I've been slacking..........

and I'm going to blame it mostly on the rush of the holidays. But we all know that's not quite true since basically I sit here at work 5 nights a week for 8 hours with not a lot to do so I could be blogging.

Only I don't feel like I have much to say most of the time.

So I've decided that for the new year, I'm just gonna say whatever I feel like and let the world see how boring I am. LOL

Christmas was so wonderful at our house! All the kids were happy, which is one of the most important things to me! I know it's not about the materialistic things but I like giving my kids presents and seeing them happy with even the little things. I've seen too many sad and depressing things in the last several years to deny myself that little joy!

After the kids did the opening presents routine, we went to 12 o'clock mass at our church. My daughter is an altar server and she got the 12! First time in years that we didn't have Christmas Eve mass. But it was beautiful! And I'll admit, I cried during mass. Not a lot, just that filled up, teary kind of cry. Certain hymns always get me but this year, I just couldn't help it, my heart was kind of feeling heavy.

Without saying too much and losing my job, there is a patient in our hospital where I work. He's very sick and it made me really sad to think about him being in ICU all of Christmas. I think too much. I thought about his family. I wondered if his mother sat there and thought back to a year ago. How could she not. A year ago she didn't have a sick child. A year ago she didn't think this was going to happen. A year ago, everything was different and some things were just so damn important. I don't think those things were important this year. Most of our patients here are adults and I guess this child is considered an adult because he's 18 but in my book, you're a kid. You didn't do enough, you just graduated, you didn't live, you are a kid! It broke my heart to think of them this weekend.

And while I sat in mass, I listened to the petitions. We prayed for many things but we always pray for the deceased of our parish. This year I recognized a name. I hate that. I like to think that everyone on that list is old, lived a nice long life. But I knew this man, who was only 26, wasn't one of those old people who lived a long, happy, fulfilling life. I didn't know him personally, but I know his mother. Her youngest went to school with my oldest. She is a good mother, a good catholic and a dedicated leader to our CYO. She served our parish as our CYO director for 20 years. And she lost her oldest child to drugs. I don't know how or the details but to me, those aren't important. She did all the right things. She sent him to school and church. He went on to college. He played soccer all those years. He started to grow up and he referred games. He seemed to have all the foundation to grow up and become something, anything he wanted. But he didn't. He died. And his mother had to bury him a few days before Christmas. How do you have Christmas on Saturday when you bury your oldest child on Wednesday?

I'm hoping and praying that I never find out.

But with those two situations on my mind this week, I enjoyed every second of my over- materialistic holiday. I enjoyed every second of seeing the joy on their faces. I enjoyed the OMGs and the I can not believe its. I enjoyed the shopping, the crowds, the traffic, the going back to the store 3 times because it was the wrong one the other 2 times. I enjoyed the back breaking wrapping, the stressful pain in the ass tape, and the lost scissors.

I'm hoping that every stinking year I get to enjoy it over and over and over again, just the same exact way, with nothing changing, nothing screwing it up, nothing making it any less crazy. I want to always have 3 piles, one with blue wrapping paper, one with green wrapping paper and one with red wrapping paper.

I'll take more piles, more gifts, more wrapping paper colors, more stress but please, never less.

AMEN!

And it's the weekend....

yahoooo!

Hubby texted me today that he brought home 10 boxes of my decorations and they are in the garage. I can't wait to get started! I love decorating for Christmas. With a little luck, I'm going to have some helpers this year too. I already warned the kids! I was also promised a fixed lamp post out front and electricity out there with an outlet. Dare I dream????

Here in Philly there has been a huge new story brewing. Don't know if anyone else has heard this but the city took down the CHRISTMAS VILLAGE sign over the Christmas Village and had it just say Village because the CHRISTMAS part offended some people. Then yesterday, the mayor had it put back up. Seriously people?? I can not believe that this offended people. Are these the same people that I'm giving my green "In God We Trust" paper money to? Cause if all that offends you, why don't I just get a free cab ride or come into your store and take what I need but don't pay cause I don't want to offend you.

And really? That's what offends you? There are homeless on the street, there are children starving right in Philadelphia, there are people out of work, losing their homes, families being torn apart. We have women being assaulted, raped and then murdered. We have human beings being attacked because they are gay, we have children killing themselves because they are being tortured and bullied. And with all that, the word CHRISTMAS offends you? Seriously, get off my planet! Go do something useful with yourself because that is just pathetic!

I think the holidays are a time that people should just celebrate whatever they are, how ever they choose, without having to answer, explain and conform to anyone else. Go do something good, helpful, useful. Don't go to the CHRISTMAS village if it offends you. Use that money to buy a coat, hat and scarf, blanket, or some food and donate it. Spread some joy instead of being miserable.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox!

For the first time since.....

my oldest son was in first grade, I am going to a parent teacher conference.

Now, to some that may sound horrible. I always hear parents going to conferences even when their child is doing well and that's fine, but that's not how our schools work it.

I found this out in first grade. I went to my son's first grade conference and the teacher, who was not a pleasant woman and had been teaching for 30 years, says come in, why are you here?

I told her I was G's mother and I just wanted to meet with her. She said well, he's doing fine and that's about it. Okay. So I waited for the gushing praise that she was bound to tell me about my wonderful son. I mean the kids is smart and funny and talented and well, let's face it, he's just brilliant. But she told me that he's just fine and there was no need for her to meet with me. Then she explained how the whole process worked. Okay, that would have been helpful BEFORE I signed up to meet with you. She told us that these meetings were for the kids having trouble or for the parents of the children who had no idea that their child was having trouble. So basically we wasted her time. She was just such a lovely woman and I was never so happy when she retired at the end of the year so that neither of my other two children had to be around her.

So, we learned our lesson. Besides that, I was a regular at the school with volunteering and other things so most of my kids teachers knew me and knew that they could stop me at any time to discuss anything with my children.

I now have a son who is in 11th grade. He is an honors student and is always in the top 20 of his class. Told ya he was brilliant Mrs. F!

And he's the child that I now have to go up to the high school and have a parent teacher conference with the head of the English Department. My son had a wonderful man teaching is AP English Language course. That man blew a ton of sunshine up my butt on back to school night telling me all about how my child and the others were going to come out of this course writing like Shakespeare. This was important to my son since he loves to write. THIS was his course!

That twerp decided to leave the school 2 weeks later to take an administrative position in a charter school. He did this before and then came back, now he has done it again and it's really starting to irritate me. So, we get the new AP English teacher. And that is the reason I have to go to a conference with the head of the department.

The new teacher started in the beginning of October and was absent on Monday, Oct. 11th which was Columbus day. Yeah, she went camping with her friends on the weekend and was just too tired to come to work! Now, not only does she do this, but she tells a class full of 18 boys. Mind you, I'm paying approximately $5300 a year for my son's education in this school and this chick couldn't get her ass out of bed? Sweetie, if I'm out of bed, so are you! I get it if you are sick, we all get to be sick. But do NOT tell a class that the reason you were out was because you were too tired. Is this chick serious?

Then the last semester papers finally came home. Now, my son had a 96 for the report card so that's not the problem. But I'm having a problem with other issues he's told me about her and then when I see a big red underline with SPELLING written next to it under the word "persuasive". I'm about ready to blow. My son says how can she mark this wrong, it's right, it didn't come up as misspelled when I typed it in Microsoft Word. Then I whipped out not one but TWO dictionaries and guess what????

Now, I misspell and use the wrong grammar etc. all the time. But I'm not a high school AP English Teacher and if I'm thinking something is spelled wrong, I'm double checking it!

