As Cape Cod Turns

My Girls Rock (and swim)

2012-01-30T13:50:00.000-05:00

Please excuse this post from my usual self-depreciating sense of humor...

This post is a kid bragging post. B had a great day Saturday at her swim meet and K had a great day Sunday at her music concert. I have been bragging all over facebook, but there are a few people who need to see this that do not have a facebook. (I know, the horrors!) So Uncle Dick, these are specifically for you... (and of course any Olympic swim coach and/or music producer who stumbles across this).

Yes, I am wearing my proud Mommy badge today.

Dear Picnik,

2012-01-25T15:52:00.000-05:00

Dear Sirs and Madams at Picnik,

When I rushed to read all the emails I received while I was wasting my time sleeping the other day, I shrieked and woke the whole house up when I read yours. Why? Why? Why? And how?

That's right, I am devastated that you are closing your site and moving to Google+. I am not a member of Google+ and honestly being a member of something new while I have so many other social networking sites is slim to none. I do not know if I would be able to use the photos I make on Google+ on my blog. Your site allows me to add frames, fix up my wrinkles and add words to my photos. It is my favorite site on the internet.

Where else can you go from this:

to this:

Please, if you have a heart, rethink your decision. I know I am not the only one who is crushed by your decision. I mean, there were practically physical tears on twitter the other day. I'll have my fingers crossed until April.

Sincerely,
Your biggest fan; As Cape Cod Turns

Sundays in My City

2012-01-22T13:49:00.000-05:00

Cape Cod was blessed with a very snowy day yesterday! Today we took advantage and went sledding. Can you ask for a better view from your sledding spot?

4 happy, tired girls!

Happy Sunday! Go Patriots!!!

Cash Mob

2012-01-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

Things are quiet on the Cape in the winter. Many, many of the cute little downtown shops close their doors for the long winter months of January, February and March. Some close up shop from Columbus Day weekend to Memorial Day weekend.

However, there are some hardy folks whom we are grateful for because they keep their shops open all year long.

Yesterday was the beginning of a new era for shopping in town. BJ one of the owners of Millie's General Store (featuring all American made products) came up with the idea for a cash mob. We all know what a flash mob is (and with any luck I will participate in one someday), there was even one on Modern Family. BJ's idea brought 17 brave pioneers to the elementary school parking lot yesterday afternoon at 3:30, none of us knew where we were going. We were told to bring $20 and the theory was to all walk into one store and spend at least $20. What a boon that is in the middle of winter for a store owner to make an extra $300.

The store of the day was Cape Fisherman's Supply. Cape Fish is a year round store that has been in town for a long, long time. They service all the commercial fishermen in town and in the summer serve the sporting fisherman, too. Well, 17 women were a little skeptical about going to Cape Fish and what we would find for $20. The new owner of Cape Fish was pleasantly surprised when we all busted into his store. There was laughter, chatter and many questions of "what is this?". Everyone walked away with something. People bought belts with fish on them, t-shirts, cleaning supplies and knives. Afterward some of the women went to The Red Nun (a local year round watering hole) and were treated to wings!

This is a fantastic idea that has bonded one little town and will hopefully grow to other towns in areas where winter is just a little too long. I anticipate next month's secret adventure to double in size and enthusiasm!

This is B holding up one of our purchases in front of the store. Not a t-shirt for her, but for the little bundle of boy joy that will be born into the family in June!

Still Playing After All These Years...

2012-01-18T08:59:00.000-05:00

K and B have always played well together. I should bottle up whatever they have and sell it to people because it's much nicer having them play together than fight together. Need examples? You can check out proof here, here and here for starters.

Sadly, the dollhouses, Barbies etc have been put away for awhile. We just came off of a 4 day weekend though and I was anticipating the "I'm bored" by Sunday. (What is up with I am bored? I haven't been bored since I was..... hmmm..... never!) They threw me a curve though and the next thing I knew they were doing a photo shoot with each other. I guess they needed new Facebook photos. They set up the family room with a bench, lights, and props (guitar, giraffe, dolphin). I offered to take the pictures and they said, "NO, we can do it". They even had "costume" changes.

250 photos later, we were laughing while checking them all out and a Sunday afternoon was saved from the "I'm boreds"!

Sundays in My City

2012-01-15T13:00:00.000-05:00

My Chilean daughter (P is with us for 6 months) and I walked out to the Stage Harbor Lighthouse the other day right as the wind was picking up.

Happy Sunday!

Nantucket Part 1

2012-01-12T10:34:00.000-05:00

One of the perks of being "personal assistant to the star" is traveling. Yesterday, Lisa and I went to Nantucket for the day on a fact finding mission. Her next book is about autism and takes place on Nantucket.

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful January day! We took the high speed ferry which landed us in Nantucket in 1hour.

One of the places we wanted to see was the church tower at the Congregational church that offers tours in the summer. We hadn't gotten a hold of anyone there, but we were hopeful to find someone in the office. We looked up, found the highest church tower and headed for it. Standing to the side of the plaque, we confirmed it said "congregational". The nice lady in the office said she would be happy to give us a tour at 12:30. We went off and came back. The minister, himself, came to give us the tour. He was extremely nice and told us he was there for 2 years having come from Boston. He unlocked the tower door and we started climbing.

Hmmm, very steep steps, ducking under bars, safety hazards everywhere......could this be the wrong tower?

We got to see the very old bell....

and the view was beautiful....

but we realized that we were in the "wrong" church. We were in the Second Congregational church, not the First Congregational church. Ooops!

Hopefully Lisa can work this church into the story because it was beautiful and David the Minister was so nice and very helpful! They are in the process of remodeling the church, one word: gorgeous!

The inside ceiling and background are painted with the technique trompe l'oeil which basically tricks the eye into thinking that there are different levels in the painting. The wall was flat, trust me, I touched it.

