I need to post a recap of yesterday's visit with Colleen and kids. It took me longer than normal to get there yesterday, because of bumper to bumper 50mph traffic, on a Thursday, at 10am, what was up with that????

We had lunch and then went to get ice cream sandwiches at the Marina, where her brother works. Of course, my children do not finish more than a couple of bites, but the breeze off of the river was so nice. We head back, put Matthew down for a nap and get all set up for beach play. I brought a little wading pool down that we were trying to fill with bucket trips, but it takes a lot of buckets to fill up, LOL. So we put just enough in for them to play with, and Tommy and Gracie enjoyed playing with each other in that for a bit. Dumb move on the moms part: placing said pool on thorns hidden in the sand. So, my $6 pool now had a
S L O W leak, and I left it there for Matthew today.

Catherine and Steffi spent most of the time having a water show for us. Two little fishes, they were. Then the kids have found some crabs along the shoreline and collected them in buckets, instead of on my blanket. After more investigating by Johnny, he and Gracie realized the crabs were semi alive, or moving in some manner, so after he was done, he told me that he and Gracie had smushed them all and killed them with rocks, and they threw them back in the water. (Hope PETA is not reading this, LOL) They also were digging a hole, building castles and having a lot of fun occupying themselves.

Once Tommy started running around in the house naked waiting for his shower, we decided to call it a day (outside). They played really nicely in the porch, on the porch swing, watching a movie and coloring. Again, Catherine and Steffi really were bonding well. They were also playing Simon Says. They were doing a really great job playing nicely, considering we were locking 6 children inside, since some of them were too young to go out by themselves.

Then my children started whining about being hungry, so dinner was started, only we didn't do such a good job with the charcoals, like Aimee did.....we are gas grill gals. But dinner was done, and it got a little hectic and hot as 6 children wanted to be fed now, and all their drinks needed to be poured, etc......my stress level was rising, LOL.

Then the kids were trying to play hide-n-go seek in this little cottage, but we put the kabosh on that, LOL. Johnny started entertaining Matthew and really made him giggle. It was cute.

We then had warm blueberry cobbler and ice cream and then it was time to go :-(

I was hoping for a quiet trip home, but everyone was whiney. I thought for sure that they'd be asleep in the 10 minutes it took for me to get back to the Parkway, but no dice. Tommy wanted a pillow (which we never have in the car), Steffi was full out crying the whole time, because her feet were hurting her (probably cramping from swimming all day) and John was trying to get the other two to shut up, LOL

Anyway, I really enjoyed my time down there again yesterday, and am so bummed that Colleen lives in freakin' FLORIDA!!!!! I mean she has all this family up here......what's the problem. We have wind on our beaches cooling things down, she doesn't.......

My kids did thank me a bunch of times for going down there as well, and I'm very grateful for awesome relationships I have formed online.

Miss ya gals!!

Man......it's supposed to be HAZY, HOT and HUMID today.......summer is officially here. Think I'm just gonna change the linens, put on the AC for later and hang at the pool.

Tommy still seems to have a fever, but he didn't throw up since yesterday's incident, so ::crossing fingers::

Aimwil has a great recap about my weekend. Amy's not bad either. And since they both said everything, I don't need to.....

I know I'm lame......eh, maybe later. I know I'll blog after tomorrow's visit, where my kids and Colleen's have their own IRL.

I've experienced a kid getting sick in the car for the first time in seven and a half years, boy, it sucks, for them and me. We shall see how good Febreze REALLY works.

I have two loads of sun dried clothes here to fold, I smell each article before folding, LOL.

Gemzar® (gemcitabine HCl) - Understanding Pancreatic Cancer

VERY informative site.......for those believing in me.

I hooked up with some of my friends down the Jersey shore for the past two days, and had a BLAST!!!! I can drink sensibly now, LOL.

Came home to many emails that need to be sorted through from my dad and realize where we stand, which sometimes changes daily.

I have much laundry, since Monday is usually laundry day, and that whole, walking in the door and just dropping my bags syndrome. I'll sort later on tonight and plan on cleaning bathrooms tomorrow, early am, do laundry throughout the day and continue to work on my tan that started. My arms, knees and face look like they got a little color, and the redness on my back has faded to color of some sort (not as bad as my girls were making it out to be, LOL)

Be Not Afraid
music by B. Dufford, SJ

You shall cross the barren desert,
But you shall not die of thirst,
You shall wander far in safety,
Though you do not know the way.
You shall speak your words to foreign men,
And they will understand.
You shall see the face of God and live.



