GREAT news!! Erin got a job! Woohoo! Read about it here! You GO girl!

Woohoo! I figured out how to upload photographs! :::happy dance::: Is it too obnoxious to post my own picture??

MAD SQUIRREL We have squirrels.. lots of squirrels. Lots of trees = lots of squirrels. They are not scared of us. Not at all. I had a patio table umbrella leaning on the side of my deck. Paul noticed a squirrel on the deck. Big deal, right? That little shit decimated that umbrella in under a minute. Shredded it completely. After that incident, you can imagine how wary I was with leaving things out on the deck. Another time, during the winter, I noticed a squirrel on my deck. At this point, I really hate the little buggers. So, I knock on my glass slider door, (which overlooks my deck), to try to scare it away. It just sits there. I bang on the slider harder now, with my fist. The squirrel just looks at me. Now I am pissed. This damn rat with a fluffy tail will NOT ignore ME! I bang even harder and I am yelling "Shoo! Scat!" This freakin squirrel turns and LEAPS at the door, landing spread eagle on the mesh sliding screen door, which is pulled closed in front of the glass slider. I screamed and ran back into my living room. Paul came running from one of the bedrooms. The damn squirrel is STILL hanging on my screen door. The thing jumped off and ran away once Paul came out. Grrr! The filthy things - I hate 'em!

I re-organized Olivia's closet.. This little girl has a LOT of clothes! Now - granted, I do try ot buy a season ahead when there are big clearance sales. Looks like I will have to stop that! She wears about a 2T right now (31" and 26lbs - a little petite for her age, which is 2). She has clothes ranging from 24mos all the way up to size . She has clothes to wear until she is 4 years old!! LOL! In my own defense, a lot of these clothes were purchased by many doting aunties and grandmothers. PLUS - I still have a lot of Moira's clothes saved for her too. I wish I had that many people buying me clothes too! ::sigh:: I live in jeans, loafers and sweaters/sweatshirts. Dressed up for me is a *nice* sweater and jeans with boots. ::grin::

Did I also mention that Moira has a temp of 99.8? ::sigh:: I just kept her home today, just in case. There were 7 children absent from her class yesterday. A wicked flu is going around and I am not taking ANY chances!

Good morning! A joke for you to start your day... Little David comes home from first grade and tells his father that they learned about the history of Valentine's Day. "Since Valentine's day is for a Christian saint and we're Jewish," he asks, "will God get mad at me for giving someone a valentine?" David's father thinks a bit, then says "No, I don't think God would get mad. Who do you want to give a valentine to?" "Osama Bin Laden," David says. "Why Osama Bin Laden?" his father asks in shock. "Well," David says, "I thought that if a little American Jewish boy could have enough love to give Osama a valentine, he might start to think that maybe we're not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit. And if other kids saw what I did and sent valentines to Osama, he'd love everyone a lot. And then he'd start going all over the place to tell everyone how much he loved them and how he didn't hate anyone anymore." His father's heart swells and he looks at his boy with newfound pride. "David, that's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard." "I know," David says, "and once that gets him out in the open, the Marines could blast the shit out of him." :::ba dum bum::

Evening! Got back from WallyWorld (aka Wal-Mart) a little while ago. It is the mecca of stupid employees. I try not to even make eye contact with anyone in there. I go in, get my crap, and leave. I picked up my black and color cartridges ($27 and $29, respectively). For $20 more, I could have bought a new printer. But, I do like my Z52 ::sigh:: It prints out nice looking photographs. See - it's a viscious circle. I got a new computer.. OK - well, it's 2.5 yrs old now. It's a P3/500 with 384mb, 10GB hard drive, and a 12/10/32 CD-RW. Great for me since I just fuck around with emails, shopping and surfing the net and blogging . I wanted a digital camera. So - last year I got an Olympus D-460 1.3 mega pixel camera. I love it. BUT - I had to get a new printer since I couldn't print out anything that looked decent on my old Epson 600 with 600dpi. Got my Z52 last year. Now, I want a new camera with higher mega pixels so I can take more "quality" photos. ::sigh:: Does it ever end? I used to think that Paul was the gadget person of the house. I realize that it is really me! *I* wanted the digital camera, the new puter, new printer, my PDA, my new mouse (wireless - LOVE it!). I wish I could afford to go to cable or dsl connection. I just can't justify it now, especially since I am at home. So, I will muddle through with my AOL dialup for now.