Here is what the church looks like from the outside!

On a side note, I knew it would be cold yesterday and decided to wear my Sketcher furry black shoes mostly for the warmth factor. I FORGOT that they were technically "shape ups". We walked all over the place yesterday on and off cobblestones and climbed that huge tower. Today, my legs are killing me. Damn shoes, I guess they do actually work.

More tomorrow.....

Uncle Bill's in My Pocket

2012-01-10T10:19:00.001-05:00

There is a man who lives in town whom I call Uncle Bill.

I have 3 fantastic uncles of my own, but Uncle Bill is like a bonus uncle.

I met him probably 15 years ago when he would take my friend's son to story hour at the library every Saturday morning in the summer. It was so cute, how he would put Christopher in the stroller and walk to the library. My friend would only be here for the summer months and then go back to Colorado for the rest of the year.

Even though Bill was Laurie's uncle, all of us called him Uncle Bill. Since then, I bump into him every so often around town. He has a wife he affectionately calls "Dragon Lady" and a grown son who lives near Boston. He must be around 80 and has had cancer and a stroke, but keeps on ticking. He has such an infectious smile and is so happy when he sees me that I have even gotten off a float in a parade to give him a hug.

He is one of the most upbeat people I know. Seriously, if you could take lessons from him in gratitude and kindness, it would change your life. I saw him in the grocery store yesterday and I hadn't seen him around since before Thanksgiving. He dropped his basket in front of the deli department and gave me the biggest hug. I asked him how things were going and he said, "So much better now that I have seen you today!".

That is the kind of person you want to keep in your pocket to give you a boost in self esteem whenever you need it. Do you have an Uncle Bill? Do you want to borrow mine?

Sundays in My City

2012-01-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, it's been awhile... sorry.

B had been sick all week long, so yesterday I took her to the beach for some fresh air. It was obvious she was feeling better!

Then, my sister and baby R showed up. As you can see, R rules the beach. By this time, the moon was up.

Baby R is so cute and so serious!

Happy Sunday!

Frag'n Friday!

2012-01-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

*Forgive me Mrs. 4444s because it has been awhile since my last frag....

*I do not like resolutions, but I feel my blog may need one. I am beginning my 5th year of blogging and have resolved not to do Project 365, instead I am going to do Project 180. I will try my very best to blog 180 times this year. Keep me on top of this, OK?

*It is great having P here. She has been learning lots of English. She really learned lots of um... slang words during the 1st quarter of the Patriots game last week.

*B has been very sick this week. We have spent a lot of time on the couch together watching fascinating TV such as Say Yes to the Dress and What Not to Wear. I am completely ready for her wedding and I will dress the part.

*I have also had the opportunity to read 2 books, Betty White's new one (that women is a LEGEND!) and Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea. Damn that girl is funny! Completely inappropriate, but so damn funny! I was laughing out loud!

*A few days after Christmas, my brother took it upon himself to build rockets with the girls and set them off. Yeah, he and his wife are having a baby in June. Wait until they see the presents that kid will get.

It doesn't say 'no rockets', right?

Finally the 3rd time, I got a good shot of it going off!

My niece didn't really want anything to do with the rockets, but she did love the wide open field.

*Got to go watch the last episode of Wizards of Waverly Place. I have one practically in tears over this last episode.

*Happy Weekend :)

Christmas 2011

2012-01-03T13:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know it is January 3rd, but I wanted to post my Christmas letter if only for myself. I wanted to make sure I had it for posterity sake. Oh, and feel free to sing it out loud, it goes to Jingle Bells.

Flying ‘round the Cape, taking children here and there,

Could I stay in shape? While on my derriere?

Social media is my friend, of writing I am fond,

Photography is a trend, but I need a magic wand.

Oh, silly girls, silly girls, laughing all the way,

Oh what fun we like to have, living near the bay.

B is at the pool, 5 whole nights a week,

She does well at school, while looking mighty chic.

K’s holding court, whether at school, ring or stage

Cheerleading’s her sport, this summer earned a wage.

(refrain)

We saw Bruno Mars, Phineas and Ferb Live,

Both girls look like stars, no braces! Sakes alive!

Traveling can be fun, and we did our fair share,

LA had lots of sun, at people we did stare.

(refrain)

Texas was for jumping, Belugas were at SeaWorld,

Maine often for friends and shopping, thru the year we whirled.

We wish you Christmas gay, A New Year filled with glitter,

Please come visit and stay, or catch us up on Twitter.

Merry Christmas My Friends

2011-12-24T16:35:00.000-05:00

My gift to you for Christmas:

Silent Night (Yes, B is one of the singers:)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

The Observant Child

2011-12-22T12:47:00.000-05:00

B and the Middle/High School choir have gone to the largest inn in town to sing today. I believe they were even getting lunch. Chatham Bars Inn is lovely all year, but they truly out do themselves at Christmastime. Their lobby boasts 10 foot high trees made from Poinsettias, they make a huge gingerbread display, there are ribbons and bows everywhere.....

Here are a few pictures from 4 years ago....

What I am trying to say is that the place is GORGEOUS! So what does B text me a picture of today?

The bathroom. That's right. With this caption "coolest. bathroom. ever."

Obviously, I have raised one with very high standards.

My New Daughter

2011-12-18T16:32:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy month.

Yeah, that was an understatement..... anyhoo, what else is December, but busy?

Evidently I haven't been writing enough.

Well , here is the reason why....

I miraculously gave birth to an 18 year old AFS student from Chile!