Refrain:
Be not afraid, I go before you always
Come follow me, and I will give you rest.

If you pass through raging waters; in the sea,
You shall not drown.
If you walk amidst the burning flames, you shall not be harmed.
If you stand before the power of hell, and death is at your side,
Know that I am with you through it all. (Ref.)


Blessed are your poor, for the Kingdom shall be theirs.
Blest are you that weep and mourn,
For one day you shall laugh.
And if wicked men insult and hate you all because of Me,
Blessed, blessed are you! (Ref.)

Forgot
In a Little While (dedicated to Joey Ramone)
Gone (I think)

The concert last night was SO rockin' UNBELIEVABLE........I can't even put it into words.

(Ewan McGregor is on the Today show and just said he was there as well and truly enjoyed it)

Bono said last night that they did a few warm up shows at the (Madison Square) Garden for us, LOL. The arena played Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band and at the point where they sing *Bil-ly Shears* U2's song Elevation started.

OMG it was SO good. I got scared though, cuz when I Will Follow started EVERYONE was bouncing up and down (jumping really) and I swear the 2nd tier was gonna collapse. I actually stopped moving for a minute just to see if I was truly bouncing, or just moving with the stadium. Odd feeling!!

Oh, it was also so cool when Bono sang a cappella In My Life, another Beatle's tune. (Ack, checking their set lists, they played Party Girl in Boston :-( )

2 encores
1st
Bullet the Blue Sky
With or Without You
The Fly


2nd
One
Walk On

The set list isn't up on U2.com yet, so let's see how I do (I'm not doing good, LOL, I'll have to post the set list later, so this is songs I remember)

Elevation
Beautiful Day
Until the End of the World
Mysterious Ways
Sweetest Thing
I Will Follow
Bad
a little bit of Get Up, Stand Up
a little bit of Sexual Healing
a little bit of 40
a little bit of Gloria
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Pride
Kite
Stuck in a Moment
New York
Where the Streets Have no Name
Desire

More later......

I love/like/adore a lot of my online friends, however, at this moment, I really ADORE Lala and Amy Sorry that you constantly go through this stuff over and over again.

Okay, let's try this again. You have a year left to live, what would you do? Have you ever heard that question? My dad is now living that reality. His cancer is inoperable, unradiatable (I don't care if I just made up that word, LOL) and chemo may prolong his life by a couple of months. This was the news I heard, hours before my F*** entry. I don't know what he knows, although, my mom said he was not relaxed, and a bit jittery last night, so I'm assuming reality is setting in. He has to make an appointment with an oncologist to see what comes next, and I'm sure all the cards will be on the table then. It's still so odd. He was healthy enough to play softball, in early May, dropped my kid off from an overnight trip, and was jaundice two days later, and the ball started rolling then. He stills is not *sick* to the public, or his family, really. No matter how long he has, it's not curable, and is just eating away at his pancreas and liver. This is the same disease that Michael Landon succumbed to. Cancer sucks. This is the first time that my family has had someone have cancer that was untreatable. 59 1/2 years old.....this ain't right!

Only three months after it's initial diagnosis Michael Landon died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 54. I found that on a website somewhere. I've heard stories about pancreatic cancer.......I keep hearing 3 months as the time of living from diagnosis to death.....

Dammit, I just had this major blog post about my dad, and when I compose myself again, I'll retype it. I was also trying to scan in my birthday present, and forgot the camera was also plugged in. For some reason when I do that, I get a blue screen of death when both of those items are plugged in and I try to use the scanner.

FUCK

Rocky Horror Show LIVE! And ON STAGE!

I saw this anouncement about Luke Perry and immediately thought of you

Boy Drowns in Tommy Lee's Pool

How sad......I'm just wondering from the comment the dad made though....

He said more people should have been hired to supervise. Um, I know that when there is a pool around, and we are invited to swim at the pool, that I supervise my own children.