Then today they were reading from the text book, a lesson you would think she would have prepared, and they come to the word "infinitesimal". The teacher can't say it. Ok, we all have that happen, it gets stuck. A student says it for her and she says "what does that mean?", the student tells her "very small". She says "how did you know that?" Ok, seriously??? If you don't know as the English teacher, how about faking it! Or better yet, before you teach this lesson, look it over and if you see one of those big words on the page........LOOK IT UP!

This girl is not qualified to teach this course. This is an AP course, college level. My son and 17 other boys had to apply and be accepted to take this course. They had to meet certain qualifications...........why doesn't the teacher??

I would love to know how many other parents are there to discuss this teacher. I've heard I'm not alone in my concerns since I'm friendly with a few of the teachers and administration up there. This should be interesting.

And that is why I now get to go to Parent Teacher Conference night for the first time in 10 years!!!

I always cry.....

I'm just one of those people who cry easy. I cry when I'm sad, when I'm happy, when I'm scared, or nervous, or excited. I cry at stupid things like movies, books, commercials and school events with my kids. I can cry when I hear a certain hymn or song. I cry when looking at pictures and watching videos. It's not always a bad cry, sometimes I can smile while I cry, but I'm just an easy crier.

I cried this weekend!

My son was in his school play. I told my son freshman year that he should get involved in stage crew. He did but didn't give it 100%. Then Sophomore year he decided that he was going to give it another shot, and fell in love with the theater and the behind the scenes. His goal is to get named Stage Crew Director for his senior year. He got 2 awards last year and was most impressed with the one given to him by the Stage Crew Manager. The other one was for something academic, he was okay with that but more impressed with the Stage Crew one. He was asked to step into a minor role during the spring musical because a kid was on academic probation. He did and he loved it. That's when he decided that as soon as the Fall Show auditions came around, he was going for it.

And he did, shaking like a leaf, he went for it!He landed one of the lead roles in the show called The Rules of Comedy. It's a comedy about applying the rules of comedy to a very serious play, Hamlet, the last scene to be exact. Hamlet is deep and dark, not funny. But they applied these rules and it was a funny show! And my son was on stage for the entire show, with a huge spot light on him, with a lot of lines.

And I cried. But that's okay, cause it was a good cry!

I don't ask for much......

really I don't.

I just ask for a few little things in life.

I ask for Target to have my shampoo and hair color in stock. Why they need 40 boxes of Ms. Clairol #255 Deep Deep Dark BLACK and only 2 of the blond that evidently every woman in Philadelphia uses, is beyond me. Would it kill them to over order that color just one month so I don't have to go to 3 other stores to find it?????

I just ask that they have grape juice. Not Blueberry Pomegranate Cran Grape. Just Grape. It's Tuesday and there is no Grape on the shelf. Who the heck does the ordering for these stores????

I do ask that if you are going to make a left turn onto another street, signal a little bit before the turn and then scooch over to the left a little so those of us going straight can pass you. I know it's hard to hold the phone AND put the signal on. I mean God only gave us 2 hands and one of them must be on the cell phone at all times! But just give it a shot, just one time and see how smooth your turn goes.

I ask that teachers just get the kids out of the school so they can go home. I know it's very important for them to be silent while in a line but for the love of everything holy, let them talk and get rid of them faster. Stopping every few steps to tell them to be quiet isn't working. Aren't you dying to get rid of them?? You've been with them for 6 hours now. Send them home to their parents, who by the way, are sitting in the car with 50 other things to do and places to go.

I ask that if you are going to send me a notice that my book is in at the library, that you send the notice BEFORE the library closes. See sending it at 11PM doesn't do me a lick of good. I can't get it then and have to wait for the next day. That's annoying because I've been waiting patiently. By 3:30 the next day, I am busy and have completely forgotten that you sent me an email about 12 hours ago to come and get it.

And those were just today!

They tell me.........

that in a few years, more like 10, I will miss all this.

I will miss all the running around that I have to do on a daily basis. I know they're right, I will miss being busy when they get older and don't "need" me anymore.

I think back and remember when I was a tween and a teen. If we couldn't walk to it or get there by bus, we probably just didn't go. I don't remember asking my mother to drive me to places. I'm pretty sure we just got ourselves there. I don't remember her driving us to the dance or sitting in her car while reading a book just waiting for me to come out. I just think things were so different and it didn't work that way back in the 70s and 80s.

This weekend I drove my one son and his friend over to a mall in New Jersey to buy a t shirt at Hot Topic. It had to be that specific Hot Topic because on Thursday of this week, they are having this band there. So if you go over and buy a t shirt, you get the arm band which allows you in to see the band. I have no idea of the name of the band even though he told me several times. I try to remember, it just seems to get lost by more important things like where I left my car keys or what day of the week it is.

I'll admit, I love doing all these things. I want to be that mom. I want my kids to look back and say my mom always was there to take us here and there, or my mom always let us have our friends over. I want to be the mom that makes the pizza rolls, lets 10 kids lay all over the living room floor watching a movie and bakes 2 dozen cupcakes cause it's one of the girls birthday.

I just wish the government would send me a nice check every week for being that mom! It would be so much more fun to be that mom if I didn't have to work every day.

So this week I have one son with play rehearsal every night because the big show is this weekend, I have another one with the All Star Soccer game and a band he just has to see, and a daughter with an art class and a new engineering club. Throw in 3 shows of the play this weekend, the school dance that I run, which includes finding some time to do the shopping for that dance some time during the week, a few trips to the grocery store and Target, and with a little luck, some time to stop in the hairdresser to beg her to cut my hair and wax my eyebrows. And let's not forget, a little alone time with Ms. Clairol because teaching the oldest to drive is just ruining my perfectly natural blond!

I think "they" are right though! I'm going to miss this.

Until then I guess it's dark circles and uneven gray hair!

So, back to blogging.....

I have journals like this in my room too. I start, I stop, I start again. It's the story of my life. Never feels like you are getting anything done and yet when you sit down to write, you could go on for hours!

So, I'm giving it yet another shot on another Monday.

A horrible thing happened in the VB kingdom this weekend. All the little princes and princess are not happy. The computer has a virus and needs to be seen by someone who knows what they are doing. It might be time for a professional, or a sister in law who thinks she's a professional!

The kids are going through withdraw. I offered to take the oldest to work with me for an hour so he could come here and bring his laptop to get things done for school and then I could print it out if he needed. He said he didn't need to do that. The husband got home and got it at least to the point where you can go online on the main computer but not on the laptop. And we're not sure how long that's going to last since there's a virus and it just keeps screwing things up. Wouldn't it be nice if my computer being down was as urgent to my sister in law as it is to the kids? LOL She actually has the audacity to put work and her family first. Believe me, I'm making note of this when it comes time for Christmas presents. LOL

More big news in the kingdom! The oldest son is in the school play this weekend! He's a nervous wreck. I'm saying a novena and hoping he doesn't get sick this week from being so run down between the rehearsals, the meeting and just regular school work. I'm so excited for him though. I can't wait for the weekend!

And a little sad news in the kingdom. My other son was in the playoffs with his soccer team. First time in a long time that they made the playoffs. But they lost on Saturday night so technically they are the 3rd place team. No shame in that considering the teams that they had to beat. The coach actually has a complaint in to the Commissioner because they've played this team before and some of these kids weren't on the original roster and didn't even have uniforms on, unless all of a sudden we play against the Philadelphia Phillies in CYO soccer. Not that it's going to do anything because the championship was Sunday so I'm sure it's too late to do anything. All in all Greg had a great season and played so well! He made the All Star Team so he has his last game on Wednesday night. Kind of bitter sweet because I don't think he's going to play soccer when he gets into High School next year.