I ran out of color and black ink for my Lexmark Z52. Great. Off to Wal-Mart tonight to spend $45 on ink and another $15 on Matte photo paper. Do any of you guys have links to where I can buy regular ink (not refills or X brand) for a decent price? Sheesh! It migth be cheaper to chuck out my printer and buy a new one! I have tried eBay and I never seem to find any deals.

link via gigglechick
Which John Cusack Are You? ::sigh:: I am SO damn adorable! I have always had a "thing" for John Cusak... he's so damn cute! My all time (2) favorite movies are "Better off Dead" and "One Crazy Summer". I even dated a guy (back in HS) who looked a little like him!

Also - it was pointed out to me in an email (from ToeTag) that I haven't listed him as one of my daily reads. :::shamefaced::: So, I have updated and added him! Sorry sweetie! I really love your haikus!

Did I ever tell you guys just how wonderful you are? Really - the best audience ever... I am so lucky to have such a fabulous set of people here.. Can you tell I am trying to suck up? ::smile:: Ok - if someone can help me out.. I would *really* appreciate it..I want to be able to list all of my archive dates in my blog. Not too sure how to do so.. if anyone would like to email me some step by step help.. that would be awesome!

Massachusetts Pictures - A few are up

Dinner for this evening - Homemade Chicken Soup and fresh bread Yum!

By the way - Thanks to everyone who emailed me and wished me a safe trip! I appreciate it!

Sunday Woke up at 730am (grrrrr!) I slept badly because the morons above me made a lot of noise. No - not sexual noises you perverts! It just sounded like they were dropping bowling balls and rocks occasionally. I had packed my stuff up the night before. I loaded up my car and I checked out by 8am. Drove to the local Dunkin Doughnuts and got a REAL bagel and a GOOD cup of coffee! Hit the road and headed to Yankee Candle in South Deerfield. It was only 20 minutes north on Rt 91 so I got there by 850am. Of course, they didn't open until 930am so I drove around the town which was right by Sugarloaf. Oh my Gosh - it was just beautiful. I was speechless. I don't even know how to ski but I want to live up here. Click here and here for 2 really cool pictures of Sugarloaf. Headed back to Yankee Candle. By this time, they had just opened. I could smell all the candles before I even opened the doors. This place was enormous!! WOW! I just wandered around, looking every bit the tourist. There was so much to see. There was Santa's workshop (Mrs. Claus took a picture of me and Santa), the Nutcracker's Castle (got my picture taken in a really cool throne), a fountain, the Bavarian Christmas village (with snow falling), the Sampler Emporium - Rainbow of Scents (which featured ALL the candles - beautiful).. I had to walk through twice! Of course, I did buy some candles too. I hit the road by 1120am and made it home (via I95S to the Parkway) by 4pm. That included 1 stop in Conneticut. Not bad time at all... I had so much fun! I want to do this trip again!!

