69° today, 39° tomorrow.....lovely......

Tommy and I just got back from our first walk of 2002.....have to say it was quite enjoyable :-)

Here is the post that I promised. After the last of the family left from Tommy's party. I was SO calm and non stressed Saturday. I truly felt my dad's help in that...can't explain it any more than that.

I made a simple, yet yummy menu. Chips/dip, tortillas/salsa, bread bowl with spinach dip, veggie platter/dip, 19lb turkey, gravy, (stove top)stuffing (that killed me, but hey it WAS easier), white baby corn, green beans with sauteed waterchesnuts and mushrooms, pasta salad (which I TOTALLY forgot about, LOL, so I have 98% of it leftover) (today, it's about down to 50% as that's all I've been eating for lunches), mashed potatoes, and rolls and butter, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with sprinkles (upon request of birthday boy) and the moistest, truly tempting amaretto cake, ever, LOL.

He got an adorable cowboy outfit, a sword and shield set, some Power Ranger things, a video game for Nintendo 64, and other little things, and then yesterday, we gave him a new bat and ball, a game boy game, a huge pepsi bottle bank, a plug for the game boy, a wooden US puzzle and new sneakers...... I think he's done.

Now today, he has his physical, which I realized at 11:00 last night, so at least I woke up before the family today and got showered and dressed so that we aren't running out of here all grungy.

My mother's coworker went out to the Olympics. She brought back 3 pairs of socks for my children. They were SO thrilled to get them. Tommy calls them his NBC socks. She mentioned that the company her husband works for gave them tickets to 6 events daily and they didn't use them all. Isn't that a shame..... They got red carpet treatment, as the company he works for was in charge of security, and they wore the company's stuff, so they were allow to do a lot of cool things and hang out with Dick Buttons and Brian Boitano and others. They also mentioned that they flew home with the VERY DRUNK Canadian ski team.

They did see the ice dancing competition, but were disappointed at their experience, as when you are at an event like that, you don't hear the commentators, so you sit in silence in between numbers and you don't get the background, the commentary throughout the number, or anything else. I can see that.....

Watching the closing ceremonies now.....how fitting DOROTHY Hamill skating to a song from The Wizard of Oz, LOL.

We had a wonderful weekend here, and as soon as world crossing comes back up, I can retrieve my update, and post it here. I'm too lazy to type it all out again.

Tommy, my babeeeeeeeeeeeee, is gonna be FOUR tomorrow......WAH

I also found out that my SIL is suffering from secondary infertility and will actually be getting eggs harvested next month for IVF. She's been trying for 4 years and I just want to pass good wishes onto her and the many others of you out there who are dealing with similar things. Her SIL just became pregnant with twins, their 3rd and 4th, and this is tearing my SIL apart. My prayers are with all of you who want children.

Ack......I normally am so on top of family gatherings, and menu planning and make ahead dishes, but not this week. I am having a family party for Tommy on Saturday, and besides the 19 lb turkey that is probably done defrosting, I have no idea what else I am serving, nor do I have a desire to make anything, LOL.

I wish the weather would either be cold or springlike, stop switching every freakin' day.......we basically did not got winter in Northern NJ this year.....

Ssshhhh.....hear that......right, it's NOTHING. My kids are back to school, LOL. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed a 5 day weekend, but everything that I did, they undid in a matter of minutes. I can actually straighten up the house today, and have it stay that way for more than an hour.......off I go. Cleaning products, here I come, LOL.

Ugh......I love making friends, and having lots of people around me that I feel comfortable with, but I HATE when they turn into PITAs. This one girl, who I really like, calls every morning at like 9 am.......and then I end up talking for 30-45 minutes......and some days, I don't feel like talking, or I really need to be doing something else. She knows I have caller ID, so I hate when I let the phone ring, but that's me.......I don't feel like talking, LOL. Nothing personal. (Can you tell she just rang, and I let it go, LOL)

That's how I've always been though.....sometimes I just don't like to be bothered, LOL.

Whoa.....I seriously got used to this 5 day weekend my kids got. I hope I can get up and get motivated tomorrow morning, LOL.

Today, I am going to plan my son's 4th family birthday party. The 19 lb. turkey is already defrosting, and I know I'm going to make a tri-color rotini salad, but other than that, I want something different. I think I might go to CopyKat Recipes and try stuff from some of our favorite places.