I can't believe I'm saying this but.....I'm going to miss soccer games with him.

UGH! I hate the fact that they are growing up and I have no say in it whatsoever!

It's a comin........

the weekend is within my grasp!

Got a really busy one coming up too and I can't wait.

I have to go to the high school on Friday and set up for the Moms Association Craft Fair that is on Sunday. I love the craft fair! After that I have to pick up my oldest and take him shopping for a new shirt. He's going to a school dance with some friends and his new "interest" asked him to meet her there and then after the dance go to Nifty Fifties for ice cream! He's on Cloud 9!

He deserves this so bad too. He had a really rough summer with a guy that he thought was his best friend and now they don't even look at each other anymore. Now he's telling me things that happened and it's really hard for me not to want to make a hood ornament out this kid. But I'm being good!

The other son is going to the movies and then having friends over. The daughter has art and then a soccer game. This means that two parents must figure a way to divide and conquer the parental duties of being chauffeurs and chaperons. Might need to break out the cape and boots for this one! And a list of who needs to be where when and by what means. Which most of the time means we are driving. Wouldn't dare want any of the other parents to break a sweat on the weekend for crying out loud.......but that's a different gripe and I'm not griping today!

Saturday is finishing up anything that didn't get done on Friday with the Craft Fair and then 4:30 mass since Jerry has to lecture at that mass. Might even be able to squeeze in dinner with the hubby if all goes well. Since he works 2-10:30P, he doesn't get to have a nice home cooked meal with company so we're going to try and make that happen on Saturday. Wish me luck!

Then at the break of dawn, Sunday is Craft Fair day! I love the Craft Fair!! I get my personalized ornament from there every year. And there is this wood crafter that makes the most adorable Christmas decorations and I'm getting a new one this year. Oh and he makes these sports team signs that you put in your lawn and I am sooooo getting my Flyers one this year. I didn't get one last year since money was tight so this year, I'm getting presents! I've been a very good girl and I deserve a little something! It's the little things, what can I say.

I have to squeeze a trip to B&N into the weekend too. My daughter wants a book that the library doesn't have and she has to read something for school so I told her I'd get her book for her. Yeah, twist my arm baby and make me go to B&N. I'm a good mother and I will do what I have to do for the good of my child's reading habits and school projects! Go me!

Then when the Craft Fair is over and the clean up is done, I get to go to my son's soccer game and relax while I sit in the cool, crisp, Fall air and just enjoy myself. And the best part is that I do not have to go to work on Sunday night, personal day for me!

I am just going to skip out of work in the morning!!

Counting my Blessings!

Have a good weekend!




Current Read: A Secret Kept by Tatiana De Rosnay

Do you wanna funk with me?

I guess that's what this is....a funk.

Not a bad funk, just a bored funk.

So many good things are going on in the crazy kingdom, I should just not be in a funk.

But I am.

I'm not in a bad mood, I'm in a good one actually. I'm just so bored. The kicker is that I'm so damn busy I don't even know how I have time to be bored but I am. I'm in a rut and need to do something different. I'm tired of doing the same things every day. I need to shake it up a little.

I wanna get out and play, not do the things that I have to do. I have to go to soccer games, I have to go to school functions and I have to run the craft fair. I have to go grocery shopping, do the wash, find the winter school uniforms and wash them, run to B&N, take the oldest out for a suit, hem some school pants, clean up that pile at the bottom of my bed, pack up that one drawer into a box, clean up a ton of crap in every nook and cranny you can find and even with all that....I'm bored and want to do something different.

I really want to get in the truck with my camera and go have some fun. I need to put that on my list.

I'm really lacking patience and discipline this week too. I just need to get things done and in between, a little me time. I think I'll make that a priority this weekend. I need me time. Bad, real bad. Now I just need to figure out how I'm gonna do that!

I'm going in.....wish me luck!

Stop the world.....

I wanna get off!

UGH! I can not believe that it's August 30th. I can not believe that the summer is down to 7 days. Where did it go??????

I'm absolutely terrified of this school year. I know that sounds weird but I have 3 reasons.

1. My oldest son is going to be a Junior in high school. That means we need to start thinking about college. He has a roster this year that scares the crap out of me. I know he can do it but I know how much pressure he puts on himself too. I'm scared!

2. My other son is going into 8th grade. That means this is it. His last year in the easy going relaxed friend filled grade school. I remember clearly when he was starting preschool and I asked him if he was excited and he said no, I'll just stay home with you so you don't miss me.

3. My daughter will be starting 7th grade. That's huge for a girl. Big changes are coming up for her both physically and mentally. And that really scares me. Even her uniform for school is changing. She's going to the "older" girls uniform of a skirt and blouse. She tried on her new skirt and then proceeded to show me how to "roll" it up so it gets shorter. That scared me even more!

I need a time machine! I need to go back, I need the world to stop, or at least slow down.

I need a valium and a glass of wine!

I need a do over!

I got a lot done this summer that I wanted to but I didn't do any where near enough! I think I figured it out. Work. Work got in the way of me having a life. Life was so much more relaxed and enjoyable when I didn't work. That's it, it's all work's fault!

Since I can't quit work, I guess I better make the best out of this last week.

Here's to this week.......

Thoughts from my happy place......

Even though I slept lousy, it really wasn't that bad of a day. Greg had soccer practice and Toria wanted to hang out with her girlfriends since they were all going to be at the field anyway with their siblings that had practice. Her coach is on vacation so no practice for her.

That left Jerry and I to hang out together. I love hanging out with all my kids, I adore them and I do not play favorites, but I have to say, I love just hanging out with Jerry. I love it cause he's a talker. We can just sit somewhere and talk and talk and talk. Sometimes I can even get him to act goofy! I love that, I love that I have that with him. Jerry is my kid that is the most like me. I know things about him without him even telling me because I know what I would be thinking or feeling or doing. We had such a good time tonight just sitting there talking while we were waiting for the kids to get done. That alone made it a good one!

We stopped in Target to grab a few things tonight and Jerry pointed out these dishes to me. They were deep purple! They....were...gorgeous! They were the most beautiful color of purple ever and if I hadn't just bought two new sets of red dishes, I would have gotten them. My kitchen is red but my bedroom has purple in it. Jerry thinks I should get one place setting just for myself and then sit in bed and pamper myself. That boy just gets me and he might just be on to something!

I'm really in the mood to "find" something this weekend! I think I'm going to do some yard sale hopping if I can find a few. The weather is going to be great and maybe I'll get lucky and find something cool! Maybe even something purple! Nothing like finding something purple for you happy place!

It's officially Friday! Oh how I love Friday! And I'm determined that this is going to be one good weekend to make up for last weekend. I'm hitting the library tomorrow. I got the notice that Criminal Minds Season 4 is in for me and I need something to watch next week at work. I love that show and really miss that I haven't been able to watch it so this is going to be a good week for me to catch up on that.

I think we'll make some smores on the deck once all the kids are home from where ever they are going. This is one of those things that have been on the to do list all summer and needs to be done! Can't wait!

I'm determined to enjoy these last two weeks of summer!

Therapeutic........

just typing that word caused me stress. It doesn't look right so then I have to look it up in 3 different places just to make sure I have the right word and spelling.

Yes, I need therapy!

So, my friend Diane tells me that blogging about everyday things would be.......THERAPEUTIC!

Might just be worth a shot.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend since last weekend was a complete disaster. Ok, not a complete disaster since I was with the family and we did have a nice time at the water park.

But it never fails that when I plan something in my head......it never happens. This is what I refer to in my life as........drumroll......Lori's Law. I know, original.

Lori's Law happens a lot and I can pretty much predict that it's going to happen. Whenever I get my hopes up, that's my prediction meter.

