I was adopted!

Crap - another TD for Oakland ::sigh:: Oh well - not really a huge Jets fan. I just like anyone who plays the Giants and ::ahem:: Pittsburgh.

HELLO! Thanks for all the nice comments about my kidlets. They are really a couple of sweeties! I have a couple more from today's party that I will add to the page. Olivia LOVED her cake and pie! I wasn't too thrilled with my pie - I think it was too sugary. I will have to fool around with the recipe and change a couple things. My inlaws were down as well as 2 of my sis in laws, Isobel (niece), my brother, and my Dad and Step-Mom. A surprisingly nice time. Woooooooo! Touchdown Jets! Now - only down by 7

Did I mention that I have updated pictures! Check out my monsters - they are beautiful!

The pie is done as well as the chocolate cake. My house smells so good.

Got this link off Salted Wound. It shows a collection of screen shots from over 200 news sites around the world taken on September 11 and 12. Check it out. Never forget 9-11-01. Congratulations to Lisa Beamer on the birth of her daughter Morgan Kay Beamer.

Oh - I also folded ALL that laundry. Now, I *really* should be cleaning my bathroom but I have talked myself out of doing it. Why, you may ask, would I do that? Well, I still need to TAKE my shower (don't ask - LOL) and I certainly don't want to wake up Olivia. She is napping right now. God only knows she will be grumpy enough when we are at the doctor's office. Lordy - I have to bake bake bake tonight as well as clean clean clean :::groan::: HEY - Paul can clean and I will bake! What a trade-off! I love it ::hehehe::

Doctor's appointmet today at 340pm for both girls. Tomorrow we are having a little party for Olivia's birthday. Cake, coffee, cookies, that type of stuff. Only about 10 people coming. I hope it's pretty low key!

FINALLY! Took forever to publish my damn blog!

I'm BAAAAAAAAACK! Did you miss me? Things have been a tad hectic around here within the past 24 hours! Yesterday morning, I got Moira off to school just fine. Olivia and I had to pick up a referral for the girls' allergist appointment today. Picked that up, no problem. We stopped at KMart in Wall Township, which is currently under reconstruction, and I found some GREAT deals on clothes for Olivia. They were cute too. Usually KMart clothes are pretty freakin gross. Me loves a bargain! Also picked up enough Christmas cards, at 75% off, for the next couple years. Such a bahhhhhhhhrgain. After my shopping frenzy, Olivia and I stopped at my Mom's house for a visit. It's chemo week for her. She seems to be doing well although a little tired. Mom had made a chocolate cake for Olivia and she had her birthday presents to give her. Olivia was THRILLED! Very impressed with the 2 balloons my Mom bought! Took some great pictures of her yesterday. PictureTrail is really a pain in the ass and very very slow! I will upload some new pics to my AOL page and link here later. We got back home in time to pick Moira up at the busstop. She seemed very blah.. tired. I thought since she was up at 1AM earlier that morning, hacking and coughing, that she was tired because of that. By 5PM, a lowgrade fever kicked in and she didn't want to eat dinner. By 6PM she was asleep on the couch! At that point, I KNEW she was sick. We hustled the night along for both girls and they were in bathed, medicated, read to, and asleep by 845PM. At that point, I was too tired to do much of anything except shove a few loads of laundry in and out of the washer and dryer. Of course, I haven't folded them yet ::sigh:: That's a job for today, sometime today when I have some spare time :::chortle:::giggle::: Right now, the girls are watching Sesame Street and are unnaturally quiet. So, I am taking big advantage of that right now by blogging and updating my AOL page. Will update more later when I can. Click here for updated pictures. I have a lot of pictures on it - it might take a few moments to load...

Whew! I finally have a few minutes to write and now I can't publish! Arrgghh! Well - considering how many blogs are out there in cyberland, I guess I can handle it. I have some new pictures of the monsters that I will attempt to upload (again) to my picture sites. PictureTrail doesn't seem to be behaving well tonight either

Visited Mom last night and had a nice time. I helped Dan (her boyfriend) take Christmas stuff down to the basement. While down there, I found a really nice mirror they had picked up at a yard sale. Mom wasn't using it so she let me take it. I have the best place to hang it too! Woohoo! I was planning on buying one! Glad I didn't! She ended up giving me a check for the computer class I was planning to take at Ocean COunty College. The first class is Intro to HTML. A 6 week course that meets 2 days a week, 3.5 hours per class. UGH. 6pm-930pm. A nice way to spend my Wednesday and Friday nights! At least I will be learning something - I hope.

