Upon reading about Erin's shenanigans last night, I have found this - The Five Levels of Drinking, which might come in handy..

Good evening class! Sorry for not really posting too much today. Been busy busy busy! I picked up a bunch of books from B&N tonight and I can't wait to start reading them! I got: The Town and The City - Jack Kerouac Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte Sense and Sensibility and Emma - Jane Austin A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh PLUS - Food Allergies Tips from the Nutrition Experts - The American Dietetic Association FOOD Allergies - The Complete Guide to Understanding and Relieving Your Food Allergies - William E. Walsh The Peanut Allergy Answer Book - Michael C. Young Needless to say, I will be busy reading... My Mom sent me home with a few more books too! Arrggh! I have about 15 books to read. ::sigh:: Thank goodness I *love* to read!

Friday Five - Part 2! 1. What cologne or perfume do you wear? - Gio - by Armani 2. What cologne or perfume do you like best on the opposite sex? Cool Water or Aramis 3. What one smell can you not stomach? Ok - this is gross - vomit 4. What smell do you like that others might consider weird? Gasoline 5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Well - we went out to dinner tonight and hit Barnes and Noble! Woohoo! I have 9 new books to read - in my SPARE time of course!

Friday Five (link from smattering) 1. What do you have your browser start page set to? My online bank 2. What are your favorite news sites? Fox News Network 3. Favorite search engine? Northern Light 4. When did you first get online? Zoinks! Has to be since Gopher was around (if anyone remembers using that!). Oh, and Webcrawler too. If I had to guess, I would say since 1994 5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Paul and I are going out to dinner. Then, off to hang out and shop in Barnes and Nobles. Moira is sleeping over my Dad and Step-Mom's place! YAY!

I hope he rots

Friday January 25 11:20 AM ET Hockey Dad Sentenced to Six to 10 Years By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - A man who beat another father to death during their sons' youth hockey practice was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison Friday for involuntary manslaughter. Thomas Junta, 44, had asked to be put on supervised probation with community service. His attorney said Friday he would appeal. Junta sat handcuffed, with his head hung low during the hearing as victim Michael Costin's three sons, sister and mother spoke. ``Please punish Thomas Junta and do not allow him to soon get out of prison and ruin another family's life,'' Costin's middle son, Michael, said. ``No matter how much of a sentence that you give to Thomas Junta, my dad got more.'' The judge followed prosecutors' recommended sentence, though he called it lenient and generous and said he considered exceeding it. During the trial and sentencing, prosecutors painted Junta, a 270-pound truck driver, as a bully who picked on a much smaller man. Supporters described him as a ``gentle giant,'' a devoted husband and father who fell victim to ``a very bad set of circumstances.'' Junta did not speak during the hearing and called no witnesses on his behalf. He sobbed as his defense attorney, Thomas Orlandi Jr., read from letters Junta had written to his two children, including 12-year-old Quinlan, had witnessed the fight. Orlandi also read part of a letter written by another 12-year-old hockey player, named Garrett, who also saw the fatal beating in July 2000 at a suburban Boston ice rink. ``Quinn needs his dad more than anything. ... Tom didn't mean for any of this to happen. ... Please don't punish Tom for something he didn't mean and didn't want to happen,'' Orlandi read. Before being led away, Junta raised his shackled hands to blow a kiss and wave to his family seated behind him. Barbara Tracy, his sister, sobbed as other siblings tried to comfort her. Junta and Costin fought at the rink after Junta objected to rough play during a pickup hockey game. Costin was supervising his three sons, Junta's son and several other boys on the ice. The jury determined that Junta didn't intend to kill Costin but that he went too far. At trial, Junta had said he tried to avoid the fight and only hit Costin in self-defense. A medical examiner testified Costin suffered severe brain injuries that could have resulted from his head being beaten into the floor. Some previous incidents in Junta's life, which were not brought up at trial, were taken into consideration for the sentencing. Junta's wife, Michelle, was granted a restraining order in 1991 when she alleged he beat her in front of their two children and another child. A court ordered Junta out of the couple's apartment and gave his wife temporary custody of the children. Orlandi dismissed the restraining order as irrelevant and stressed that the couple was still together. But the judge on Friday read from part of that order, which said Junta hit his wife at a wedding in front of children. Costin, 40, had four children, ages 11 through 14. His father, Gus, said Costin had a drinking problem and had been in and out of prison for much of his adult life. But he had quit drinking and was working steadily as a carpenter and painter, he said. Six months before he was killed, he regained custody of his children. ``Don't worry about what the judge says today, Mr. Junta,'' Gus Costin said Friday. ``Worry about what the judge upstairs is going to say. That's eternity.''

Moira is the Superstar of the Week for her class. So, the superstar gets to have a parent come in and read a book, using the letter of the week (D) and also bring in a snack that starts with D (Doughnuts). She asked Paul to come in and read to the class! I was a bit taken aback (ok - a lot) but she is so excited to have Paul come in and read, I can't be too upset about it. Besides, Paul is D - Dad

Claire Standish is the perfect teen... Pretty, popular, homecoming queen who, as she so modestly puts herself, "everybody likes sooo much." She's part of the "in" crowd and can't believe that she's spending her day with the likes of a basketcase, a brain, and a criminal. Claire makes it perfectly clear in the beginning that she just wants to get the day over with, and doesn't need to be bothered by the other people. She's a nice girl and all, but is somewhat deserving of her stereotype "princess" title. But, as the day goes on, after some laughs and some tears (and the revealment of a true talent for putting on lipstick)...Claire learns maybe she shouldn't be so quick to judge people... The role of Claire was just one of Molly Ringwald's memorable characters in the 80s. Molly Ringwald's name, in fact, is synominous (sp?) with 80s classics. Aside from The Breakfast Club, she also starred in such 80s favorites as Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles. If she was the perfect teen - how the HELL did I end up as her??? Link via Erin

WOW! Check out Erin's new look! Great job chicky! I have Bonkos tonight - will post more later tonight!