We planned on going to the mountains for a nice family weekend. My sister in law offered her mountain home "any time, just say the word". So we said the word and evidently, we had the wrong word. What isn't fair is that she said the word before we did and I think that's not fair cause she owns the house and makes up the "word". Turns out she and her husband, who live at the shore, needed a weekend away in the mountains and guess which weekend they picked?

I know it's their house and I know they were being nice offering it but does it ever fail that when we pick a weekend, organize it all, arrange days off, the whole thing gets screwed up?? Maybe it was partly our fault for not asking sooner but we had work vacation schedules to deal with AND they never go up there so we figured, because they said it, that we could just pick any weekend and go.

We thunk wrong again! So now we are stuck with 3 kids who are totally thrilled to be going to the water park and we are not about to tell these kids that we just aren't going. Now, the other sister in law lives up there and has plenty of room, but she has these 2 dogs that they don't train so these 2 dogs attack you, constantly. I mean if you sit on the couch, they jump up on you and start humping your head. And not much gets done to stop this except the "Simmy, get down" yell. Or my favorite....Dewey, stop doing that!....from across the room. Um, I really don't think they are listening. I always wonder if I let my kids do that to them when they come to visit, would it be ok for me to just yell from the kitchen??

Needless to say, the husband does not like to stay at that sisters house. And besides, we wanted to be alone, just the 5 of us, at the house so it was like we were on vacation.

Our only other option is.......his father's house in the mountains. Yes, they all have houses in the mountains and down the shore. And we still can't get the hell away for a weekend! His father's house is a combo of a museum and a monastery. There are holy pictures, plaques, statues and tons of other things all over the house. The big 16x20 framed poster that has Jesus and then in rainbow letters under it "Jesus, I love thee" is my favorite. Hey, I'm catholic, I get being religious and faithful but this is just going over board and completely hypocritical. These religious people will not spend one minute of their precious time with their children or grandchildren. They never visit, not even for birthdays, they never come to things when invited, they would just rather be up the mountains, each sitting on separate floors watching TV. And most of the time, on the first floor, the TV has mass on. Might as well be dead, then you'd be even closer to Jesus in my opinion!

Needless to say, we were very uncomfortable and unwelcome. We had to stay in our bedrooms the whole time because my FIL and stepMIL both were using the "living rooms" in the house. Living rooms....ha! Those rooms haven't seen any "living" since the old man bought the place in the 90s.

We opted to spend the entire day Saturday at the water park. We left there at 6:30 to come back to the lake at the development to have a "family cookout". When we got there, they had already been there for 40 mins. We sat down to eat, talked for about 15 minutes and then all of a sudden, the cleaning up started. Evidently, it was a 2 hour limit on the "family fun cookout" and we missed the most of it. That's when the husband turned to me and said "how about we go back to the house, pack up and sleep in our own beds tonight!" I've never loved that man more in my entire life.

When my husband told his father that we were just going to head home and do things at home the next day, he replied "Oh good". Okie dokie then. And the next morning at breakfast is when we decided that we would never be going back to his father's house to stay again. I seriously have to look into a few hotels up there and treat the family to a real vacation!

So, I'm REALLY looking forward to the next two weekends.....and we have nothing planned. I just want to relax, sit on the couch with my feet up, lay in my bed, sit on my deck, leave the dishes till the morning, not make the beds, watch the tv, play a game with my kids, park where ever I want without being told I'm doing it wrong, not have to live out of a suitcase and travel bag, and be totally FRIGGIN HAPPY!!!!

It's called LIVING people, try it!

Damn, Diane was right!

Reading:

Just finished: Fragile by Lisa Unger -loved it!

Just started: Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Listening to:

KYW/CBS3 news for the weather & news

Thinking about:

Playing the lottery!

Getting the school supplies done this weekend

What to have for dinner since it's soccer tonight

I don't know which I love more.....

finishing a book, or going home to start a new one????

I just finished a really good book! Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo was really good! I love a good thriller/suspense story and this book did not disappoint! I can't believe I didn't get my hands on this book sooner but I'm so glad I finally did! I love the characters and the setting of this book which is partly in Amish Country. I love that the characters aren't perfect and I love that they have skeletons in their closets. I think it's safe to say there wasn't much about this book that I didn't love.

And the best part about this book.............

it has a sequel....it's part of a series, which is my most favorite thing!

I love when a story keeps going and the characters that you like get to stay alive and keep doing what they do!

I can't wait to go home, crawl into bed and start the next book, Pray for Silence!

What did I do.....

Do you ever ask yourself that question??? What did I do?? For some reason, one that I totally can not understand, there is this big black cloud following me!

Crap just keeps happening and it needs to STOP! NOW! I'm putting my foot down. This is it. We are getting close to the weekend and I'll be damned if this cloud is going to occupy space in my weekend! BE GONE!

There, that should do it!

Times like this call for some serious relaxing and reading!

I just finished Broken by Karin Slaughter. Let me just say, I love this series and I love these characters. I loved the book but I just wish the ending was a little different. But, it does leave me hope that there will be more to this series.......lots more!

Now that Broken is finished, I can get back to Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo. This book is goooodddd! I mean really gooodddd! I can not wait to dive into it more on the weekend!

Tuesday was my library pick up trip! I had about 4 books waiting for me that I had reserved. Yeah, I need to add 4 more books to my TBR pile like I need this damn black cloud following me. But hey, I got 'em and I'm gonna enjoy them!

The one thing I hate is, I keep hearing great reviews about the new Diane Chamberlain book, The Lies We Told and I have that in my pile now. But I want to read Sworn to Silence and the next one by Linda Castillo, Pray for Silence first.

Does anyone else do this with the piles.....all the shifting around? I probably wouldn't have to do that so much if I would just get off the computer and READ.

There just isn't enough time in the day for just the things I want to do. If I could only figure out a way to read while driving the kids around, that would be perfect.

Now I know why people have chauffeurs and nannies!

Thursday Thoughts.......

I love Thursdays! Thursday is my Friday at work so I don't mind coming to work much on Thursday nights!

The weekend is right there, at the edge of the night, almost like you can see it coming when that sun comes up on the morning! I just love walking out of here on Friday mornings, everything just seems so much better!

Thursday nights at work tend to be a little quieter too. People don't like to call in much for fear that they'll hear that their doctor wants them to come in first thing in the morning. That could seriously mess up a weekend! So unless people are really having a problem, they tend to try and hold off on calling their doctor! Works for me!

Thursday night is a good night to curl up in my chair and read some of my book, hopefully without nodding off! I can't wait to do that tonight! I'm about 3/4 of the way through Broken by Karin Slaughter and I'm taking my time with it. I love this series! I love these characters and I want to savor this book. I just don't want the story to end! But I'm pretty sure I'm going to finish it over the weekend, which is okay because my next book on the night stand is Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo and I really want to read that one too. I have quite a few in my pile that I'm dying to read but I want to take my time and enjoy them all.

Usually on Friday nights, the kids have plans which involves us driving to or picking up from. Honestly, I don't mind, I enjoy hearing them in the car with their friends talking or having a little time with them to talk about things. That's when I usually hear what's going on with this friend and that friend. But once all the driving is done, it's time to curl up on the big comfy chair on the deck with the tiki lights lit and do some reading. It's my little slice of heaven out there. Usually during the night, the kids will make their way out there, one at a time, and sit with me and talk. I love those moments!

That's why I love Thursdays, they give me so much to look forward to and then they turn into Fridays. So TGIT and TGIF!

Hope you enjoy your weekend as much as I know I will!

A ridiculously good day...

And seriously, it's ridiculous to have a good day like I did, to come to the end of your day and think, damn that was good.