Just because one has money, does that mean we get to *take off* from watching our children??? I know I shouldn't judge, as I was not there, but placing the blame on lack of supervision, this guy may need to be lookin' in the mirror.

Here is my first rose of the season.....one of my yellow ones is almost ready to be cut as well.

So, tomorrow, my sis and I are off to the hospital to wait with my mom through my dad's surgery. It's gonna be a long one, so don't worry if there are no updates through the day. Not sure what kind of access I can get to the web and when.

Looking forward to Thursday, when we go see U2!!!!!! and then Sunday, I get to see her and her!!!

Ewwww.....someone found my site through this search

Pedofiles stay away!!

Nick Jr. Parents--Play to Learn with Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, Little Bill and More!

I've been finding a lot of neat stuff for rainy days here for my kids :-)

So today I have to return/exchange some of the Father's Day presents that I bought John, since he stopped off at a pool store yesterday and bought these items.....Grrr

Already, I am feeling unmotivated. I just want to sit in my central A/C filled house. My dad is on his way for pre-cert and pre-admission testing. After today we'll know exactly what our plans our next week.

Can't think of anything else of interest at this moment......Tata

Strangers and a Weblog I forgot how I found this site....Oh yeah, following a link from *most recently updated blogs*. Anyway......they have a link to my favorite girls the Catty Bitches Good taste!!

Oh, okay, so blogger is having template difficulties.....no problem. My email server is down now too, LOL......for almost 24 hours, so if I haven't responded to you, that is why :-)

Okay........why when I go to add/change some links, my template is GONE........back to square one type of thing, yet my actual blog looks and works okay........

Andrea......we have a LOT of state forests around here, some of them running through the Applachian Mts, so that is where we ride. I hope you enjoy your trip to CO. It is SO fun.

o p e r a t i o n | s w o r d f i s h

I saw this movie tonight.....I LOVED it!!!!! And Hugh Jackman is QUITE yummy :-)

Wow.......so I went on my trail ride today.....and encountered

A BEAR

We were freaking out because we didn't know how the horses were gonna react, but mine was STARING at the bear, ears up and snorting.......I was unsettled to say the least.

Other than that, we cantored (ran semifast) a lot and had a BEAUTIFUL ride

Going to school in a bit to see a Mexican presentation from my 1st grader.

mcree's Xanga Site Lookee what I found!!!!!

Update on my dad for some of my non ML friends.........Dad's surgery is set for 6/19. I hope my birthday, the next day, will be a good one for my family :-)

It's gonna be a BEAUTIFUL day here today. John is in A.C. until this afternoon, but I wish I was on the beach, waiting for him to get done, LOL. Steffi slept over my moms, so my sister could take her to a rollerskating party, the same time that Johnny has a game, and I've done NOTHING all morning. It's great having a 7 yr old.

We have a family graduation party this afternoon that I can be a prime bitch during. One of my FIL's siblings did a whole slew of nasty things to my FIL after their father's death, and basically, we think she fanagled the will and had him taken off. The other 9 siblings are still in the will, but she's screwed around with their things too. Anyway.....long story short.....we HATE her and dislike strongly one of the other sisters who will be there today. Me, being the only family around, who was screwed with, will be the only representative from *our side* and I get to be the cold, bitchy one........YEEHAW!!!!!!!! I'll have NO problem keeping that facade up :-)

Have an awesome day!!

Not feeling very bloggy, nothing really happening.....sorry, LOL

Happy 30th Birthday JISH

Also, Happy 31st Birthday to my brother....gotta remember to call him later.....like 3 or 4 pm, my time, that's when he wakes up in Colorado.....must be nice, LOL

Testing.....

I've gotten a lot of comments on the Medal entry, it's a bit surreal. I talked to my dad today to find out how his procedure went and then proceded to ask him about the medal. He described it a bit, and then couldn't talk......

I've been invited to partake in a Babysitting Circle, where you swap points based on the hours one sits, and the number of kids. Looks really great, now I can go a get a haircut, without paying extra for a babysitter.

Oh and.......I'm FLOORED. I didn't think that the Devils would take a victory back out in Denver today, but, THEY DID!!! Not gonna comment anymore, for fear of jinxing them.

On the pop rocks comments.......it's hard to explain, ya just gotta try it though, LOL.