Olivia had a GREAT time at her Baby Power class. It was SO much fun - she didn't want to leave!

Also forgot to mention that today at 1015am is Olivia's first "Baby Power" day I am excited for her - I know she will have such a good time! AND - there's the added bonus that she will be napping by 1215pm! It is hard for her to meet other little ones her age (2) because of all her food allergies. There is no way I can take her to a Mommy and Me type of group - TONS of food that she is allergic too. Peanut butter, nuts, dairy, eggs.. all of these are in cookies, cakes, snacky type foods. There are certain brands that I buy because I KNOW Olivia can eat them without breaking out in eczema or hives ::sigh:: The poor kid. Heck - even my inlaws aren't that good with keeping stuff aside that can make her sick. They TRY.. but sometimes that's even worse. YOU take away a cookie from a 2 year old! They say "Well, maybe she can have a little bit, to help her tolerate it." Sure - ok.. how about rat poison in your coffee.. you know, just a little, so you can tolerate it!! ::eyeroll:: There are SO many products that contain dairy or some form of dairy (whey, casein, a dairy protein). LIke hot dogs, cold cuts, breadcrumbs, juices, chicken nuggest, pretzels, chips, cookies, cakes... etc.. I can go on and on. I am not looking forward to Olivia starting school if her allergic reactions are still so high. I suppose I will have to see what her allergies are like when she is 5. Perhaps she will be homeschooled until her allergies are manageable. Hopefully, the township will either have dealt with this problem before or is willing to deal with it. Paul and I already planned on really working with the school, helping to raise awareness. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network has so much suppoort and will assist us, if needed. Yikes - that turned into one helluva rant! I will post more after we get back from Baby Power!

Didn't get a chance to blog much last night due to Blogger not allowing me to publish. Guess they must be overloaded. I want to thank everyone for their kind emails and comments regarding my Mom. They are appreciated so much and they do help! I will be going up to visit her tonight. But, on the flip side - 2 of my friends are pregnant. Both are due in August so it seems like November was a busy month for some people. My one friend, D, had planned this baby (her 2nd) with her hubby, T. In fact, HE was one one doing the ovulation charts and the predictions. Boy - I guess he nailed the dates and time correctly - pardon the pun. While I really like D, T is kind of a control freak. Ok - he REALLY is a control freak. They already have a son who turned one in October, the poor thing. He is so sweet and so unprepared for this. D&T are the kind of couple who plans for everything. It's kind of creepy. For example, they already have a bike for Aaron that they bought while D was PREGNANT with him. It was a bargain.. yeah ok.. whatever. Bargains are everywhere... J is also pregnant. She is getting married next month on Groundhog's Day. She and her hubby to be have been trying for a while to have this one. This will make baby #2 since J has a son (9yrs old) from a previous relationship. Babies can only mean 1 thing for non pregnant people - baby showers! While I love to buy all those little things, I HATE (and I stress HATE), going to showers, bridal or baby. I adore my friends but those type of things are SO boring!

I just read Susan's blog. I find I have a lot in common with her. My Mom also has cancer (NonHodgkins Lymphoma) and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. In fact, this week is her 4th course of treatment. Then she will be off 2 weeks and starts another course. Off for 2 more weeks and has her final course in February. My Mom is 53. It is so difficult to go through this with her. Sometimes I feel so helpless... I want to make it better and I can't. I don't want my kids to lose their Grammy. My grandmother passed away in May and I am still struggling with it. I miss her so damn much.

I did forget to mention this - as much as I adore my sister in law, she makes an AWFUL cup of coffee! Bleeech! As soon as I got home last night, I made a pot of coffee. Paul and I drank almost 2 pots of coffee last night! AND - I am on my 4th cup this morning... Maybe that's why I am feeling so adventurous about tweaking my code!