P has been in town since Sept and is a friend of K's. Her first home was not working out for her, so now she is living with us for the next 6 months! We are very excited to have another girl to add to the Diva Den. Of course, with her arriving into our family the week before Christmas, she has been thrown into complete mayhem! She's met about 20 relatives, about 20 more friends and a whole church! She has been to one party and is going to another tonight! She is very sweet and has been such a good sport about us bringing her here and there.

I have to commend K and B for supporting the decision to "adopt" P into our family. We don't have the biggest house and can often be in each other's faces, so we really have to like each other. I am hoping that the next 6 months will be a positive learning experience for us all!

Singing Is Not Like Football

2011-12-07T08:48:00.000-05:00

This past weekend B attended the South East Regional singing competition. It was called something along those lines. She and 3 other middle schoolers had been working since October on singing a specific piece. They worked hard and were excited about this opportunity.

Now mind you, my girls ask me NOT to sing. I am a closet singer and love to sing when no one is listening or in the case of having one too many, at a karaoke bar. I sang when I was little in my church choir. I only remember them labeling me an Alto and in my naivety thought that meant I sang like a boy. This on top of people thinking I was a boy until I was 14. (At 14, there was no mistaking that I was all girl.)

My high school was very much like the beginning of High School Musical, where all groups were segregated. It was a big enough school so the drama dept didn't need the jocks and vice versa. I was a jock and stayed a jock until college when I got to be a jock and part of the dance community. I digress....

So, being the type of mom I am, I planned on going to support B in her quest for music greatness. I offered to drive the troops, but 2 schools rented a bus instead. Supporters were allowed to go on the bus, too. On the bus were 11 singers (way back of the bus), 2 music teachers (front seats) and ME.

Yup, crickets.

I enjoyed not having to drive the hour away and was able to knit and eavesdrop on the girls and the teachers. The other school's teacher was talking about how she wished one of her girls would make it to the next level and B's music teacher said, "I think all the girls are successes just for having the motivation to commit to this program and practice as hard as they did." It was truly something I hoped he would say to the girls because it was so sweet.

We get to the HS and there were musicians everywhere: some with instruments, some with their voices. Some were very stereotypical, some were not. I was thrown out of the practice room and told to go to the cafeteria. In my head, I was thinking that I would miss the performance if I didn't keep track of B and where she was going so I waited in the hallway and told a dozen people where the bathrooms were. Finally they came out of the practice room and I followed her to what I thought was the auditorium, when I noticed the teachers were no where to be found. As I was thrown jackets, I was told again to go to the caf. and wait.

Instead of a championship game where the fans are an integral part of the package, these kids had to sing one on one with a judge in a room ALONE. What?

I didn't get to watch. Or listen. Or clap.

When the kids came to the caf. after their audition, they said how they did and that was it. We got back on the bus, hit Burger King and drove home with the girls singing Christmas Carols or anything else that came to mind. They had to wait until Monday to find out if they made it to the next level.

None of B's "team" made it. B didn't realize until 2 weeks before that she had to show that she knew how to read music. She doesn't know how to read music. Give her a note and she will sing it, but have her figure it out herself? Nope. Overall, the day was an experience in the unknown. I just hope the girls know how incredibly brave they were to sing one on one with no fans giving them the thumbs up or the thunderous applause that they deserved.

13! TaDah!

2011-12-03T07:11:00.000-05:00

I love this smiling face,

I love that you are so strong and yet, still keep your toes pink.

I love that you love to swim (and the improvement in a year on the team? UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME!)

I love that the movie you made about erosion 2 years ago, somehow has 1500 hits on Youtube.

I love your sense of humor, I love that you are friends with your sister, I love your friends, I love your attitude and I love that you will still snuggle with me on the couch.

Don't forget all that now that you are a TEENAGER!

Happy Birthday Baby! I love you :)

Baby Phat

2011-11-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

K was the proud recipient of a Baby Phat hoodie last week. Baby Phat has a fun line of clothes from newborn to adult! This hoodie is in the girls' section.

What we loved most about it was the feel and the fit. The back flared out just a bit which made the whole thing sit so well! The hood in a different color which made it very cool!

The only drawback was, that for K, the emblem on the front was too big. I am thinking they were trying to design it after a school uniform type jacket, but for whatever reason, she did not care for it.

I would imagine someone on your Christmas/Hannukah list would love something from Baby Phat!

We were given this jacket to express our opinions. These are our opinions.

Confession #236

2011-11-22T10:13:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make.

One that only came to my realization today.

I am a sour cream addict/whore/hoarder?

Who knew? I had always wondered about my sour cream buying habits, but never truly faced the facts.

Until today, after I went grocery shopping.

Whoops. This is what my refrigerator looks like:

That's right. 8- 16 oz conainers and 2- 24 oz containers. (Only 1 container of light sour cream). If we ate Mexican food every night, this might make sense; we don't. K eats sour cream with Tostitos. I bake a certain chocolate cake with sour cream. One chicken recipe I make once a month uses sour cream.

Why do I have this much sour cream?

Whatever. At least it is balanced off by two other things I buy in moderation....

Frag'n Friday

2011-11-18T09:04:00.000-05:00

*My underwear was pole dancing in the washing machine last night. I had to cut it in 2 places to remove all the laundry. If only I were that talented.

*My sister and some friends have been going back and forth on email trying to get together a group of us to go to see Breaking Dawn. They have been signing their emails, Team Edward/Team Jacob. Here was my response:

Let me know when you all want to go see the Muppets.

Love, Team Piggy

*I know why Ashton and Demi are getting a divorce. It's because he stopped washing his hair and shaving.

*If you want to feel good about giving to a good cause AND getting your kids that pony they've always wanted, check out this site. The folks at MyOwnPet Balloons will donate $5 of every purchase toward Canines for Disabled Kids. This is a group that trains canines to help children with disabilities feel more comfortable in society. Seriously, the cause is great and the balloons are ADORABLE!