I am ELMO.

I'm cute, cute, as a button!


Which Sesame Street Character Are You?

My father in law turns 60 tomorrow.......hard to imagine/realize that my dad wasn't here to celebrate his 60th.....up until September, he was SO full of life.......it's just so......I don't even know.......

Why couldn't he get something that could be cured???

So, I not only saw Fosse once this weekend, but just watched a taping of Ben Vereen and Ann Reinking's Broadway version that was played on PBS......I really loved hearing Mr. Bojangles sung again, ever so sweetly.....

This was SO adorable this morning. Johnny came up to the bedroom and walked in with some note paper. He asked if he could make breakfast and handed us this sheet

how to make scramble eggs?
1. get a bowl and
2. crack the egg shell on it and let the rest go in?
3. put in 1 1/2 cups of flower?
4. put it in a pan and set it at 350° for 6 min? and when cooking take a spacula and scramble?

hehe

He got the whole *writing the recipe* thing from when John was trying to replicate a BLT canape recipe he saw about a year ago and as John did the steps, he had Johnny write them down.

It is so cute the way things were forgotten and squeezed in, and the whole part that he is unsure of ends in a *?*

Fosse was INCREDIBLE......the choreography is just ASTOUNDING. The one thing that John and I realized, is that I could have been in that show.....except ALL the dancers sang...I can't sing......LMAO We had 2nd row seats and the show was just so.......amazing.......the man was a GENIUS!!!

Donna, Loving Too Much is your primary love story!

The Loving Too Much story stems from your overflowing love and hope. Sometimes, however, it can be muddied by misguided feelings, expectations and sometimes, an unrequited desire.

The people you're most attracted to are usually just out of reach and all the more alluring for it — like those early crushes on teen idols. The less available your partner is, emotionally and physically, the more desirable he becomes.

You daydream, and your imagination fills in the details that reality hasn't provided. Do you ever seek out indirect contact with this person, visiting his workplace or getting to know his friends? Do you find yourself dreaming about marriage after a second date, or perhaps after a quick affair? The hit film "Fatal Attraction" illustrates an extreme version of the Loving Too Much story — taking it to abnormal levels. What it doesn't fully explore is the capacity for love that you probably possess.

Wow.......this is a little to *on* for my comfort, LOL. Go

What's Your Style? Find out @ She's Crafty

I've been so bad about bloggin'.......I just have a lot of stuff on my plate, and luckily, I can take breaks from this computer and make sure all my priorities are taken care of, and this place, unfortunately for my audience is dead last, LOL.

Nothing that exciting is going on, I would just be giving rundowns of my chauffeuring duties of the day.

Glad to see Amy is back, and sad to see so many of you go, but I TOTALLY understand.

Hope your Valentine's Day is all you want it to be!!

The Wild N' Wacky Challenge is a TV-style game show where audience members compete against each other in a series of unique one-on-one and group interactive challenges for a chance to win cool prizes. WATCH OUT! Their famous homemade SLUDGE and PIE WALL are ready to make a mess of some lucky contestants. The Wild N' Wacky Challenge is an action-packed show incorporating hilarious games and crazy stunts that are age appropriate for kids ages 6 through adult. Check out their new BOOGER BLASTER, where audience members get a chance to be boogered while sitting under the giant 7' tall nose. You can have your party at their location, or they can come to you. Powerhouse is also a great place to have your next special event. A one-of-a-kind theme space incorporating movie theme decor and Hollywood memorabilia, anamatronic props, state-of-the-art sound and lighting, big screen video system, arcade and video games and so much more! Available for private parties, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Sweet 16's, Corporate and Family Events.

This is where my nephew had his birthday party today. It was HYSTERICAL. I actually got nervous when I realized that the people who get pie-d are picked by the pie-r and my daughter won the first contest, but picked her cousin to get pie-d. Ny nephew also got to get sludged, and decided he did NOT want the hood from the poncho on, and he got full sludge ALL over!! LOL

The only complaint from my son, Thomas, was that no one picked him to get pie-d. LOL

Jeez......bloggers are droppin' like flies, LOL

Oh boy.....do I feel SORRY for my children. They had to go to school today as I lounge and slowly mosey around doing my things. We had an unbelievable time yesterday, and I didn't even remember shutting off my alarm at 7am. I finally got out of bed at 8, and miraculously got the children all ready for school and out the door on time.