Hey faithful readers! Made it back from Malvern, Pennsylvania with no problems. In fact, on our way home, about 20 miles from our house, it started to rain. Phew! I was never so happy to see rain! I was afraid it would snow on our way back. Luckily, it wasn't cold enough! We had a nice time in Malvern.I don't think it's the total sticks - heck, I live in the sticks! Manahawkin NJ! Exit 63 off the Garden State Parkway. I have a 40 minute ride to Atlantic City. Long Beach Island is about 20 minutes and Barnegat Lighthouse is about 30 minutes from my home. Anyway, enough of that! I had such a nice time out visiting Barb and Tom. My nephew (14 year old resident with major attitude) was hardly around. Barb, Paul and I took the girls out to McDonalds for lunch on Saturday and then we all went to a really nice park for the girls to run around for a while. Olivia fell asleep in during the 10 minute ride from McD's and the park. Poor kid - she missed her regular nap and she was so tired! Paul stayed in the car with Olivia while Barb and I took Moira outside. It was SO cold out! I was glad I packed hat and mittens for the girls. We stayed for 25-30 minutes then left. Not too many kids outside as it was pretty damn windy. Headed back to Barb's place. I had brought a couple movies for the kids, Elmopalooza and A Bug's Life. The kids watched Elmopalooza and Animal Planet. The girls got to bed pretty late since we ate dinner VERY late. Normally, Paul and I eat dinner by 5-515. I hate eating that early but it's a lot easier on the lil monsters. Olivia crashed out by 9pm and Moira went to bed after we watched A Bug's Life. John, my nephew, crashed his system so Paul was trying to help Tom fix the computer. Turns out that John's computer had only 64mb RAM and was running Windows 2000 Professional along with Dazzle Video and some other programs. While cleaning out the hard drive, Paul found a TON of porn about 1.5 gigs worth of pics and some avi's as well! Barb was SO pissed! But, Tom and Paul wiped his hard drive and limited the Internet access. John was not a happy camper! We left on Sunday and made it home by 245pm! Woohoo! I will be tweaking my site a bit so bear with me if it seems a little weird! Bye for now!

Well - this will be my last post for the weekend. I am heading out to Malvern Pennsylvania tomorrow at 9AM. I am hoping there is NO snow! There is a slight chance of snow on Sunday, both here in NJ and in Malvern. We should be home before that happens!! Have a great weekend everyone and don't forget about Erin! Please donate!

See Erin beg See Erin plead See Erin hook? No, Erin, don't look to hook. Maybe you should design a book! Save Erin.. please!

We had a fairly uneventful morning here. Olivia and I were lucky enough to wait in line at KMart for 15 minutes. ::sigh:: Thank goodness Olivia was pretty patient - not bad for a 2 year old! I have a Daisy meeting today at 3PM so I must remember to take a few Tylenol BEFORE I get there. 13 little hyped up, "I've sat in Kindergarten all day and now you are going to pay, pay, PAY for it" 5 and 6 year olds. Why do I torture myself?!? Ah well, one of the many sacrifices I have made for Moira... although I really do miss my mind the most! Save Erin - donate today!

Guys - you have got to help my buddy Erin out. Read her plea for help here. She also has a tip jar on Amazon. All donations would be greatly appreciated!

Finally caught X-Men on HBO tonight. WOW! Very cool movie. When the movie was going to be released, I had never even HEARD of X-Men. I sat through it and enjoyed it very very much. I am ashamed to say that I think Hugh Jackman is cute but Patrick Stewart is THE man! Oh, that sexy "I can make grown women swoon!" type of VOICE! I could just melt and die.... although not melt and die as gross as Senator Kelly from X-Men. Talk about your poor bastard!

I completely forgot to mention that I signed Olivia up for one of those Gymboree-type classes. I can't wait! The first one is Tuesday. I wonder if I can take pictures...

We are all heading to Malvern, PA this weekend to visit my sis in law. Should be a good time. I am looking forward to Auntie Barbara playing (and distracting) the girls for a while!

Wooooooooo! I have comments baby! Yeeeehawwwwwww!