*Anyone been watching the last week of Regis? It's really been cool looking back at all he has done.

*BTW, this is me. I am giddy thinking about Black Friday.

*Have a fantastic weekend!

Yeah, She is Really Cute!

2011-11-16T12:24:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking a lot lately of topics to write about here. Unfortunately they often don't go past the first line.

I have my ex-dog for 2 weeks....

I have so many things to be thankful for during this holiday season....

What will the 99% protesters do for Thanksgiving?

39 days until Christmas...

Today, I had the joy of watching my niece for a few hours. And she is the perfect topic to write about, just look at her.

She spent about 45 minutes in this drawer (that goes under my coffee table and is full of toys) throwing the toys out. It was hysterical.

She also spent quite a bit of time trying to torment my ex-dog. The dog didn't know what was going on.

So one of these days, I will get past the first sentence on topics in my head, but in the meantime I will focus on the cute girls in my life.

Sundays in My City

2011-11-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

I have written about Provincetown a few times, but can only find one of those times here. Anyway, my friend Faith and I, celebrated a day off of school on Friday with a trip to P-town. It takes close to an hour to get there. K and B both invited friends and Faith brought her son and daughter. (It was a FULL minivan!) Someday her son will appreciate the gift he was given to hang out with 7 girls, but lucky for Faith, I don't think it will be any time soon.

I had some brainstorm to do a scavenger hunt with the kids so they wouldn't be whining about the wind and that they were bored. To make it easy, I wrote the word, Provincetown, down the side of an index card, gave them a pen and put it in a big baggie. We split them up into 2 groups and told them to find (buy or take a picture) of something that begins with each of the letters. We let them go off for about an hour and a half and they had a blast! One group took all pictures and one group bought most of the things. Click on this picture to make it bigger and see some of the examples. I highly recommend this, they loved it!

Such a fun, beautiful day!
Happy Sunday!

Trapped in Jeans for 10 hours!

2011-11-09T18:16:00.000-05:00

When did it become a chore to wear an outfit from 7am to 5pm?

I got up, showered and got dressed this morning in a pair of jeans, a tank top and a long sleeve shirt (that's as specific as I am getting). I even put on make-up this morning! I had to bring the girls to school, drive my nephew to school and go to a play at the middle school. I hung out at my mom's with my sister and niece. When I got home I did some computer work. This even included ordering my Christmas cards! (Hey, I had a Groupon that was going to expire!).

Picked up the girls, welcomed K's friend over, went to grocery store, cleaned up the kitchen, made brownies and dinner.

All the while, I am still wearing my jeans, tank top and long sleeve shirt. K's friend did not leave until 5:30. Don't get me wrong, I love having the girls have friends over. I love having my friends over. It's just that this particular friend hadn't been over in years and nicely reminded me that I had served her "hamster poop" one April Fool's day*. I didn't feel it was polite to put my jammies on even though I knew it was the one night I didn't have to drive to swimming. I was in for the night and prisoner in my jeans until she left!

So when did I become this person? How did I become this person? How do people work from 9-5 in skirts and pantyhose? You know what I am going to need to put on my Christmas list, right?

Either I am old or just really comfortable in my own skin. Now that's sexy, don't you think?

*Hamster poop is ground hamburger cooked. Just so you know. No need to call DSS.

Dinner, It's Not Just at 5:30 Anymore

2011-11-02T08:52:00.000-04:00

How many people can say they ate dinner sitting outside the high school last night?

Because sometimes our schedules are so crazy at night; that is what I was reduced to.

Eating dinner at a dinner table is important. I fully agree. I love catching up with the girls and hearing about their days. Sometimes they even like hearing about my day. Yesterday, was more of a typical school day...

Girls went to school, picked up one while the other went to cheer practice, ran some errands, came home and put chicken in the oven at 4 so it would be done at 5. Picked up cheerleader at 4:30, came home, took out chicken and drove swimmer to swim practice (25 mins away). Cheerleader went out to dinner with team and then to student council meeting. Swimmer and I got home at 7:25, cooked rice and green beans, re-heated chicken and drove to HS where we enjoyed our dinner under a street lamp and waited for cheerleader to get out of meeting.

I have a feeling we are not in the minority in our crazy dinner time situations. What if I had more than 2 kids? I make a conscious effort to check in with the girls during the day because dinner time at 7:30 is usually spent trying to cram in a little more homework. Luckily we drive around a lot and I can talk to them in the car. Sometimes I even sit down while they are eating breakfast just to get in that family unity time.

The hardest part about this is planning what is for dinner, who will be eating it at what time and remembering to take something out of the freezer. Which reminds me, hmmm, what's for dinner tonight? (More importantly, where will we be eating it?)

Frag'n Friday!

2011-10-28T16:36:00.000-04:00

*The nice thing about living on Cape Cod is that it doesn't snow until it is winter. Not like everywhere else in Mass that is going to get slammed tomorrow night.

*I trashed or filed over 1000 emails this morning. Phew, that felt good!

*I am going to freeze my ass off watching one kid cheer tonight at a football game and then sweat whatever is left off tomorrow at a swim meet for the other kid. I'll probably be a size 6 by the end of the weekend :)

*There are a lot of elderly folks living on Cape Cod. Today I overheard 2 of them talking about the oxygen pump one was carrying around. "Is that liquid or gas oxygen?" Gah! Is that what we have to look forward to?

*I walked through Macy's last night where there were fully decorated trees and Christmas music. Not. Quite. Ready.

*Halloween is not my favorite holiday. If there was a Scrooge for Halloween, it would be me and I would say, "Bah Pumpkin". I do like the candy part though.....

*I am off to bundle up! Have a fantastic weekend and a safe Halloween!

