I'm involved with getting stuff together for Operation Dexter. I actually know Dexter's "mom". Seriously..... anyway...... I passed this info along to my scout troops and a community group (or two)

Consider supporting some of our folks that won't be home for the holidays. Even if you can't get something out to them for Christmas, still consider making goodie boxes for them.

Hello, my happy friend. You have high spirits and
know how to have a good time. When your friends
go out, most likely they invite you almost all
the time. You most likely will enjoy your
Halloween. Good for you. Keep up the
experiment. You probably light people's dark
days with your smiles and laughter. Although
you're good, doesn't mean you're an angel. You
can tend to have a scary and/or other type of
side to you. As long as you have fun, do your
scares this Halloween. Have a safe and happy
one, Joyous Pumpkin.


What Halloween Figure Are You? (Fun Quiz! MANY RESULTS!)
brought to you by Quizilla

LMAO


Power Rangers Movie!


What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

I have to go to bed, but I want to remind myself to post about how proud I am of my children on their Learning Unlimited Project Night. I was really disappointed in the attitudes of the 3 girls that John had to work with, as they really treated him like shit for 7 weeks and of course, when my husband and I overheard it and caught them being not-so-nice, and called them on it, one went straight to their mom and whispered about us. I feel bad cuz Stephanie was on a soccer team with one of these girls and was her friend, until Stephanie was told that they hated her brother. Now after tonight we have to see them again at Soccer awards and I hope the mom doesn't say anything to me about how my husband asked her some questions and told her a few things the other night. I don't want to say.......well, your daughter and her friends were little brats to my son for 7 weeks and I hated seeing him walking out of a great project night sulking and sad because of the way they treated him.......

Pretty cruddy happenings in my house today with my washer, but compared to what is going on with some of my gals in CA, I should be thankful that I can sleep tonight and know my house will be here in the a.m.

Stay safe and I hope that all your belongings, family and friends will make it through the fires!!

My children have their L.U. project night on Thursday, and they will be singing "America" by Neil Diamond. I tried singing the words today with them showing them that I know the song, and I started crying. I can't imagine not crying on Thursday night either. Picture 40 little 3-6th graders dressed up like immigrants (Italian, Irish, Chinese, Latin American.....) singing.....

Far
We've been traveling far
Without a home
But not without a star
Free
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream

On the boats and on the planes
They're coming to America
Never looking back again
They're coming to America

Home, don't it seem so far away
Oh, we're traveling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm

Home, to a new and a shiny place
Make our bed, and we'll say our grace
Freedom's light burning warm
Freedom's light burning warm

Everywhere around the world
They're coming to America
Every time that flag's unfurled
They're coming to America

Got a dream to take them there
They're coming to America
Got a dream they've come to share
They're coming to America

They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
Today, today, today, today, today

My country 'tis of thee
Today
Sweet land of liberty
Today
Of thee I sing
Today
Of thee I sing
Today


I was instantly transported back to the late 1800's today and was picturing these men and women and children and their dreams......

I'm such a sap!!

My sister and I spent the day in NYC. We walked on and saw 42nd Street. We got there early and walked through Times Square to see what was going on. We visited the Toys R Us there as my sister has never seen the ferris wheel that is inside the store. After that, we ate at Broadway Joe's. Very good meal.......VERY good chocolate truffle dessert, LOL. Good thing we had to walk a couple of blocks to the theater. By the time we got there, we weren't feeling so plump!

Watched the show, came out, walked around a little more and came home. I'm pooped and can't wait to go back in for the whole weekend, in 2 weeks.

So.......remember my SIL who had twins 7 months ago......after many, many years of secondary infertility??? She's due again!!!!

O........M........G!!!! LOL I pray for her health and the health of her baby during these next couple of years/months......

I was so proud of myself today. I was inspired by my friend Laura to do something around the house, and make it actually look LIKE I did something, LOL.

I switched tasks every 20 minutes today, between doing household chores and PTA/computer chores.

I got the PTA Taxes done and printed out
I got the cards for the soccer coaches made and printed out
I changed 4 beds and washed and put away all sheets
Folded 2 loads of laundry, and did a complete wash and fold and put away of a 3rd load
Cleaned both bathrooms
Mopped bathrooms and front entry way
Helped Tommy with his homework
Cleaned dining room
Straightened up the kitchen.....
Oh, and I had time to "play" on the computer, but also feel like I did something around here.