Well - nothing like a quick morning jog to wake yourself up. We were running a tad late this morning so we jumped in the car to drive to the busstop (at the end of the street). As I am halfway down the street, I see the bus pulling away from the stop! YIKES! So, I zip around the corner and chase the bus for a couple blocks. When the bus finally stops to pick up a child, I tell Moira to jump out. I throw on the emergency brake, hit the flashers, grab her backpack, and we ran to the busstop. Moira's bus driver is really cool - a no nonsense type of woman, maybe in her late 30's or early 40's. She waited for us. I gave Moira a hug and kiss and she jumped on the bus and Zoom! Off to school! Poor Olivia was in the car, just sitting there, looking perplexed. ::grin:: We get back home and she finished her bagel and is now watching Blues Clues on tape since my CRAPPY cable is out again! GRRRRR! Comcast SUCKS! We will be heading out shopping in a little while. I have to get a birthday gift for my nephew (14 yrs olds) and he's into the aggressive skating look. But, he had also requested accessories for his digital camcorder and hockey equipment. SO, he's getting a sweatshirt and a hat or cash. Not too sure just yet! Plus, I have to go find an outfit for a wedding I will be going to on February 2, in Massachusetts. I even get to go ALONE! Wooooohooooo! Paul will be home watching the girls. I will drive up Friday, around 4-5 ish and hopefully get there by 10-ish. The wedding is Saturday at 1pm. What fun - going solo tto a wedding. I will know the bride and maybe 5 other people ::sigh:: Leaving on Sunday and driving back home. At least I get a couple nights alone - peace and quiet!

Ahhhhh ... peace and quiet at last! We all went to Home Depot after dinner tonight. I bought my paint (Ralph Lauren), molding, and some miscellaneous bits of hardware.My project tomorrow is to sand the shelf. Fun fun! Paul will get the primer and I hope we can paint it by Friday morning! God - I am SO crafty! Look out Martha!

:::grumble::: Didn't get my damn nap - phone kept ringing. By the time I was finished with the calls, it was too late to get any quality nap time. Well, at least Olivia got a great nap!

UGH! Up wayyyy to early today. I do despise the mornings. Got Moira off to school then Olivia and I visited ShopRite. 90 minutes later and $194.32 poorer, we head back home. It took me a half hour to unpack and put away all groceries, including Miss Olivia's "help". I still have to head over to BJ's and get meat and chicken. Then we will be stocked up for a while. I have to head on over to Home Depot tonight or tomorrow morning to get paint and quarter round molding. Paul found a cute little 2 shelf case that someone had put out at the curb. So, he will sand it down and I will repaint it. He will attach the molding and VOILA! New mini bookcase! Now, I think I will be taking a nap. Leftovers for dinner tonight.. YUMMY!

Thank goodness my day is finally over! After getting up this morning, Paul and I un-decorated our tree as fast as possible. He dragged the half dead, needle dripping, branch breaking tree carcass out the door and down to the street. BUH-bye! Wreath - GONE. Lights on the house - GONE. Interior Christmas decorations - GONE! Hell - you would never even know Christmas was even HERE. Well, except for the dozens of toys strewn about my living room. I planned on making a turkey for today. A tradition for us. I call it Irish Turkey. My Mother in Law, who is from Ireland, makes her turkey this way and it is SO good. Prep the bird and place it in the roasting pan. Place strips of bacon over the turkey breast and drums, making sure that there is no exposed turkey. Then bake as usual. The bonus to using the bacon is - no basting... the bacon drips over the bird. Therefore, no need to disturb it while it is roasting! Nothin like a self basting turkey. So, I popped that big ole thing (14.5lbs) in the oven by 1245pm! By 530PM, dinner was served. Turkey (of course), gravy, corn, mashed taters, and rolls. Ummmmmmmm! Oh, almost forgot about the turkey bacon!!! When the turkey is ready to be carved, pull off the strips of bacon and eat them. Oh my God - it is sooooooooooooooooooo delicious. Not recommended for people with any cholesterol problems. My kids fight over it! The little monsters.. Paid bills tonight after the monsters went to bed. Gosh - what a bummer, those damn bills ::sigh:: I need to win the lottery. Actually, I should get my ass back in gear and start eBaying all my crap.. err..junk...err... merchandise - yeah, that's it, merchandise! Plus, I plan on starting some night classes in February - the first class I am looking at is Intro to HTML. It's basically a computer training class. There are 4 other modules offered... Web Design and Marketing, Intro to JavaScript, Intro to Macromedia Flash, and Basic Networking and Internet Information Server Administration. Sounds like fun, eh? Anywho - I am off to bed. We have school tomorrow! And I get to go food shopping. Yeeeha!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope everyone had a great time on NYE. I, on the other hand, spent my NYE watching reruns of Sex and the City while flossing my teeth. Paul surfed on the web. Wheeeeeee! Aren't we a couple of wild and crazy guys??? Oh - the kids watched a couple DVD's last night - "The Emperor's New Groove" (I love this one) and Michael Flatley's "Feet of Flames". Hubba hubba - gotta love Mikey. Moira likes him and even Olivia was step dancing around the living room. That man can DANCE! And, his butt, encased ever so nicely in black leather pants, ain't so bad either! The kids didn't get to bed until 930pm. Not for long - Moira goes back to school tomorrow - Hoooray! She and I have been bumping heads the past few days. Going back to school will probably save her life. Who knew that 5 year olds can drive you up a wall??