On another note....my dad is having the stent replaced today, because the first one got blocked with liver debris.....hopefully this one'll work...not sure what happens if it doesn't, but let's not think that way :-)

Weird story.....my dad and mom went to their usual Mass, Saturday night and after Mass, my mom goes and buys food gift certificates and my dad waits outside for her. After doing that, they walked to the car, and my dad was being a bit pokey. They get in the car and make it down the street to the traffic light and my mom notices that my dad has his handkerchief out. My mom doesn't think much of it and they get caught at the next traffic light and she notices my dad is crying. She asks what's up and he says check this out and he opens his palm and shows her a medal. She asks him if Father gave it to him and he says no. A older woman, with long, black hair, that he's NEVER seen before walks up to him, outside, in the crowd after Mass and grabs his hand, slips the medal in and says "Wear this" and walks away. (Now, mind you, my parents haven't notified the church that he is sick and should be on the list of prayer intentions) My dad said that she walked down the street and turned the corner, and he *thinks* she met up with a man and a baby, but then he lost her.

My brother called to talk to dad and he was sobbing telling the story. Wondering why this lady picked him......and who is she??

I asked my mom about the medal, wondering if it is one of a Patron Saint (like specific to cancer or illness), but she *thinks* it is of Jesus and Mary, and that there is some kind of flaming torch, but she really hasn't seen it, cuz my dad wouldn't let go of it, nor has he taken it off.

I told them to go talk to the Priest to find out what the meaning of the medal is, but my mom said that dad isn't able to talk about it, right now.

They feel like they just watched an episode of Touched by an Angel, which I've never seen, but instead of watching it, they were cast.

One never knows........

LOL...I'm LINK HAPPY tonight!!!

OMG......the Full Monty looks fun as well.......

My sister is still trying to get me in to see her dance teacher in Naked Boys Singing......and yes, the title says it all......

Okay......my friends decided they wanted my kids over today.......(this was one of the Pop Rocks women).....I asked her where to find said PopRocks, and she proceded to her bedroom and gave me a pack. All I have to say is.......I need more directions.....I mean, we got the end result that *WE* wanted, but, do I need to keep taking a rock filling break, or do I wet and dip said object, LOL.......it did produce a pleasant flavor that lingered through the nasty stuff, LMAO....... (maybe I should click on the *Submit a Story* ;-) Didja catch their phrase *Entertainment for your whole mouth*)

Watchin' the Tony's right now and LOVIN it!!!! Gotta see Rocky Horror...... I've cried twice in the preshow and once during the opening number. I guess what hits me even harder is that a childhood friend of mine/dance classmate is in 42nd Street and she looks SO wonderful onstage.....

Reminder:: I gave up that life to be married with these 3 wonderful children!!!!!!!!

Dumb mistake of my life.......back in April (while The Producers was in previews, with available tickets), telling my sister that we would wait to see The Producers until June, yeah, maybe we'll catch it now June 2003........without Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane

We were supposed to go down the shore today for a party but Johnny had a game at 3 pm. Guess what got cancelled at 2:15 :-( It was too late at that point to get everyone together.....dammit.

Okay, back to the Devils game for me. 2nd period just ended. Avs just scored a stinkin' goal, which looked SO easy to save.....crap.

Okay......I could be TOTALLY behind the times in this, but I've found out what the new fad is with my friends in town.

Background.....My children had Field Day at school on Friday, and I decided to volunteer some time running games. There was a bit of down time and a bunch of us starting gabbing. *K* says to *J*, "I rocked his world last night, and BOY, did he enjoy it". *J* says, "I rocked his world each night this week, (ROFL)". I give them this look, like, what the HELL are you talking about. They proceded to tell me what a wild experience they are giving their husbands, by now performing blowjobs, with mouthfuls of pop rocks, LMAO

I just might have to casually mention pop rocks in front of their husbands and see what kind of reactions I'll get. LOL

Yeesh.....I've been so wrapped up in my message boards, and reading of blogs, that I've forgotten to blog myself.

Mariska Hargitay, ey, Beverage Girl.......if you say so, LOL. I can tell ya this, my mom ain't no Jayne Mansfield, :-) By the way, I like your Josie and the Pussycats pose!!