Well - I will be fixing more of this later and adding my links back in.. please let me know if I miss anyone (once I set them up). I somehow managed to break the coffeepot, ran late cooking dinner so Paul and Moira were late going to soccer and I knocked over an entire box of organic rice crispies.. those little bastards scattered everywhere ::sigh:: Oh, and the cereal is about $5.00 for a 10 oz box.. figures... Gotta go to KMart and get a new coffeepot..

I think comments are up now...

Grrr!

Well - I have dorked up my blog... again.. Please bear with me while I work on it.. What a crappy day..

::sigh:: I screwed up my last post by trying to edit it.. My Mom got her PET Scan results back.. it was her 3rd scan. The past 2 were negative. No signs of cancer. It's back now, according to this last scan, everywhere it was before Mom's chemo. Upper/lower back, shoulders, pelvis, legs... The Fludara (chemo medication) didn't kill the clusters. Just made them dormant. Any spare thoughts and prayers you can toss this way would be greatly appreciated.

Off to recycling and the post office.. be back soon! TA!

ACK! I just got back from the bus stop and I am covered in mosquito bites! I am soooo itchy.. it's unbearable. I've already covered them with Benedryl cream and they still itch!

The season finale of Sex and the City was great. I *love* Carrie's new guy. He's adorable.. AND... The Sopranos is going to be coming back on Sunday! YAY!!! HBO heaven!

I forgot to mention that Olivia's Medic Alert bracelet arrived yesterday. It's SO tiny! The chain is only 5" long! But, we got all the necessary information on the tag. This will be the best $35 we have spent. Olivia loves her new pretty bracelet. I hope that sentiment continues for a while!! ::knocking wood::

I have a few minutes to jump on and say Hello! Paul painted the front door (again!) for the last time. Let me go officially on the record and say that Behr paint SUCKS ASS! Our front door took 5 coats before it looked anywhere decent.Next time, we will be sticking to Sherwin Williams or Glidden. Paul joked that if we slam our front door hard enough, the pain might fall off and smash on our front step! ::grin:: I'll blog more later as my children are behaving like they are re-enacting "Lord of the Flies" ::sigh::

I just caught the Amy Wynn and Ty make-over story. Wow - they both looked fabulous.

We had a GREAT day with the kidlets today. Let me say that the weather was GORGEOUS.. I couldn't have picked a nicer day to go out with the kids. We did go to the zoo and I thought Olivia was going to pop! She spent most of the afternoon chasing after Moira, shouting "Wait for me!". It was super cute. I didn't bring my digital camera. It was all filled up and I was too lazy to empty it this morning. In fact, I was too busy because I was making lunch to bring to the zoo. We actually left for the zoo later than I wanted. One of Paul's co-workers also has a landscaping business and he was down here early this morning to core and slit seed our lawn. It's pretty crappy looking now so by spring we will have a mega lawn. Anyway - we got down to the zoo around 1130 and the girls walked and walked until 130. By then, they were STARVING. So, back to the car to get the food. After lunch, we brought them over to the playground so they could run around for a while. Olivia zonked out on the ride home. I just LOVE watching her eyes roll around right before she falls asleep. It's just so funny. ::grin:: I am off to read a few blogs and watch Trading Spaces (OF COURSE!). I just watched the first one of the new season and Doug looked so adorable! I loved that T-shirt he was wearing! ::sigh:: How handsome! And the kitchen he did was great!

Happy Birthday to Mary - today she is 33 years young! :::smoooch:: You rock!

Well - there isn't a darn thing on TV worth watching tonight. Paul is (and has been) asleep in the recliner for the past hour and a half. My life is so damn boring sometimes. I crave being able to go out whenever I want. Then, I feel guilty for feeling that way. I adore my girls and Paul but I have to be able to get away from them every once in a while or I feel like I am going to scream. ::sigh:: Off to empty the dishwasher. What freakin' fun..

After a yummy dinner, the kids wanted to watch Junkyard Wars. Paul had taped it the other night so Moira could watch it. I made chocolate chip cookies. Olivia scarfed down a couple spoonfuls of the dough and then ate 5 cookies!

The laundry is finished! Hooray! Well, I just have to get the sheets off the clothesline but they will be going right back on the beds. We are going to the Cape May Zoo tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be low 80's - clear and sunny. Can't wait! The kids will have a blast. I will take lots of pictures - heck, maybe I'll let Paul take 1 or 2. Nahhhhhhhhh.

(link snagged from Marc who snagged it from ThinkGeek) Shower Shock Caffeinated Soap Mornings Have Never Been So Invigorating Tired of waking up and having to wait for your morning java to brew? Are you one of those groggy early morning types that just needs that extra kick? Know any programmers who dont regularly bathe and need some special motivation? Introducing Shower Shock, the caffeinated soap from ThinkGeek... Shower Shock is an all vegetable based glycerine soap which does *not* contain any harsh ingredients like ethanol, diethanolamine, polyethylene glycol or cocyl isethionate. So it's a gently envigorating soap ;) Scented with peppermint oil and infused with caffeine anhydrous, each bar of Shower shock contains approximately 10 servings/showers per 4 ounce bar with 250 milligrams of caffeine per serving. No, we're not kidding and no you don't eat it. The caffeine is absorbed through the skin... Have smelly co-workers that sleep in too much? Give them the gift of Shower Shock...