Oh - and it looks like Button #1is in the lead. I may end this contest early - not too many voters out there! C'mon guys - VOTE! Links are on the left!

Hi guys - I am still getting caught up on my blogs. One blogger in particular can use some prayers. Sandee, who has an awesome outlook and great spirit. She had surgery yesterday for a Porto-Cath. (Port: a small plastic or metal container surgically placed under the skin and attached to a central venous catheter inside the body. Blood and fluids can enter or leave the body through the port using a special needle.) My Mom also had one inserted several months ago, before she started chemo.

Off to the mall - I want a new outfit for the wedding in MA next week.. Tata for now!

Part III We make it home by 3pm. Phrewww - time to spare! We pick up Moira at the busstop and come back home. Thank goodness I had the sense to plan an easy dinner. Yes, I have to plan dinner - when you have 2 kids, your life and all activities revolve around feeding time. ESPECIALLY if you have a kid with food allergies. Dinner was burgers and pasta salad. See if you can guess the common ground between the following : red, yellow, and green peppers, broccoli, and tomatoes? Answer : All the veggies that Olivia LOVES to eat! Peppers! I hate peppers - ick! The funniest thing is to watch her stuff her face with peppers - it's really cute. After feeding time at the zoo aka dinner, it's the usual frenzy of activity to get dishes cleaned, living room organized, some playtime, then it's :::dum da dum dum:: BATH TIME. Olivia likes her bath but since she has such sensitive skin, she gets what we call "fast bath". Cleaned and zipped out of the tub. Usually done within 4 minutes. Getting Moira in for a shower usually requires dealing with 5 minutes of bitch and whine fest, 2-3 minutes of foot stomping and lots of tears. (Must be the hormones) By the time she gets in the shower, it's all I can do not to drown the kid! Joking folks, just a joke. Clean pj's, medicines for the kidlets, brush teeth, read stories, tucked it bed - now it's 8PM. WOOOHOO! Get out the noisemakers and partyhats - it's BEDTIME!! Paul was online already while I tucking Moira in bed. When I got into the living room, I kicked back on the couch and filled him in on the details of the day. I'd had a headache for a couple hours and I decided to rest for a few minutes. At 1030pm - Paul wakes me up! I staggered into the bedroom, threw on some PJ's and fell into bed. I had enough sense to set my alarm for the morning. AND - here I am!

Part II Where was I? Oh yeah... Moira on the bus.. I had forgotten a couple things so I zipped back home, grabbed them, and off we drove to Wall Township (exit 98 for all you Jerseyians out there). We pick Mom up and zip up to IKEA. We made it there right before the store even OPENED! Wooohoo! IKEA is awesome when it isn't packed. I have always been there on a weekend and it's like Christmas time in the mall - PACKED! I only spent about $28 and Mom spent around $80. Of course, while I was there, I mentally spent about $4K. It's so damn easy! While shopping, Olivia was starting to hack and cough again. We finished quickly and got out of there ASAP. Made it to Mom's place by 1230PM. I gave her another breathing treatment and then she kinda sorta ate some lunch. My Mom has stocked her place with a zillion (or maybe 2 zillion) toys, stuffed animals, you name it.. it's probably there. The kids are in heaven when they come over. Olivia and I hit the road to head back home around 215 since Moira got off the bus at 330. Of course, she FINALLY falls asleep in the car, on the way home. At this point, I am exhausted. Driving home on the parkway, with the defroster on, car all nice and warm... I was getting that white line madness. I ended up putting on a cd and singing, just so I could stay awake! So, if any of you saw a burgandy Santa Fe heading Southbound, with a chick who was singing, it was probably me! Part III coming soon.

Good morning all :::yawn::: I never got a chance to update yesterday at all! Talk about some crazy 24 hours! Olivia was waking up quite a bit on Tuesday night, coughing, hacking... sounded like a seal. She's up, down, up, down in her crib. By 130am, I pulled her out, and sat with her in the recliner. I gave her some medications with the nebulizer and she seemed to do much better. Ok - great - back to bed. Again, up and down for the next couple hours. (Take note of the fact that I hadn't gotten but maybe 2 hours sleep so far! Eeeek!) By 430AM, I said the hell with us, got her and her blankets out of the crib, sat in the recliner with her and we BOTH finally got some sleep. Of course, I have no alarm clock in the living room (Can you guess where I might be going with this story?) I wake up and squint at that damn tiny clock on my VCR and it's 730AM. 730!!!! SHIT!!! We have to be at the busstop BY 810AM. I leap up out of the recliner, almost dropping Olivia. I wake up Moira, who is complaining and whining about school, and run into the kitchen to make 2 breakfasts and lunch for Moira. All in all, we MADE it to the busstop ON TIME! Why the big hurry? Well, Olivia and I were going to IKEA after Moira caught the bus. All I can say is it was a very good idea for be to pack a diaper bag and supplies for Olivia earlier in the evening.

Ok - like a moron - I forgot to UPDATE the web address of my updated pictures. ::smacking forehead:: So, if anyone still cares, check 'em out again!

Which drink are you? Link from Jennifer aka Working Mom

Ok - I can't decide which one I like better! I will post the winning banner on my blog. View banners 1 through 6 here, then help me by voting! Pick your favorite Breast Cancer Code!

More pics for you guys to check out!

Ohmigosh! I completely forgot to mention this! I am going to be an Auntie! (again) YAY YAY YAY! :::wiping brow::: Phrew! Takes the heat offa me for a little while!