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..