Saturday Post Wedding The ceremony was beautiful. It was held in an old Catholic church with the most gorgeous stained glass windows. After the ceremony, the guests were to immediately proceed to the Chateau Provost for the reception. The directions given by the banquet hall were COMPLETELY wrong. Thank GOD I had purchased a map of the local area. It was normally a 20 minute ride from the church which took ME almost an hour. Luckily, I made it there before the bride and groom! I was a little nervous about going alone - it's no fun to sit out all the slow songs. Jenn seated me at the greatest table. 2 older couples, and the 3 dates/escorts of the bridal party. I met Doug, who was the escort of one of the bridesmaids. He was extremely charming and I had the best time chatting with him. Turns out he is a Steelers fan too! We discussed the games from the past couple weeks. He is 34, about 6'3, a florist and is NOT gay - he even said "I am not gay!" LOL! (I found out later he was divorced) Did I mention that I also thought he was pretty good looking too? He escorted Erika (bridesmaid) but they are friends. I certainly didn't get that "just friends" vibe from Erika, who was busy shooting daggers at me with her eyes. Too bad honey.. he's mine! He bought me a drink - I reciprocated. Dinner arrived - not the best but I have eaten worse. I did cry when Jenn danced with her Dad to "Butterfly Kisses". I got teased at the table for crying . After dinner, I hit the dance floor with Jenn and a few others. Had the BEST time. What the hell - I hardly knew anyone! Doug decided he had better chat with Erika for a little while since he and I were chatting quite a bit. At one point, towards the end of the evening, I asked him to dance. I was sick of sitting out all the slow songs. He seemed quite surprised that I asked. WHY do guys get so surprised by that? Am I suposed to sit around, simpering and batting my eyes, hoping he'd get the message? It's not like I wanted to marry the guy - I just love to dance! He said, while we were dancing, that he didn't know if I would dance with him during the slow songs. That's why he didn't ask me. ::eyeroll:: Men. We looked a bit like the odd couple while dancing since he was a foot taller than I. Of course, do I even need to add that he is an excellent dancer too? Let me tell ya ladies.. he would be a VERY nice catch! I had taken a bunch of pictures (of course) and I told Jenn I would send her copies of everything. Doug also asked for a copy of a couple pictures I had taken with my digital. He gave me his address and asked me to also keep in touch with him, which I certainly will. Probably one of the nicest people I had met in a while. I realized that I didn't get to take a picture WITH him (duh) but I took a couple of him. Finally left the reception by 9pm! I was pooped! Made it back to the hotel by 940pm. Talked to Paul, took a shower, and fell asleep by midnight!

Saturday Pre Wedding I was rudely awakened at 7am by 2 giggling girls zipping by my window, no doubt on their way to the Continental breakfast. I had a difficult time falling asleep as it was. Needless to say, I was a bit pissed. I decided to just get up since I was unable to fall back asleep. Got dressed and wandered out, in a bit of a daze, to search for food. Checked out the breakfast, the usual fare - doughnuts, mini bagels, cereal, really bad and weak coffee.. I grabbed 2 coffees (hey - it's caffeine), a mini bagel, a doughnut and headed back to the room to eat. Yummy! By this time, it's 8am and the wedding was at 130pm. I decied to drive around and check out the area. Gorgeous - the mountains, trees, the snow... wow. Just stunning. I took a ton of pictures. I will post pictures soon. It was so nice to drive around... no rushing... no honking... no fingers.... I had brought a bunch of cd's with me (Bare Naked Ladies, Sting, Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Celine Dion) and blasted them! Drove to the gas station and managed to fill the tank. I hate pumping gas - thank God for full service in NJ! Ran inside the little convenience store and got a BIG ole cup of good coffee! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Got back to the hotel and called Paul and my Mom. After that, I decided to lay down and try to rest for a little while. Well, stupid me! I had finished my big ole cup of coffee (plus the 2 small ones from earlier). Now, I am wired! CRAP! I got up after laying down for about an hour. I did my makeup, my hair, got dressed and hit the road by 1230. I will post more about Saturday.. in the morning...

Friday I have to say, on the record, that Massachusetts is one of the most beautiful states that I have ever visited. I would love to move up here. Northampton is within 1 hour of Mt. Sugarloaf, Mt. Holyoke, Smith College, Basketball Hall of Fame, just to name a few... I had a wonderful time! \ The ride up did suck - very rainy. In fact, it alternated between being completely sunny to completely rainy and then back to sunny. Very weird. I took some pictures with my digital while I was driving (yes - I am pathetic but I love to take pictures). I did drive up the NY State Thruway and picked up the Mass Pike, which I took to Rt 91. Checked in at the hotel by 645pm. Called the house - everyone was fine I met Jenn and Rich around 8pm at a local Italian place..also had pool tables and a bar. They had reserved a room in the back and had the rehersal dinner there. I hadn't seen Jenn in about 4 years. She started to cry as soon as I walked in - she was so happy I made it up to her wedding ::smile:: We hugged and cried! I am such a mush - I cry at everything. She introduced me to everyone.. of course, I couldn't remember anyone's name. I was so beat. I was back at the hotel by 930pm. Watched Trading Spaces on TLC. Took a shower. Got all my stuff unpacked and set up my clothes for the wedding. I crashed out around 1am.

Well - the Rams are getting stomped - crap.