And what would a day consist of that made you feel that way? Well, first it would consist of coming home from work at 6AM, going right to sleep and not waking up till 2PM. I think I needed some sleep. It's been a little stressful these last few weeks and I just needed to unwind. Worked like a charm!

Then I got up and it was gorgeous out! Open the windows and doors gorgeous! NO A/C on in the house! My daughter cleaned out her closet and drawers, without being told to. Okay, there are about 8 bags of clothes in the hallway but that's okay because I might have found someone to give them all too. I hate just getting rid of stuff that looks brand new. I always hear about someone who could need them AFTER I get rid of them. So I'm working on a few people. Otherwise, we are unloading a huge load when we go to the Goodwill Store.

I had a great time just sitting around and talking with my son Greg for a little while and that made me so happy! He's been going through a lot of things these last few weeks and didn't really have a great beginning of summer. One of his best friend's mom died very suddenly and it shook all the kids up some. He's worried about his friend and I'm really proud of the way he's been there for Jimmy, really giving him a shoulder to cry on so to speak! So we had a nice little talk this morning that consisted of actually words, more so than grunts and groans! Loved it!

Then I finally got moving and cleaned up a lot of things in the house that just really needed to be cleaned. I got Victoria to give me a hand with a lot of it so now she really feels like she earned all that cash I have been giving her when she goes to the mall or movies. I didn't want her to feel like a free loader for her entire adolescence. She made a small dent in her debt to me! Greg was outside with friends instead of being in my basement playing video games with everyone, which freed up the rooms for me to get some laundry done and some cleaning up of crap done! Yes, those piles in the hallway are gone! Nothing to trip over now when I'm carrying baskets of laundry up and down. Why did I not think of this sooner!!

My oldest son is on his way home from his trip to Disney World! I can't not wait to see this child!! I've already explained to him that I'm going to be cleaning out the garage and basement, then renovating it into a little apartment for him because I had a really hard time with him being gone for 10 days. College is just going to send me over the edge. I'll be walking the streets with my shopping cart, looking for thrown away change and mumbling weird things while petting my cats. Good thing college is two years away, it'll give me more time to get more cats!

Then on top of it all, I remembered that I didn't watch this week's episode of The Bachelorette, which means I can watch it in work tonight! Oh let me tell you, in the wee hours of the morning, The Bachelorette is riveting TV that keeps you from losing your mind! Sometimes at 3AM, you just feel like pulling your eyelashes out, that's how bored you can get.

And then the cherry on my sundae....I found out that my favorite goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers just signed a 2 year contract! Oh yeah, I love my Fly Guys and it makes me so stinkin' happy that Leighton is staying on.

Now, to go kick back, enjoy my roll and salad and read my book!

That, my friends, is a really damn good day, with a perfect ending!

If you give a bibliophiliac a book......

she will always want more. And more. And more. And then she will have a lot of books that are just about every where. They will be on shelves, five of them. They will be on top of the books on the five shelves. They will be in crates, four of them. They will be doubled in front of and on top of the original stack in the crates. They will be staked, 40 high in that little space between the crates & the bookcase. And then they will be piled up on the floor in front of the crates and the bookcase. That's not even including the books in the boxes over in the corner or in the basement or in the garage. We aren't even going to mention those hidden treasures. Out of site, out of other people minds.



But there will come a time when you realize, you need to clean up your room and you need to organize those piles and you need to get rid of some of those books. Especially the ones that you have double of. How did that happen??

I have about 10 grocery bags, plastic not paper, with books in them that I am donating to the hospital I work at. I'm going to guesstimate that I'm cleaning out about 50-60 books. I also have a pile in the room that has to be packed up, another 20 at least. And I still have the 4 crates, stacked and doubled, & the 5 book shelves with others on top of the lined up books. And of course I still have those hidden books in the boxes that only I know are there.

I just really needed to clean up that mess and couldn't take it any longer. I wanted to invite a neighbor in the other day to show her all my books and let her borrow a few but I couldn't bare to let her see the dust and the mess. So I got determined and I cleaned that room and fixed up all my books.

Now it looks decent, clean, neat and I can be proud of my collection!

My name is Lori and I'm a bibliophiliac!

Just wanna curl up in a comfy spot.....

and read my books! I just wanna escape from the every day crap for a few days. Can anyone blame me? I've had a rough week, I deserve it!

So that's what I'm going to do. I went to the library today to pick up my books that were in and I just about skipped out the door. Okay, first of all, they changed the system of picking up your books. You used to go to the counter and wait, they would find your reserves and then you'd check them out. Now, they have them on a cart in a corner of the library and you go get them yourself. I do not know why, but I'm liking this a lot better!

Today was jackpot day for me! Actually this whole week was book wise. I picked up Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo the other day and started it. I'm really loving this book. But today I picked up 3 books and I have a dilemma! I picked up Broken by Karin Slaughter. I just have to read it. I know I'm not going to be able to renew it so I'm going to dive in! I also picked up Pray for Silence which is the second book after Sworn to Silence. Now I really have to get moving. I've read reviews and the Silence books by Linda Castillo sound great!

I'm seriously in reading heaven right now! I'm going to go find a nice comfy chair in work and snuggle up with my book. Let's hope it's not a busy night!

Midnight Meanderings.......

I'm having a bit of a rough and crazy week.

Summer break started here and I should be in a much better place than I am but I'm dealing with a few issues and it's draining to say the least.

One of the issues is with my son, nothing really serious, just had to see him go through some things and I just want to take all the yucky away from him. Life was much simpler when their biggest struggle was putting their own shoes on the right feet!

We'll be okay and as long as he knows I love him and am there for him, it should be fine.

The other issue is much harder. My son's friend's mother is passing away as we write. She's been in the hospital for a few weeks and her organs are failing. J actually called my son G and told him today was the day. It's almost midnight so today wasn't the day, it's just going to keep going. Our boys are 13. Thirteen year old should be spending the day at the pool or the park, not the hospital. My heart just breaks for him. This means next week is going to start with a funeral. Not a good way to start any week, let alone the second week of summer. This poor kid. It just breaks my heart.

We know how much we love our babies, even if they are adults. We always tell them every day that we love them. They know it in their hearts. But tonight I wrote each of my children an email. I think sometimes, they need to be able to read it and let it sink in and maybe read it again. It will be there for them when they need to go back to it. Sometimes we forget the power of the written word. Only God knows if you are going to get another day, another chance to write things down. I think it's time to start writing little notes, leaving them here and there, because you just never know. And even if I live to be a 110 years old, at least I'll know that maybe I put a little smile on their faces while I drove them crazy!

It's Monday.....

and I just finished a book that took me way too long to read!

I finished The Girl on Legare Street by Karen White. It wasn't bad, a typical Karen White book if you read her books. This was the second book in this series and I'm pretty sure there are going to be more. It should have been a good quick read but I just didn't have a lot of reading time over the last few weeks.

I hate "rating" books. Not that I'm a huge influence on people's reading. I enjoyed this book. I'm a little disappointed that the characters didn't do what I wanted them to do but from the ending, it seems like there is going to be more of them in the next one. I think you have to enjoy a little mystery with some paranormal activity in it to enjoy these books.

And since it's Monday, I'm going to challenge myself every week, starting with today! I need to be done one and starting a new book every Monday. There's no excuse! Summer is here and there is more time to read!

So this week's book is......Sworn To Silence by Linda Castillo. This is a totally new to me author and I hadn't even heard of the book until I read my Bookreporter.com and they informed me that the second book was coming out soon!

I can't read out of order, it goes against everything I believe in.

I had to get the first one to see if I liked this author and this series!