Hey all! Busy busy day....as usual. Skipped church today in favor of shopping and spending more money that I don't have at Home Depot and KMart. Picked up a new bedspread, sheets, pillowcases, and blankets. Of course, had to get new sheers for my windows... can't have mismatched bedding and curtains! Still feeling that motivation from yesterday so we got some more odds and ends taken care of today. Even my laundry pile.. my NEVERENDING pile of laundry got attacked today. A few more loads and I might even see the bottom of my hamper! Woooooooo! Does anyone remembers Barnum's Animal Crackers? The ones with the string handle in the little box? God - I love those things! Moira does too. Barnum's is celebrating it's 100th birthday! They will be adding a new animal to celebrate. Be sure to VOTE for the animal you would like to see added. I chose the koala. I got this link from Erika. In case I don't post tomorrow, everyone have a SAFE and Happy New Year!

After reading about Erin's closet challenge and Joe's computer nightmare (written by Eric), I became motivated today. I filed a TON of papers (dating back to August), ran laundry, tried to clean up in my kids' room (hahaha), and Paul combed through all our software, and the pile of unlabeled discs/disks. I even cleaned out my "junk" drawer and organized all the junk in it! Now I know where all my shoelaces, twist ties, clothespins (don't ask), and the 85 THOUSAND pens and pencils were hiding. Don't even get me started in on crayons - they are like coat hangers, multiplying in the cover of darkness.

Had a mellow evening tonight. Dinner was delicious (Meatballs....ummmmmmmmm, said in my best Homer voice). The girls were hysterical tonight - at one point, the 3 of us were rolling around on the floor, giggling madly. It was fun. I updated my AOL page if anyone wants to check it out! Looky Look It's a little cheesey but I put a few more pics up.

I loooooooove this new mouse! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Made it back from Best Buy without emptying my bank account. I ended up getting this Logitech mouse. It has a scroll wheel and 2 buttons instead of 4. No big deal to me plus I ended up saving about $20. Got hosed on printer ink though - I have a Lexmark Z52 and the high capacity color ink I buy is anywhere between $30-$37 bucks a pop! I won't use those refills - don't trust 'em. The black ink I manage to get at WalMart for about $28 bucks. I have been printing out a lot of pictures lately and I am on the final dregs of the color ink! Picked up a PS/2 mouse for Moira and got talked into a Scooby Doo mouse pad. I did treat myself to the new Bare Naked Ladies CD! It's really good! Now, I have to update my Amazon wishlist! My favorite song is "If I Had a $1000000" Moira and I were singing it while driving home. We almost got run off the road by some ASSHOLE in a BMW. Dickhead. He tailgated me before passing me on the left and then swerved back in front of me to avoid smashing into the car in the right lane. Grrrrrr!

Nothing says good morning like burning one's wrist with a spot of searing hot lava-like grease on one's wrist. Now, you may be asking, HOW did Kate burn herself? Well, I decided to get an early start on dinner. I whipped up a batch of meatballs (Ummmmm.. meatballs) and I planned on throwing them into the crockpot for all day cooking, while we went shopping today. Well, one big POP from the pan and I got torched. Lordy - it really hurts! Well, after I recover, we (the girls and I) are heading down to Best Buy to purchase my new mouse. I must have this one. But, I am also REALLY questing THIS too. What to do?? What to do?? Time to get dressed and go shopping! Wheeeeeee!