(I don't know why I left that all in Laura's comments......I guess that was before I felt like I should be keeping this blog up better, LOL)

I thought this was cute......as seen at TraLaLa

A - Act Your Age: 35
B - Boyfriend: Married 11 years
C - Chore You Hate: Raking leaves
D - Dad's Name: Theodore
E - Essential Make-Up Item: Mascara
F - Fave Actress: hmm....Gwyneth Paltrow
G - Gold or Silver: Gold
H - Homeland: New Jersey
I - Instruments You Play: Keyboard, recorder
J - Job Title: PTA Treasurer
K - Kids: John, 9; Steph, 8; Tom, 5
L - Living Arrangements: Own a split-level
M - Mom's Name: Kathleen
N - Number of Women You've Slept With: None
O - Overnight Hospital Stays: 3
P - Phobia: getting in a horrible car accident
Q - Quote You Like: Tough Shit.....hehe
R - Religious Affiliation: Roman Catholic
S - Siblings: 1 younger brother, 1 younger sister
T - Time You Wake Up: 7:30am
U - Unique Habit: jazzercising ?!?!
V - Vegetable You Refuse to Eat: raw tomatoes
W - Worst Habit: Being judgmental
X - X-Rays You've Had: chest, wrist, breast, knee
Y - Yummy Food You Make: Chicken Enchiladas
Z - Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Argh.......I saved a post without publishing it, but now it appears to be missing.......I hate having to write recaps a 2nd time.........fricken' A

Who would have thought that when I signed up to play co-ed volleyball during intermurals at college, I would have met by husband??

I asked him on a date. Eight of us needed dates for the Winter Ball at school. He walked into the gym and I told my girlfriends, that is who I was going to ask.

We went to the Winter Ball, and that was almost 15 years ago. Today we celebrate 11 years of marriage.

Happy Anniversary John.......what a wonderful trip it's been :-)

Yesterday we had a REALLY fun day, despite it being about 50°, raw (as a lot of people were describing it) and wet.

Our cub pack planned a camping trip to a place about 20 minutes away. John had everything packed on Friday night except the cooler. It was decided that only he and Johnny would be staying overnight, but all of us would hang out until bedtime.

We started off with a 9 am soccer game for Steph and a 9am church workshop for Johnny and I. We came home, changed clothes and were ready to pull out when I looked at the answering machine and saw we had two messages. They wanted to cancel the trip. My eagle scout husband said.....I'm going.....we're going...tell them we're going in case anyone changes their mind.

I'm glad we went, and I think it worked out "nicer" that they didn't, LOL.

It really stopped raining and the only wetness coming down was from blowing trees. Once the campfire got started we had a place to keep us warm, when we did get a little chilly, oh, and the best part was that they had reserved sites with Adirondack shelters, so he was able to set up our 6 man hexagonal tent in the shelter. For those who we went camping with in August, who had the super-duper 3 room tents, etc.....they would have had to set up outside, so an old dome tent does still come in handy.

During setup time the kids saw "something" in the woods. We first were afraid that it was a bear, but it was just a beautiful deer coming for a walk. That kept the kids entertained for a good 1/2 hour. They would hide behind trees and followed the deer until someone, of course it was Tommy, cracked a branch and the deer took off. I got a really pretty picture of the deer straight ahead of us in a clearing, staring at us.

I cooked hot dogs for lunch, shuttled Johnny to his 3pm soccer game and when I came back, one other family had decided to join us. She is a REALLY good friend of mine, so I wasn't surprised. They had the kids playing in one of our unused shelters...great idea.....why didn't I think of that, LOL.

John cooked brats and garlic/herb rice for dinner and then we made a cake (the link is down right now.....I'll fix later) It was DELICIOUS. The kids played Trouble and Chess. My friend's husband bought out his guitar and we sang. We made S'mores, watched the kids put on a play, and then it was 8:30, and I left.

It's now 9am on Sunday, and I am expecting them home soon. I'm sure they woke up at the crack of dawn, LOL, and John was planning on doing eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins and coffee for campfire breakfast. Hopefully there was no bear encounters overnight.

Here's my Friday Five.

Very simple this week.....

1. What vehicle do you drive? Most of the time, I drive a 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport. Occasionally it is the 2001 Chrysler 300M

2. How long have you had it? We've had the van since August 1998

3. What is the coolest feature on your vehicle? Me!!! (LMAO or I guess that you can remove the seats, LOL. On the 300M, I'd have to say it is the stereo controls on the steering wheel.)

4. What is the most annoying thing about your vehicle? Hmmm...ah.....it's that the dual sliding doors are manual.

5. If money were no object, what vehicle would you be driving right now? Some kind of cute sporty convertible..that has lots of space and can carry a lot of people and things..... Like the convertibles of the 50's and 60's. They seemed like boats to me.

This RSVP game is cool......Cindy mentioned it somewhere else that she saw it at Gina's. Unfortunately I found it at bedtime......with the cozy fire down here, I'm finding it hard to tear myself off this chair, LOL.

Funny when someone is complaining about a specific person and the job they're doing, and they get the chance to do the said job, and the things they do are just as bad or worse then what they were complaing about ...... yeesh....some women, LOL!!