So here's hoping this is a good series, a good author and a good new find!

Happy Reading!!

I'm going to sound like Andy Rooney.....

but here goes!

I think technology is ruining things!

Okay, I'll revise that some. Not all things. But some things.

Remember when people used to actually send cards, made from card stock and then they signed their names and then, they mailed it! Now, it's a Facebook message or a text or an email.

I hate that!

And if you have a phone to text with, why not use it to just make a call with instead. I know it's not as fast and easy but imagine how nice it would be to let someone hear your voice. Maybe that would just make some one's day! Instead of a text that was probably sent to 15-20 other "contacts"!

This morning, at 9:20 AM, I got a text from my niece. Now mind you, this child hasn't texted me ever before this morning. Not even on my birthday but let's not go there. She texted me to "remind" me to be thankful for all the "fathers and father figures" in my life. Wonderful. I just got reminded at 9:20 in the morning that it's Fathers Day, not to mention the little reminder of the fact that I don't have my father to share this day with. I don't have any "father figure" as she called it to share this day with. Yes, I have my husband but it's not the same as having your daddy. There's just a little piece of your heart that hurts a little deeper on days like this. And thank heavens I had a text wake me from a very sound sleep to remind me of that!

I think the more technology people have at their disposal, the less they actually use their heads and think!

I truly hope all the dads out there had a fabulous day! And I hope that everyone out there that missed their dad today found a little bit of peace and enjoyed a wonderful memory that made them smile even if they cried too.

Reading time......

Honestly, I'm glad it's summer and school is over. Well, as of tomorrow morning at 10:30AM it's over.

I like the relaxing, no schedules schedule of summer. No homework, no projects, no last minute can you run me back to school cause I forgot a book, no running to the store to get ink for the printer cause the project is due tomorrow.

The only, ONLY, thing I will miss about the school year is that little bit of time between when I park the truck and then the kids come out of school. That was a little bit of reading time for me. Not every day, since I would sometimes have my older son with me and we'd talk. I loved those days. But the other days, when I could sit back, open the windows and crack open my book.

I'm going to miss those few precious extra minutes every day!

I know I"ll get more reading time during the summer. More time at work, at home, before I go to sleep in the morning, even at night on the weekends! But those few minutes were only reading minutes. There was NOTHING else I could do in those minutes. There was no phone, no washer or dryer, no outside interference that could keep me from reading in those few minutes. At home, someone will see me sitting and relaxing, a pile of laundry will call out my name, a dirty tub will realize and work it's way into my mind.

Those few minutes in the truck, they were mine, all mine, and they were priceless!

Until September my friend, until we meet again!

Morning thoughts.......

I'm actually writing this to help myself stay awake. I'm exhausted today and can't wait to go home and crawl right into bed!

The two younger kids are off from school today and the husband said he'll get up with the oldest and take him in, then head to work. That means I actually get to go home, get in my bed and sleep. For how long......that is the question!

My daughter had 3 friends sleepover last night. They are forming a club on Tuesday nights to get together and watch some show together that they all like. They thought it would be cool to take turns having a sleepover on Tuesdays and watch the shows together. Even cooler that we got to be the first house this little "club" took place at. Who else is betting that we are the ONLY house to host this wonderful club??? Ah, guess we'll wait and see. Hey, at least I got to be the cool mom on this one!

My oldest son kicked some serious butt this year in high school. He's an honors student and is ranked #19 in his class. Yes, I brag about this..... A LOT. Wanna know why? Cause his mother wasn't the smartest girl in her class of 525. She ranked somewhere in the lower 400s-to the higher 500s. Yeah, should have studied harder and paid less attention to the boys. Oh if only we got to do it all over again!!

So yeah, I'm pretty damn proud that my son is that smart. I think I had it in me the whole time and since I never used it, God allowed me to pass it on. The boy can thank me later, when he lets me live with him and his lovely wife.

I'm dying to see what his ranking is for this semester since he went up in every subject. Hey, J, you aced Sophomore year of high school......what are you going to do now??? I'm going to Disney World!

Yep, the kid is going to Disney World. Remember when your friend took you to the park with them or to a movie? Well, my son makes a friend who is going to Disney since they have a vacation place down there and he gets to take a friend with him.

Boy did that kid step in it or what???

He leaves on Sunday and will be gone for 10 days. J wasn't one of those kids who slept over people's houses or went away with friends. He was a homebody. He liked to go visit but never stayed long. This is the first time in 15 years that he has been "away" from us. He actually feels bad going to Disney without us. I told him that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and he should run like the wind!!

Meanwhile, I'll be back at home practicing my deep breathing and pretending that I don't have control issues and am perfectly fine letting him go out in that big old world, spending money and not checking with me first.

Guess it will be a little mini practice for when the big "C" comes into play. I can barely face that he's going to be a J....Jun....Junior in high school, let alone go to c....col....colle...forget it!

Now I need a couple of tylenol before I hit the sack! Nite Nite!

Waiting on Wednesday......

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted Jill over at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/

I love finding a new author. Even though I love my old faithful, tried and true, it's nice to find a new one now and then.

I have about 6 books on reserve at the library right now. I would love to know what's taking them so long. Seriously, don't they realize that we are dying to get our hands on these books. Why isn't it one persons job to just go into the library in the morning and bring up all the reserves for that branch up on the computer. Then that person goes around, finds all the books and logs them into the system, then sends them on their way! I would love to have that job. I would even travel from branch to branch just to do that! LOL

One of the books is Karin Slaughter's new one so I have to wait until July when it's released. Okay, I get that and I'll try to be patient. Another one is The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain. I like her books and I think the library is acquiring that one so I'm on hold till they get it in.

The others are new to me authors. Sworn to Silence and Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo are the first two. I'm hoping Sworn to Silence comes in fast, and first. Another one that's new to me is Sue Miller's The Lake Shore Limited. Believe it or not, I have never read a Sue Miller book. I'm also trying and patiently, ahem, waiting for Never Wave Goodbye by Doug Magee.

Now if the library would just cooperate with me and get a move on, I'd be knee deep in new books. Because there just aren't enough books laying around my house waiting for me to pick them up! And I'm starting another list already of a few new authors I want to look into. And then there's a few series I want to get back into reading. And there are a few "summer" type books that I keep promising myself I'm going to get and enjoy. HA!

I just can not ever see myself being "caught up" on my TBR pile/list. I just do not see that happening!

I mean seriously, pulease!

Teaser Tuesday......

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teasers:

"What are you doing?" he asked calmly

I was still on my hand and knees. I looked up in annoyance, "I'm studying the effect of raindrops on puddles." I lifted a hand and he hauled me to a standing position.

~The Girl on Legare Street by Karen White

So far, I'm really enjoying this book. There's that little Southern charm & architecture to the book with a dash of paranormal that is just enough to give you the chills or make you look around the room when you are reading alone in the house!

It's 11PM, do you know where your children are?

That's an announcement that we see on our TV at different times during the night. Our mayor here in Philadelphia will pop on the screen and say "It's 10PM, do you know where your children are?" And every night I tell him I sure as hell do!

Every night I leave for work between 9:20 PM and 9:30 PM. It's about a 15 minute drive from my house to work, and I have to be in by 9:45PM.

While I'm driving to work, without fail, I will pass kids of alllllll ages still outside.

Doesn't anyone have a curfew anymore?

My kids have the same rules I had. My kids don't go out on school nights during the year. Now, as the year draws to an end, I might let them go out a little bit but they are either home by dinner time or they are home around 7PM, 8 PM at the latest. But during the school year, they are in the house doing school work, studying, getting showers, etc.