My Homecoming Princess

2011-10-24T08:38:00.000-04:00

I don't remember there being a big deal about homecoming in my high school. I think I remember them crowning a king and queen at a football game, but there was no dance and no fanfare. Maybe if I had been the queen, then it would have been more memorable with lots and lots of fanfare.

Evidently, on Cape Cod, homecoming is a big deal. Some schools have pep rallies, some have kings and queens and most all have dances. So while K is going to one school and cheering for another (yeah, it's complicated), she was able to experience a pep rally, a competition between the classes, a football game and a dance.

Then she slept for 13 hours straight.

"It's hard being a teen." Reverend Tim Tom (from the show The Middle)

Frag'n Friday

2011-10-21T16:42:00.000-04:00

*It's bad enough that my appliances are playing beer pong. Now I have to worry about teens soaking gummy bears in alcohol. Yeah, that was on the news this morning.

*Speaking of appliances, I got a new washing machine! It's shiny and so is the floor under it! Little things are important in life :) And no, it will not being playing beer pong anytime soon, she's too young (um, new).

*It's homecoming weekend here, complete with dance and football game. Oh, yes, there will be pictures.

*Last weekend was B's first swim meet since March. She dropped 8 seconds off her 100 free! Yikes!

*It's also Octoberfest downtown this weekend and the chamber of commerce has set up pumpkin people in the park. Any store, family or non-profit group could make a pumpkin person. Here is ours (the Women of Fishing Families).

*A new Barbie has come on the market with Tattoos. Disturbing to a point, but I am surprised that she is drawing more heat than the name of her little doggy, Bastardino. The newscasters couldn't even say the dogs name on air. Oh Barbie, and we always thought Skipper was the tramp.

*Have a fantastic weekend!

My Appliances Play Beer Pong

2011-10-19T08:07:00.000-04:00

Remember when you were little and you imagined your stuffed animals playing while you were downstairs or in school? (Think Toy Story if you didn't have stuffed animals that played.) Now that I am older, I am thinking that maybe my appliances, car and camera all hang out, play beer pong and decide which one should screw with my checking account and break. They must have gotten really carried away lately because first it was the dishwasher who spewed water all over the kitchen floor. A few weeks later, the maintenance light in my car went on and I thought, "No big deal, I just need an oil change." Well, when I went into the Honda garage yesterday, the man noticed my 10% off coupon and said, "Oh, that will save you about $30." Thanks to my stellar math skills, I knew that meant I was going to be spending $300 on my "oil change" (read: major servicing at 55,000 miles).

I have been having dreams about my camera not working properly and have seen a lot of pictures on my computer that were blurry, so putting 2 and 2 together (see, stellar math skills), I am thinking that I have to send my baby away to get checked out. My camera is like an appendage, this could be very hard.

Last night, I was finally sitting on the couch surfing Facebook on my laptop while watching TV while the girls finished up their homework (yes, a Walton's moment), when I could hear water running into the washing machine. That would have been music to my ears, but I had moments before just heard the load finish. That's right, the washing machine must have lost at beer pong yesterday and it became the next major appliance I need to replace.

I hope the girls understand and appreciate their presents under the Christmas tree this year. B's present will be a picture of the dishwasher, K's will be a picture of the washing machine, mine will be a picture of my camera and the family present will be a picture of the car. Who knew I could finish my shopping by the end of October?

Chatham 300

2011-10-17T21:02:00.000-04:00

Chatham is celebrating it's 300th birthday next year. This has resulted in much fan fare and celebrations and historical research around town. I was asked to write a small blurb on something having to do with the fishing community for a book that will be published for the event. Here it is.....

I am blessed to live in a town where fishing has been one of the mainstays of the local ecomony. I feel very lucky to call the fishermen my friends. Fishermen have increasingly taken a backseat to the tourists and multi-million dollar homes in Chatham. However, the Chatham Fish Pier is the one place all those tourists love to visit in the summer.

The fishermen and their families have taken some hard hits from the government in the past 12 or so years. The restrictions have been so confining that many of the men have found other jobs, have been forced to sell their boats and their homes. Many of the men started fishing with their Dads when they were little. Many of the fishermen now, do not want their children following in their footsteps.

My favorite thing about the fishing community is how loyal they are to each other. No matter how much they jockey their positions out on the sea to get the best and biggest catch, they are one family in a time of need. I have seen men gather at the Pier when a fellow fisherman’s boat sank. I have seen them come together to prepare for a hurricane or large storm. The most touching times are when a fisherman or child of a fisherman is battling a life threatening disease. The families rally, donations come in and the community comes together as one to help. I have been blessed to see this happen over and over again.

My daughter(14) went fishing one day this summer with her dad. He bought her pink fishing boots and new Grundens. He picked her up at 4:30 in the morning and by the time I saw her at 11 AM, she was laughing, joking with the crew and rinsing out fishing totes. A highlight of her day was bantering on the radio with the men who had watched her grow up. These men (and women) are the salt of the earth and I am so proud to be considered one of the family.

My Invisible Shield Rocks

2011-10-12T08:08:00.000-04:00

So, I am in a corner stretching and pretending I am invisible. My "fierce" (read: slow) 25 minute walk on the treadmill has netted me a loss of 87 calories and a chapter of the latest Danielle Steel novel.

My "brisk" walk on the treadmill is the result of starting to work out a month ago. In my head I am 27, but somehow my body has aged quicker than my head. I hurt my good knee walking too rigorously on the treadmill in week 2. That has really annoyed me but, of course, has not stopped my day-to-day activities. Activities that include hauling little kids around, cleaning the house and carrying 40 lb camera bags around wedding ceremonies.