Why on earth am I still awake? Paul had run a virus scan on the computer and found some worm hiding out in my temporary Internet files. SHIT! I even remember downloading the stupid file too! But, it was contained, quarrantined, and now safely deleted! YAY! Thanks sweetie! {{{smooches}}} Will write more later when my eyes aren't glazing over.... Now - off to bed!

By the way guys - leave me a message in my guestbook. I know SOMEONE is reading this! : - D

Just got back from the bank. WHEW - it is windy out there today. And cold too! Brrrrrrrr! The kids conned me into stopping for McD's. Actually, they didn't have to con me too hard : - ) There are some GREAT shopping deals out there in cyberspace folks! Check out Gap and Old Navy. I plan on SHOPPING! Wooohoo! Plus, I bought 2 new lithium batteries, earpiece, internal antenna extender, and 2 radiation pieces for my Nokia for under $40.00 DELIVERED! Yeeha! I am such a bargain shopper! I have also been adding things to my ">Amazon wishlist too! I love to shop! It should be an Olympic event!

I am SO happy Christmas is over!! The girls got too much stuff, as usual. When my inlaws came down to dinner on 12/22, they brought the girls gifts with them. Also, we had an early Christmas at my Dad and StepMom's house (12/23) so the girls got stuff then. Then, Santa showed up at our house, of course. THEN, we visited my Mom's place, where there was....you guessed it - MORE presents!! Arrggghhh! I am drowning in STUFF! We visited my inlaws later on Christmas Day. It was really very nice. They really liked the things we got them. My MIL was really impressed with a couple of the gifts I had made (so was Millie - my StepMom). I felt really good about that! Plus, my MIL had forgottent to bring down a gift for me on Saturday. I opened it and it was a beautiful piece of Waterford crystal, a pillar candle holder. I love it! The day after Christmas, Paul had to go back to work. That left me and the girls home. alone, all day. YAY YAY YAY!! So, I deemed it "Pajama Day" and the girls were SO excited about that! No TV - they just played all day with their stuff. Moira got a lot of craft stuff so she played with that while Olivia napped. Dinner was very very lazy - pancakes, bacon, and fruit! Dessert was popcorn and the girls got to watch a Scooby Doo tape that Santa brought. Bed by 830 - extra late for them! I will update more later - have to get the lil monsters dressed!

Woohoo! BLOGGER IS BACK!!

Paul left a little while ago to get the girls Christmas presents from my Mom's house. I have 4 garbage bags full of wrapped toys. Yes - *4* bags - but some of those toys are big (size wise). Since I became a "Stay At Home Mom" (since April), I was able to shop early, knowing my unemployment would be running out in 6 months - October. We will have to smuggle the bags in around 11pm tonight. Fun fun! I want to wish everyone a very happy, safe, and of course MERRYChristmas! Hugs to you all!

Posted by Mike - this wonderful story - you must read it.

The Mighty Geek strikes again! Christmas Story Part II

Did I forget that the girls got MORE gifts?? :::sigh::: I can now probably go back and return about 1/2 of what they are getting from Santa...

Hi everyone! Did you all miss me? I know you did.... We slept in a little bit today - 830am. Woohoo - what a treat! Paul and I ran around to get stuff organized/packed/prepared since we were going to be spending the day with my Dad and StepMom, Step Sister and her Hubby (who is a designer at Newport News - big MAC head) and their 6 yr old daughter. I called my Dad to find out what time we were going to be eating dinner. He told me around 315 but he had a bunch of stuff for everyone to eat, like M&M's, Chex Mix. cookies, etc... Well - Paul and Olivia CANNOT eat those things. Paul and Olivia both have severe food allergies. They will have an anaphalactic reaction to peanuts... and also all dairy for Olivia. Paul got upset because my Dad doesn't GET it.. does not understand how bad and how fast a reaction can be. So, I told my Dad that WE would bring all the snacks that Paul and Olivia could eat without problems. Besides that, we all had a great time. Moira and Olivia has so much fun playing with Victoria. We got over to their place in Brielle around 1pm. We didn't get home until 830pm. The girls were toast and so was Paul. After we got the munchkins to bed, I decided to run out and finish the last of my shopping. I had a couple more people to buy for that I totally forgot - like my Father in law ::DUH:: I just got back about an hour ago. KMart was open 24 hours - it was perfect. Hardly anyone there. I even used the self checkout lanes - which I love to do. SO much faster then the usual rocket scientists who normally work the register. Heck - I've been there.. managed several retails stores and I don't want to do it again - EVER. I know bad customer service when I get it. That's why I HATE shopping at WalMart. I can feel my IQ dropping as soon as I enter the store. UGH!