I HATE folding laundry! Arrrggggghhhhhh! I have folded (and put away) at least 4 loads worth. AND - I am not done yet ::sigh::

Friday Five! 1. What is your biggest pet peeve? Why? BAD manners. Try "Excuse me" or "Thank you" every once in a freakin while, ya jerks. 2. What irritating habits do you have? I bite my nails 3. Have you tried to change the irritating habits or just let them be? I try not to bite them but I start nibbling them when I am reading. 4. What grosses you out more than anything else? Why? BUGS! EW EW EW! I can deal with flies and worms. Anything bigger, faster (like spiders::shiver::) or bugs that have the ability to jump in any direction (crickets) totally freak me out. Ever see the first "CreepShow" movie?? ACK - I am freaking myself out! 5. What one thing can you never see yourself doing that other people do? Probably flying in a plane. I have always been a nervous flyer.

Can anyone recommend a good FTP program? I am going to be dumping AOL (finally cutting the AOL umbilical cord) ::sob:: and I need to transfer all of my images, etc...

Conversation between Paul and Moira the other day M: "Dad?" P: "Yes?" M: "Do you hold your penis when you go to the bathroom?" P: "Yes, I do." M: "Oh" ::pause:: "Ok.. I was just curious." I was hiding in the bedroom, giggling as quietly as I could. The best part, Paul never skipped a beat and just answered the question.

I just mowed the back yard, hung laundry, skimmed soem of the scary creatures out of my pool and dumped chemicals in it. I am pooped!

Did I also mention that is is 77 degrees, clear and cool. LOVE it!! Gotta go hang some laundry now - BYE!

The second day of school went smoothly. I hope the bus ride home is better than yesterday. Olivia and I had to stop at WalMart to pick up some particular school supplies for Moira. I am curious why she would need 3 dry erase markers. Of course, they had to be black. So - of course they are not sold in 3 packs or all black either. ::sigh:: I have 4 other colors that I don't need or want. She also needed a protractor and a compass. God help me when she gets to 4th or 5th grade.. she will probably need a frickin' laptop.

Moira went back to school today ::sniffle:: I mean, I am glad she went but I will miss having her around. Things went smoothly this morning. She got up all by herself (we sent her alarm), wore a new outfit (very cute!), did the whole morning routine. But, as we were walking down the driveway, she slipped on some loose gravel and BAM! Fell right down and scraped her hand. She cried - poor lil thing. : - ( She was ok after a couple minutes fo cuddling. Plus, a buddy of hers (who lives 3 houses up) was starting Kindergarten so they walked up together. It was sweet. We have the same bus driver as last year. She is really very nice. I am glad to see her again. Her bus was 40 minutes late! UGH! Some sort of mix up at the middle school. Hope it doesn't happen again tomorrow. I think she enjoyed her first day.. she didn't want to really discuss it too much ::grin:: Goofy kid. We didn't get back home until 410pm. That sucked because Moira also had soccer practice tonight at 530pm. I threw dinner together as fast as possible and then Moira and I took off for the fields. We met her coach, who seems to be a really nice guy. Turns out he is a 6th grade teacher. Cool. We didn't get back home until 730-ish. Zoomed into the bath, teeth brushed, book read and VOOM! Into bed by 830pm! Damn - I AM good!

Moira starts school tomorrow. I cannot believe that she is going into first grade. ::sigh::

By the way.. dinner was absolutely delicious.. : - )

Hey Joan! It was nice chatting with you.. hope we can do it again soon!

We got back around 130pm. I spent the afternoon at Dick's and BJ's. As in Dick's Sporting Goods and BJ's Wholesale Club. I found cleats and socks for Moira and managed to get out of there by spending only $34.47. I really wanted the damn WalMart cleats for $9.99 ::sigh:: I spent a lot of money at BJ's - we had no meat left! I hate spending all that money at the supermarket when I can get it at the wholesale club for much cheaper. Well - gotta go be productive... chat later!

Off to go shopping. Wish me luck that I find some cleats! Yesterday, I asked Moira what she wanted for dinner tonight. I told her she could pick a special dinner before the first day of school. Spaghetti and sausage was her request. I cooked the sausage last night and now it's simmering in the crockpot. All I will do is make some garlic bread and a nice tossed salad. Yum!

YAY! Quinn's back!

YAY! Mary is going to visit me!

Hmm - doing some shopping on Amazon.. I think I will pick up a couple books for Paul - Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter.. maybe some Rush Limbaugh..

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day. I shopped. I have been on a mission to find cleats for Moira. She starts soccer on Wednesday (which happens to be the first day of school too. Wah!). I cannot find cleats in her size anywhere. I looked in KMart, WalMart, the sports shop in my neighborhood. Nothing. So, the girls and I will be going to Dick's Sporting Goods tomorrow, where I will have the privilege of paying way too much money for her cleats. ::sigh:: I had to do a ton more laundry today. It has been so chilly we all have been wearing jeans. Thank goodness I had finished back to school shopping a while ago and had jeans that fit the girls!

Go vote for Da Goddess - Is she Hot or Not? By the way, my ratings are slipping ::hint hint:: C'mon and vote for me too!

Did I mention that school starts on Wednesday! YAY!

I certainly didn't get enough sleep for the past couple nights. Busy days! On Sunday, I woke up to a downpour. Ugh. I dragged myself into the shower and attempted to make myself presentable. I managed to make the 830am service (10 minutes late) and sat through the teacher's meeting. Sunday School starts on the 15th. After church, I zipped over to Bruno's (still raining) and picked up my deli order for the week. After lunch, we visited my sister in law and her hubby, my niece and my new nephew. Of course, he's just adorable. His name is Colin Michael. He's so tiny! We stayed a bit too long and didn't get home until 7pm! The kids didn't have dinner until 745pm. Moira wanted to watch an Arthur special on PBS which featured the Backstreet Boys. It was pretty cute. The kids loved it. After the kids went to bed, Paul and I worked out some plans as to how we would like to build our addition. We need to work on it some more. What we have sketched out now adds a new master bedroom with a full bath and walk in closet, an all purpose room with a utility closet, and we also have plans to redo the kitchen and bathroom. I can't wait!

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...