So far at this gym, I have kept to myself. I hop on my favorite treadmill ( 3 from the wall with a view of the parking lot) and read a book. I guess I trained myself to read on a treadmill a long time ago to fight the immense boredom of it. I haven't braved the stretching/mat area because it is right in the middle of the gym. Who wants to see a 44 year old woman doing sit ups? Poor planning on the gym's part. Plus the high schoolers on the swim team are usually in this area. Have you ever gawked at high school swimmers before? Beautiful, in shape, non-flabby bodies. Not people I ever want to work out next to.

So I stretch far away against a wall, next to a scale that basically taunts me and very close to a leg machine. Not room to do situps, but an ok place to stretch and observe for a few minutes.

What I see is older people walking on the treadmill, in shape older men cruising on the step machine, sweaty people, laughing people tatooed people, men with too much body hair, serious excercisers and the smiley lady that walks around and checks in with people. She's never checked in with me, though, probably because I have my invisible shield around me and she can't penetrate it.

One of the swim team moms, asked me to do a class with her because she noticed that I was working out in the gym (my shield must not have been working that day). This mom runs half marathons for fun. She must have mistaken the 'now me' for the 'best shape of my life college me'.

Hmm, if my invisible shield can alter people's perceptions of me, then maybe I can start doing those sit ups in the middle of the gym?

Sundays In My City

2011-10-09T09:09:00.001-04:00

The girls and I went apple picking the other day to our favorite apple picking place in Stow, MA (Honey Pot Hill Orchards). We couldn't have asked for a nicer day to go!

That Awkward Moment When....

2011-10-05T08:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday at swimming, unbeknownst to me, B and her friend were playing the game "that awkward moment when....". From the lobby it looked like they would swim a lap and then crack each other up while they waited to start the next lap. The funny thing was is that the adults in the lobby were sort of playing the same game.

For the girls in the pool, it went like this:

That awkward moment when... your coach tells you you did a good job, but tells everyone else they did a great job.

That awkward moment when.... you pee a little in the pool while you are doing the breaststroke.

That awkward moment when.... you have to stop swimming to let half the lane pass you because you are so slow.

For the moms in the lobby, it wasn't that we were actually playing the "awkward game". It was just that we were listening to one woman tell us of her trials and tribulations with Match Dot Com. Combined with a few other dating disaster stories I have heard, I came up with this list...

That awkward moment when.... your date proceeds to nod off throughout dinner.

That awkward moment when... you realize your date has left his ugly sweatshirt in your car and you really were not planning on seeing him again.

That awkward moment when... on your date, you realize that you have a mutual friend in common and wonder why your friend has never tried to fix you up before.

That awkward moment when... you find out your date is a lot older or heavier or balder than his Match picture.

That awkward moment when... you figure out that your date is only visiting the Cape and really lives in NYC.

I got up this morning thinking of how I was going to tie the "awkward game" together for this post, walked into the living room and opened the curtain to look out at the lawn on this beautiful day.... and there it was, the clincher to this post...

That awkward moment when... you open your curtains to find a dead raccoon in the middle of your yard. *

*Totally not kidding and am still skeeved out by it! The girls and I got out the snow shovel and removed it to the unclear border between our yard and the neighbors' where there is lots of ivy growing.

Happy Anniversary!

2011-10-03T22:35:00.000-04:00

My parents have been married for 411, 984 hours.

Otherwise known as 17, 167 days.

Otherwise known as 47 years.

That's a lot of time for 2 people to be married to each other.

A lot of things have changed too, and I don't just mean the color of their hair.

In 1964, gas was .30 cents a gallon and a 1st class stamp was .05 cents.

Lyndon B. Johnson was President and the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series.

Movie tickets were $1.25 and you could see the likes of Goldfinger, Mary Poppins or My Fair Lady.

The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and Barbra Streisand won Album of the Year.

Theirs was an unlikely story of a girl from Winchester living in a Boston apartment under an apartment of a boy from Medford. The girl from Winchester was a nosy neighbor and would always get in her upstairs neighbor's business.

Thank goodness she didn't let up because this unlikely pair have been each other's rocks for 47 years. Through good times and trying times, they have stuck like glue. And thank God for that because they wound up with 3 great kids and 3 fantastic granddaughters (so far).

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Love you tons!

Frag'n Friday

2011-09-30T19:33:00.000-04:00

*I love that Mrs. Obama went to Target and shopped yesterday.

*I love Target.

*I have been taking some pictures of seniors for their yearbooks this past month. I took my nephew's the other day. He wouldn't let me post any on FB when I offered, but he didn't say I couldn't put them here.

In this pic he is laughing at K showing him one of her cheers....

*K has been into planking lately. Not extreme planking or anything crazy, but planking none the less. Here are 2 of my favorites.

*3 more weddings left in wedding photography season. (Not too many weddings in the dead of winter on the Cape.) Someone said to me today that I must have plenty ideas for my own girls' weddings (which will not be for many, many years) and I said, "yes, they should elope". I think she was a little surprised at my answer, but I was kidding (a little).

*Baby R went to her second parade ever a few weekends ago. The theme of the parade was cranberries. Cranberries are big on Cape Cod in the fall. Here is a pic of our friends "float". There are real cranberries in the front and gigantic cranberries on the roof.

Not sure which R enjoyed more, the parade or the lollipop!

*Have a great weekend!

Seriously. Christmas?

2011-09-27T16:17:00.000-04:00

Two days ago, B announced that there were 3 months until Christmas.

Yeah, let that sink in.

Last night I had a dream that I had waited to the last minute and was running around late Christmas Eve trying to buy things. Many of the stores were closing, I really did not know what I wanted to get for everyone and I hadn't even gone to the grocery store.

Yikes, back to reality. I am actually a planner and always start my Christmas shopping way ahead of time. I love a good bargain, so if you receive something from me, you can bet that it was on sale. That's not to say that it isn't a meaningful gift, I just usually put the time into finding the perfect present and then finding the best price.