Oh my God - another attempted hijacking. This is so scary. I will be heading to Toronto in February by plane. Things like this are freaking me out.

:::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!

Part II Little beasties fed. Dishes cleaned. Lights on the tree. Baths done. Bedtime FINALLY here. DH and I are beat. We had "help" with the tree tonight from the munchkins. I was going to decorate the tree after they went to bed but I promised Moira she could help me in the morning (Hahahaha). What the HELL was I thinking?? Oh well, at least I have more time to play online. Who the heck needs sleep anyway? I am pretty used to getting 5-7 hrs a night.

WHEW! What a loooong day. Up to get Mo Bear to the bus. Off to car dealer for my plates (thanks Lester Glenn) and then a quick run to a craft supply store - AC Moore. Always mobbed. I got there when they opened and zipped around with Miss Olivia. Checked out and as I get ready to go outside.. RAIN! Argh! I get Olivia all bundled up like Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" and we run to the car. Luckily, I was close to the door since I got there early. BUT (big but) some ASSHOLE parked SO close to the driver's side - I couldn't get in my door!!! I was SO pissed. I stuff Olivia in through the passenger side to her car seat, load the packages, and then I have to CLIMB over the passenger seat AND the gear shift (all conveniently connected!) to get into the driver's seat. I am SO lucky I didn't slip while climbing over! Talk about a BIG owie! We make it home in one piece, no thanks to the idiots on the Garden State Parkway. You know the type, the ones who drive FASTER when it's raining. Usually in their freakin' SUV's that are the size of my house (Navigators, Excursion)! Grrrrr!! Feed the lil beast, read a book, and stuff her in for nap. Wrap the gift for the gift exchange for the Daisy Holiday party (which is at 330pm). Spray paint a basket for another Secret Santa gift for a 14yr old girl.Packed the car with all the stuff for the Daisy party. Manage to jump in the shower and get dressed before Olivia woke up. As soon as Jackie arrived to baby-sit, VOOM! Out the door to the party I go. As I am turning the corner, I realized I forgot the gift for the Daisy party! CRAP! BACK home to get the gift and ZOOM! BACK out the door. I will skip most of the details about the party. Just imagine 13 hyped up 5-6 year old little girls who have just been fed cookies, juice, and candy. Nuff said. Lord - I am tired.

I have been messing with my page all night. Still can't get some of the lines straight. But -I have a Guestbook. START posting! Pretty please? I will attempt to work on my page tomorrow, hopefully when my eyes aren't drooping. I have a Daisy Scout holiday party to attend by 3PM. I also need to whip up a few dozen chocolate chip cookies and maybe make some chocolates too. Have been watching FoxNews all day and night. I have decided that Brit Hume looks like a Bassett Hound and I REALLY like Donald Rumsfeld. There's a special something about him.... perhaps the way he can make a reporter speechless in a matter of 3.2 seconds after asking some assinine question. My father in law has that same talent and I thoroughly enjoy watching him use this talent on really stupid people.

The Tape.The Transcript. Read it.

From Snorland Important Notice: All scripts that were running on Snorland are no long available due to them using large amounts of server resources - because of high levels of traffic. Sorry for any inconvenience, but I have no control over this matter. Shit

Got Moira off to school today with no problems. She did forget her bear for show and tell. Mrs. Flynn (her teacher) called me at home, asking me to bring it in since Moira was crying because she forgot it. Awwww. Olivia and I brought it to school and her teacher sent her to the office to get the bear from me. Life is good again.