On weekends they can go out and they have a curfew. I have a 15 yr old son who goes out to his one friend's house all the time, a bunch of them go there, they hang out and will go around to the store, the school and play stick ball or just take a walk to the water ice place, etc. They are not hanging in a park, or a corner or anywhere else where they could get into trouble. I usually have him come home by 11:30PM. He never walks home, I pick him up or someone else gives him a ride home. If they go to the mall or laser tag or the movies, they'll come home when they are done so it might even be earlier than 11:30.

My other 2 kids are usually with friends, at their houses or ours, or at the mall, movies etc and always get a ride. The latest for them is 10PM, maybe 10:30 if they are at some one's house. They always get rides and they are never walking around the neighborhoods.

I just can't believe how many kids I see at 9:30 at night, riding bikes in the middle of the street, cutting between cars and then yelling cause someone has beeped at them. I'll be driving home on the weekend from picking up my kids and I'll see a girl about 15-16 yrs old walking home by herself. That just blows my mind.

It's 9:30PM, why are these kids out riding around in the dark anyway???

We had to be home in the neighborhood by dark. We could hang out and play Jailbreak but we had to be on the street when it got dark.

I know we always used to walk home, but we always had someone else with us and I think it was just a different world and time when I was younger. We could do that and didn't have the scares that we have now.

There's too much trouble going on these days, it's scary out there. So when the Mayor of Philadelphia asks me "Do you know where your children are?" you better believe your sweet patooty that my answer is "Hell yes!"

More Blogs...Get hoppin.......

There's another Blog Hop going on so I figured why not jump on board. Check it out!

Erin from http://droppedstitches72.blogspot.com/ is hosting another great blog hop! Check it out, drop by, click in and join the fun!! The more the merrier!!

On a lighter note......

I spent most of my Sunday night at work looking around the blogger world.

It took hours!

I still am trying to figure things out. I'm getting there. I found a few old blog friends that I used to follow but somehow they weren't there anymore. It happened with 3 different blogs. I don't know, maybe I clicked something one of those times I was clicking things.

It's driving me crazy that my "Followers" has the number 22 there but I can only find 20 followers. More blogging gremlins out there than I thought!

My list of blogs that I'm reading is growing, which is cool. But my actual reading time has suffered a little. I really need to figure out how everyone is reading so many blogs, updating and then knocking a few books out a week. Anyone out there sleeping???

I'm already getting back into that old habit of thinking about something and then thinking I should jot that down so I can blog about it later. The family is going to think I'm nuts walking around with a little notepad again.

So as my summer countdown begins, the new ideas are flowing and the blogging might just get a little more creative.

At least that's what I'm hoping for!

Morning Meanderings......

Good morning! Hope everyone had a good weekend! I did but as usual, not long enough and nowhere near enough me time!

I'm still reading the same book. I know, I have to get a move on it. There's no way this book should be taking me so long but it just seems like I don't have enough reading time. I've actually trained myself to fall asleep in the mornings, when I go to bed, by reading. So of course, whenever I crack that book open, my eyes are drooping by the third page. But I'm still enjoying The Girl on Legare Street by Karen White. This is the second book in a series Karen White started and I really enjoyed the first book, The House on Tradd Street.

I read to escape, so I usually don't read anything "heavy" or "deep" because I just want to curl up, enjoy and forget that there is a world out there with real problems, real tragedies and real drama!

Heaven knows that recently, I've heard of a few horrible real life tragedies. My one son has a friend whose mother is in the hospital. Our boys are only 13 years old. J's mom is not doing well and he told one of the friends that his mom is close to dying. I think she might be from the bits and pieces that I'm hearing. We had heard that she was "waiting for a new liver" but then we heard that she didn't get on the list due to some health issues. Now she's in the hospital again because she had a surgery and didn't do well. It took her a week to come out of the anesthesia from this surgery. I don't know what's up with that. Last night I heard that she's "back on the breathing machine", which to me, that means she's back on the vent and not breathing well on her own. I'm not a nurse but I work in a hospital and you know when you hear certain things, certain things aren't good. All this going on with J just breaks my heart. Kids losing their parents is just so wrong, so hard. I know it's worse the other way around, but it just stinks that this has to happen at all.

And on to a happier note, this is the last week of school for my kids. My oldest has some really short schedules on Monday & Wednesday. Then he is done school for the year. He will officially be a Junior in high school. Would someone please let me know how THAT happened?? I still remember that first day of Freshman year when I dropped him off and cried all the way home. I was driving too. Good thing we only live about 5 minutes from school.

My other son and daughter have half days all this week which is just wonderful for my sleep time! Nothing worse than getting 3 hours of sleep, then getting up to drive, then hurrying home so you can crawl back into bed. They will officially be 7th & 8th graders next year! SERIOUSLY???? Hurts to say it! I really do remember them going to kindergarten just like it was yesterday.

But I'm looking forward to the relaxing time of summer! No schedules, no alarm clocks, no club meetings, no driving back up to school for forgotten books. Nothing but sun, fun and enjoying the fact that I'm there, with my babies, enjoying every second, even if it gets a little crazy!

And maybe, just maybe, a little more reading time on my deck!

Remember that scene in......

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, the one where he gets all excited because everyone likes him??? Isn't going on your blog and seeing new followers just like that scene?!! Thank you everyone for hopping by and checking it out.

I promise I'm going to return the favor this week at work. My Internet connection is horrible at home ever since my son & his friend "fixed" it. Funny thing, they all can get on and stay connected and the Wii works via on line. But my little notebook keeps getting kicked off and then I have to reconnect every 5 minutes. So writing longs things and going to a blog and reading is frustrating when you have to go through every step every 5 minutes. I do better reading at work anyway, lots of peace and quiet there!




I'm not huge on book reviews since I've never really reviewed any books. I love to read, books and blogs, and sometimes I'll give my opinion of a book that I grabbed from the library or Doubleday. I don't have any publishers or anything that I am hooked up with. Just my thoughts and opinions here. Hope that doesn't disappoint!





It's great to see so many new people, have so many new places to visit and new blogs to rely on for a nice relaxing evening!!

Just a game..........

some may say that. And I get that. But I'm still bummed.

My guys were supposed to win Lord Stanley's Cup.

It was meant to be. It was time. It was our turn.

I mean seriously, when there is a season where the Pittsburgh Penguins (blech) and the Washington Capitals (blech again) are knocked out of the playoffs, but the Philadelphia Flyers amaze and astound hockey peeps around the globe, when we make history over and over by amazing, dazzling and coming back, that's the season that we DESERVE IT!!!!

I'm damn proud of my team! They kept me on the edge of my seat, the gave me goosebumps, they made my stomach do flips, the made my heart race, they rocked my world!!!!

And we'll be back.......WITH A VENGEANCE!!! GO FLYERS!!!

National WHAT???

How cool is this! I found this over at Lori's Blog http://www.lorisreadingcorner.com/ and thought it was just too cool not to share!

June 15th is National Buy a Girlfriend A Book Day!

What a great idea! I just love it!!

Anxiety??

I swear I make myself crazy! I can work myself up and into a tizzy over nothing! I really need to get control over this. And I'm starting to notice patterns. Yes, it's usually once a month, and it usually happens when I'm over tired because of my crazy schedule. I'm realizing that I worked Friday night and only had Saturday night off. I'm feeling overtired, stressed out and in serious need of some down time. I had a few nights where I didn't get enough rest because of school schedules and meetings. The more I talk myself through this and tell myself why I'm feeling this way, the better I'm starting to feel. Well, that and the consumption of M&Ms seems to be helping.

I also find that sitting down and making my lists really helps. So I'm making my lists for the weekend. I would absolutely kill to have time in my schedule to meditate or take yoga. I need to add that to my list for the summer. I wonder if I could get a yoga video and watch it while in work. Not the ideal place for yoga though.