In my family, we always start talking about Christmas in the summer. OK, sometimes we start talking about it in January. We cannot seem to find a present giving solution for our family. We do not have a large family (2 parents, 3 kids, 2 spouses and 3 grandchildren). Seriously, this should not be a hard issue, but it is and has been for the last 12 or so years. Personally speaking, I would just like to get each person something meaningful. It doesn't have to be expensive and some years it will be something I make, but at least I am sharing my love with every member of my family. Some people in my family are against chatchka and do not want anything meaningful or not. Others are picky in what they like to wear. Others live in very small houses and cannot fit another thing into them. Some think that you cannot give anything "decent" for under $25 a person (aka chatchka).

So it is every year that we are pitted against one another to try to figure out how to spend the little money that we have. As I am writing this, I am seeing how pitiful this must sound to you. Soooo, let me wrap this up (get it?) by asking what your family does when it comes to Christmas or Hanukkah. Do you do presents? Do you just ignore the day? Do you take a trip instead? Would you like to invite me to your holiday celebration? I promise I will bring something and not wait until the last minute.

Driving From the Backseat

2011-09-22T20:55:00.000-04:00

My Grandmother was once a back seat driver. And that was when she was sitting in the front seat. Turn here, turn there, you're going too fast... it never seemed to end and somehow that is not what killed my Grandfather.

I am having that experience now with a certain little 3 1/2 year old. From the backseat. Sitting high and mighty in his car seat.

"Why are you slowing down?"

"Where are we going?"

"There is no traffic. You can go."

"Now where are we going."

"Look at that cement mixer, digger, 18 wheeler, bobcat, dump truck!"

"Why are you stopping?"

"I want to go _______."

"Can I have some goldfish?"

"That looks like Poppy's truck, that looks like Matt's truck, that looks like Daddy's car....."

"Did they take the bandage off your window? Why? How?"

"Where are we going?"

"Why are you going that way?"

"Hey there's Dunkin Donuts, there's the duck pond, there's the beach...."

I have to give the kid credit because he pays more attention to things going on around him than my 14 year old.

Maybe he will be world's youngest driver's ed instructor someday. Or maybe I will just make K take him everywhere once she gets her license. He can be her personal navigation system.

To Fall or not to Fall....

2011-09-20T16:14:00.000-04:00

My brother asked an intriguing question on his Monday question that he sends out to like 300 friends. He was rambling on about the pluses and minuses of fall/autumn and then posed the question "What is your favorite season and why?"

That got me to thinking (yes, a scary thought) and I realized that I didn't have a favorite "season". I have a favorite period of months. Let me explain...

I like mid August to the 30th of October. Not necessarily a season because it overlaps summer and fall. It also does not include Halloween because honestly that is one of my least favorite holidays. (Now that I am an adult I can have candy any time I want.)

I like this time because the Cape gets quieter, but not empty.

Cool crisp mornings and evenings with warmish days.

The leaves changing.

Wearing shorts with a fleece vest or pullover.

Picking apples.

Eating a fresh Macintosh apple.

Mums and pumpkins as decoration.

Beef stew.

Pencils, pens and paper on sale and on display everywhere. (It's a weird love, I know.)

Cleaning up the house from the hot sticky summer and organizing things.

Do you have a favorite season or do you need to split months like I do? Don't get me wrong, I love all the seasons for different reasons, but if I had to narrow it down, this made up season of "Sumall", "Mmertum", "Sufall" is my winner!

Frag'n Friday

2011-09-16T21:05:00.001-04:00

Fragments on Tuesday, more on Friday. I guess it's been a short attention span week.

*First off, Tom Brady (New England Patriot's hot QB, as long as his hair is not in a pony tail) was quoted as telling the New England fans to lube up for Sunday's game. The spin the people at Gillette Stadium put on it was that he meant for the fans to drink lots of water. I haven't tailgated at too many football games, but I am pretty sure there is not much water consumed.

*I am very excited for season premiere week next week! Modern Family and the Middle are my 2 absolute favorites. The girls and I are bummed that "Better With You" was not picked up for another season. We still quote that show!

*So, I really should take a picture of the trees in town, but I will try to explain them to you. It's your science lesson for the day. On the Cape, Hurricane Irene was mostly wind. Therefore, the wind picked up the saltwater from the ocean and sprayed it on the south facing side of the trees (and leaves). There was minimal rain to wash off the sea water. So, now if you drive around town, the south facing side of the trees' leaves are brown and falling off, while the north side of the trees' leaves are green. It's pretty weird.

*If your child invites 2 friends over for a sleepover around 6, don't you think said friends should be here by 8:45? I'm not sure where one is, but one is with her boyfriend of 2 months. I told K let this be a lesson to her. Do not choose your boyfriend over your girlfriends when you are 14.

*On Nate Berkus last season, I remember someone redoing a closet into their "command center". The place where the schedules, school notes, etc would be out of the way to the average visitor. So, I made one for myself today. We have a little closet that is wide enough for a tuna can, that I changed into command central today.

To the naked eye, just a closed closet door and a phone from the 70's (yes, it would work, if we had a home phone number)

Open it and ..... ta dah! Command Central! We each have our own color and our own file folder. Cool right? Just say yes, because I thrive on compliments.

Have a great weekend! I have all of tomorrow off and am very excited!

Random Thoughts for a Tuesday

2011-09-13T08:14:00.000-04:00

I have too many random thoughts in my head to wait until Friday for fragment day, so you are getting them today! Lucky.