We always enjoy going over to John's uncle's house. You see he is a multimillionaire that lives in an outstanding palace complete with squash courts, 3 jacuzzi's, an elevator, arcade room, wrestling room.....etc...etc....and his latest additions. Built into a cliffside is a 1/2 court basketball court and a paddle ball court, which is mini tennis. He said the court is 1/3 of a regular tennis court. After 4 hours of entertaining ourselves 50 different ways, we settled in to watch an AWESOME game and gorge ourselves silly.

I really wanted to take pictures of his house so that you could get a feel of what we did, but I think that would be a bit tacky. I know we had pics of the house in development, but who knows where they are now.

Here are our pictures from last weekend. Don't forget to click on them to make them bigger.

This pic was on our approach on a rural highway in Sussex County.



This was taken in the park.



This picture shows the Delaware River and other labeled items



I thought I had gotten the background of a ski resort and NJ, but I guess not, LOL.



The monument is usually opened April-October. We'll probably go back one day and climb as high as we can.....maybe without kids though, LOL.

Wednesday...

We went into the city on a bus that dropped us off at Port Authority. Great trip in, NO traffic. P.A. is on 8th and 41st, and we just had to walk 3 teeny block to 8th and 44th, where the theatre was. We got in at 12, and had to kill 2 hours, till curtain. Times Square was a block east of the theatre.

(watching Stephen King on The View.....he is going to be writing a Broadway play with John Mellencamp..WOOT!!!!......anyway, back to the recollection, LMAO)

After passing MTV, and checking out ABC's studios to see if there was any live noontime broadcasts happening...(we are SO touristy, aren't we, LOL. Seriously, we checked this stuff out from street level, we didn't enter these buildings, so it was cool, LOL)..we went into the new Toys R Us. It was neat, but wasn't *all that*. They had a four story ferris wheel inside, but that was all that made it different from a regular Toys R Us store. We walked further East on 44th to check out restaurants but nothing jumped out at us, and we *thought* we had plans for dinner, so we weren't too serious in looking for somewhere to eat. We went back into Times Square and decided to check out the WWF restaurant, LOL. It was sorta neat, no big deal, but we just wanted beer and appetizers. We sat at the bar and ordered two Killian's and ate the Appetizer Sampler (wings, tenders, onion rings and mozzarella stick). By the time we were finished there, we had 10 minutes until the doors opened, so we waited in front of the theatre. We saw a TON of police cars and vans go by, fully packed, probably heading to secure the areas that the World Economic Forum is being held at.

The show was WONDERFUL. Hearing All I Ask of You performed live, and in context was moving. We actually had 2nd row, not 3rd row seats, as they removed the first row for safety reasons, LOL. We had a chandelier come crashing down from the ceiling, and within a foot of our heads......we had our eyebrows singed from flames.....and we got to inhale dry ice, LOL. It was very cool though.

After the show, we called John's cousin who runs a club on the East Side, but they were closed. That was odd...... He called John today to let us know that they are closed until the World Economic Forum is over. They are located RIGHT at that area. That sucks for business, and more likely it sucked for us. LOL

We decided we weren't hungry, and were tired of walking around, and both had major headaches from this wench who applied a TON of perfume to herself throughout the show, so we decided to catch the bus back home.

Once off the humidity filled bus, we saw that there was a new Ruby Tuesday in the mall, so we went to eat there. Our experience there was less than satisfying, and I still wasn't hungry, really, so we packed up the remaining food and came home.

......and that is the rest of the story, LOL.

I also realized that a redesign is in order......ack!! Actually, I made a Valentine's day background last year, will have to search my files and folders for that.

I probably should update you all on my experience in the city, on Wednesday. It was very nice, but exhausting, as usual. I will type that recap as well....not motivated enough right now however, hehe.

Wow.....I had NO idea how many of Alli's readers come to read my blog!!! Outstanding..... It is also neat to see that people actually search out my blog on search engines. Hope I am entertaining you all enough. :-) I feel like I've been slacking, LOL.

I got my pictures back from High Point. I'll have to scan them in later today.