I also think that by mid week, I'm so tired of being by myself for 8 hours at work that I start to feel buggy. But then again, if I had to deal with people for 8 hours, I might be worse. Maybe it's more about being stuck inside. I need some fresh air and sunshine. Of course I have off tomorrow night and they are calling for rain. I'm not even going to get my hopes up for Thursday!

I'm just going to practice my deep breathing. And eat more M&Ms.

On a happier note, I found some new books at work. I scored The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra, The Guest List by Fern Michaels, Right Next Door by Debbie Macomber and 8 Sandpiper Way by Debbie Macomber. I'm a little behind on her address series. I need to get moving on that this summer too.

I took the kids to the library after school also. I was looking for a book that the site said was at that branch but I could not find it anywhere. Maybe they already pulled it and are sending it to me since I reserved it! Yeah, that's it.

While I was there, I just had to pick up a few new ones. I got The Killing Edge by Heather Graham, The Wild Zone by Joy Fielding and Dead Famous by Carol O'Connell. I need to check O"Connell's website though. I have that need to read in order disease and I do not want to start Dead Famous if it's not the first of her Mallory books. Gotta have order somewhere in my life!

You would think with so much to read, I would just curl up, get comfy, crack open a book and get lost!

Oh man that sounds like heaven!

Big sigh of relief.......

I had a Moms Association meeting on Monday night and quite frankly, I wasn't looking forward to it.

This will be my second year as President of the Association and after sitting back for a year and letting things continue the way they "always did it", I realized it wasn't working. It's hard to come in your first year, shake things up and expect people to just love ya! So I slowly tried to make some changes. Most of the girls were on board and you always have the few that just don't like change. Oh well, change is a comin'!

Surprisingly, there were no fights, no tears, no storming off, no hurt feelings and nobody mad at me! Ta-da! It can be done. And I really think the changes are going to be good for the organization. With a little luck, attendance numbers will increase and I'll be able to come back a year from now and say I did it. Crossing my fingers!!!

My disappointment for the day was my trip to the library. I have 4 books on reserve. Two of the four aren't released yet so I'm waiting. The other two were supposed to be at the library on the shelves just waiting for someone to come and get them or a librarian to pull them off the shelf and send it on it's way to me. Neither happened! The one library was closed since it was open on the weekend. I hate these damn budget cuts!! Really messes up my library time! Then the second library did not have the book on any shelf in that entire library. I thought maybe I got lucky and they had pulled it already but no, nope, nada! So now I have to wait!

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I have nothing to read while I wait. It's just the disappointment of thinking you are getting two new books and then nothing!

I did have a little good luck today though. When I got to work, I found a copy of Money To Burn by James Grippando on the give away shelf. So now I'm a little happier!!

Would it be rude???

And I know the answer to that question is yes. Which is why I haven't done the "rude" thing but oh my heavens, it's killing me.

Don't you just wish it was okay to turn around to a friend and say "Ya know, the problem might be that your 12 yr old daughter is a bit of a bitch, spoiled and nasty at times!"

I mean I totally get that all little girls start out perfect and sometimes they have some outside influences that can make them a little "less" perfect. I have a 12 yr old girl. I know how they can be. But in all honestly, how can you sit there and listen to your 12 yr old child, who you are sending to catholic school nonetheless, sit there and badmouth person after person, without saying something to them about how wrong it is to do that.

I know no kid is perfect and doesn't always see the best in every kid and situation but as parents, isn't it our job to say something to them, to teach them that maybe they shouldn't be so mean or harsh. Isn't it our job to tell them that maybe instead of being so nasty to someone, they could cut them some slack and reach out to them? I know I know, in the perfect world.......

Okay, so that's my gripe for the day.

On to better things. I scored some new books at work last night. We have bookcases here at work where you just bring your books to share with anyone and everyone. Gotta love that! Last night I managed to get a copy of South of Broad by Pat Conroy. I had taken it out of the library once but returned it unread. That might be a nice summer read after I'm done with The Girl on Legare Street.

And onto an even better thing.....I got to continue a tradition with my son the other day. We were out shopping and I noticed the the newest Magic Treehouse book was out. My oldest son is almost 16 and we started reading these books before he could even read. I loved sitting and reading them with him. Of course, there came the time when he learned to read and I lost my job as narrator of this fine series. Bittersweet indeed! But he always enjoyed reading them, even if the entire book was read in the back of the car on the way home from the shopping trip where we purchased the book. By the time we would get home, he'd be done! My favorite part of this tradition is that I write in the front of each of the books. Just a little something about how what is going on with his life ties into the title & theme of the current book. It's fun for me to write to him and he seems to enjoy reading my little "pat on the back" to him. He asked me the other day if I was going to ship him the newest Treehouse books when he goes to college. I told him I actually thought about that the other day and figured it might not be such a good idea, but I could keep them in a special place for when he came home to visit. That's a couple of years off anyway.

I think he just likes reading my little notes to him. Maybe I'll start writing in the front of his Michael Crichton books I keep finding for him.

Wow, how did we go from The Magic Treehouse to Michael Crichton books so fast????

Peek-a-boo!

I'm going to try and come out of hiding! Really going to try and blog a little more, seriously! And I know I've done this before but if at first you don't succeed........

The funny thing is, there is always so much to write about. So many times I think of something that I want to write down and just never get to it. So maybe this is the time to give myself a little kick in the butt.

One thing is for sure....it's not going to be just a book blog. I can't keep myself that disciplined. I wonder too much in my thoughts to just concentrate on reading and reviewing and blogging about books.

But, there will be a lot of book talk since reading is one of my passions.

Okay, so let's kick it off with some book talk. I started reading Jodi Picoult's new book, House Rules, the other day. It's okay but I'm not dying to get some down time to curl up with it. I carry my book with me everywhere and I actually had it with me in the car, came into the house and put it on the steps to go upstairs and I'm pretty sure it's still sitting there. Now, I have to read every morning when I go to bed or I can't sleep. That meant, I was going to have to go down both flights of stairs to get the book. I just wasn't in the mood, so I grabbed another book. So now I'm reading The Girl on Legare Street by Karen White. I'm having serious deja vu with this book but it's can't be since it just came out in November and I've been waiting for it. I'm thinking it must be because it's part of a series following The House on Tradd Street and some of the characters are the same. Or there might have been a chapter or two in the book to give you a sneak peek. Either way, it's a good story so far and just what I needed to help me relax and escape before I fall asleep. That's all I ask for!

I'm on the fence about this whole summer coming thing! I like summer because it takes us away from the hectic schedules, tons of homework, meetings, and believe it or not, the extra wash. My kids wear uniforms. Every weekend I have to make sure I have those uniforms done for the week. It's an entire extra load and it's annoying. So actually, that's one of the things I look forward to about summer. I also get to go home from work at 6AM and go right to bed instead of waiting till 6:30, getting the kids up and ready and then driving everyone to school. Going to bed at 6AM is wayyyy better than going at 8AM. More sleep, less cranky mom. It's a win/win in my house!

The only reasons I'm really not looking forward to summer is the reality that it brings with it. My oldest son is going to be a junior in High School, that means my other son will be in 8th grade and my daughter in 7th. That means they are getting older. We'll be looking at colleges. I'm not looking forward to that. I'm in denial. I like it here. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that I have kids that are growing up on me. I never wanted that, I enjoyed those younger years. I want them back! DO OVER!

But whether I want it or not, summer is coming, change is coming, new adventures are coming. I need a bigger boat and paddles cause I'm up "youknowwhat" creek!