Yesterday, K went to school in sunglasses because she has a large sty on her eye. She is tormented by these sties two or three times a year. What causes a sty? "poor eyelid hygiene" according to one website. Seriously? I need to rethink our family's eyelid hygiene. Basically she looks like someone has punched her in the eye. In elementary school and middle school, it was ok to look like Rocky. It is NOT ok to look like a prize fighter in high school. Well, not even thinking that sunglasses would cause a stir because there is no dress code in HS, her teachers questioned her on whether it was Hollywood day or whether she was stoned. Score 1 for naive HS mom.

After I took K to the Dr.'s to get some medicine for said sty, we stopped at a fast food burger joint (these are few and far between on Cape Cod). I had little dude and his sister with me and ordered an extra kid's meal for the toy and french fries, specifically. K opened up the burger to take out the pickle and it looked like a bite had been taken out of just the burger. Ewwww. I took it back in and asked for a new one and nobody seemed too fazed by it. Yuck.

The Patriots won last night. (Just had to put that in for Patty)

With all the 9/11 remembrances going on over the weekend, I hope you took or now take the time to watch this video. It is incredible.

Life is a Special Occasion

2011-09-07T08:20:00.000-04:00

At BlogHer, Hallmark was there in full force. I have always loved Hallmark and have enough Hallmark ornaments to fill 3 Christmas trees (for once I am not exaggerating).

Hallmark also has the perfect cards for every occasion. At BlogHer, Hallmark was promoting it's life is a special occasion campaign. Their point was you don't need to have a birthday or an anniversary to celebrate. Anything can be a celebration. Why not?

Bloggers were able to write their reason for celebrating on a tshirt. My reason for celebrating was "going to BlogHer with my friends".

Our house is a daily celebration. Maybe it's a girl thing, but we look for excuses to celebrate (ie: get ice-cream).
"Hey, I vacuumed my room!" = "let's get ice-cream"
"Hey, I found 20 cents under the couch!" = "let's get ice-cream"
"Hey, I finished my summer reading with 1 hour to spare before school starts!" = "let's get ice-cream"
You get the idea, right?

Of course it's hard to put a little ice-cream into their school lunch boxes, so I sneak little cards in sometimes. (Hallmark calls these mini notes).

Sometimes other people need to feel special, so I run over to my local Hallmark store and pick up a card or a little gift.

Celebrating is contagious and fun! My friends at Hallmark and I would like to send you a special occasions tshirt and some cards. All you have to do is leave a comment finishing this sentence...

"_________________" is a special occasion!

Please leave your comments by Monday, September 12th at noon.

I am not getting paid or given anything for this post. I honestly love Hallmark products and am happy to offer you a tshirt and some cards courtesy of Hallmark!

Sundays in My City

2011-09-04T08:16:00.000-04:00

Spent the last 5 days in Maine. There's a reason why their motto is "Maine: The Way Life Should Be".

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Vacation with the Curse of the Summer Reading

2011-08-31T11:05:00.000-04:00

My goal last May was to find a house to rent in Maine for the last week of the summer. Thankfully I found one and am sitting on it's deck looking at the tide rolling into the harbor, feeling the sun on my legs.....

and listening to my daughters bitch about their summer reading.

That's right people. They are STILL doing their summer reading. The one that was assigned to them in June. School starts in 6 days. One in trying to suffer through Island of the Blue Dolphins, while the other is listening to Anne of Green Gables.

Summer reading sucks. Yes, I was a teacher. Yes, I am on the school committee, but my answer is still that assigned summer reading sucks.

Oh, I believe your kids should read during the summer. Reading all the time is fantastic! I love to read. I would hope that they will be life long learners and reading is an important component of learning.

What I do not believe in is forcing kids to read from a set list of books and making them write a paper on it during the summer.

7th grade was a little more open with picking a book and picking another book that was a medal winner. She is WHINING through the medal winner.

For 9th grade they were given the choice of 7 or so books that all had to do with triumph over tragedy. This includes rape, incest, murder, poverty etc. Why do I want my 14 year old reading Angela's Ashes? Especially during the summer when everything is fun and carefree? Yes, it is a life lesson, but seriously, she'll read it when she is interested.

And the kicker is that they have to write about these books and turn it in for their first grade of the semester, so if they don't do it, they are already digging out of the F hole.

Sorry if you live in New England, because I have put in an order for rain on Sunday and Monday so that they will be forced inside to finish this "torturous" (their word, not mine) task.

Sundays in My City (Irene Edition)

2011-08-28T14:46:00.000-04:00

Went out for an hour long drive around to survey the storm action with K, B and my mom.

When I drove into my parents driveway, my dad was catching some hurricane rays (yes, the sun was out)...

The Fish Pier at high tide was flooding a bit..

Looks like someone is going to need a new kite..

The beach that was so calm yesterday was quite choppy today...

One of the stores downtown put out the welcome mat..

20 minutes into our ride it started pouring so badly that I had to take this picture through the window..

Then the sun came out again..
Perfect time to swing, right?

The girls attempted to see how strong the wind really was..

This is usually a dock I take wedding pictures on. I have never seen it under water before..

Found one tree down, convienently short enough not to hit the house..

A little road flooding..

And some pretty clouds in the sky..

Thankfully we missed the brunt of this storm, but I already heard that another one was brewing in the atlantic....
Hope you are safe!

Pre-Irene

2011-08-27T15:11:00.000-04:00

T'was the day before Irene,
And all through the town,
Businesses were boarded up,
Beaches closed down.

Some stores made webs,
Of pretty blue tape,

While others used both,
Not leaving a gape.

The storm flags were flying,
While the people flocked,

To the shore to see some seals,
Boy did they squalk!

The ocean lay still,
Some people they sat,
Pretending Irene was far away,
And the water would stay flat.

The fishing gear was pulled out,
The boats secured and tied,

The family boats right out front,
Hoping to ride the tide.

There is humor to be found,
When shooting pre-storm pics,

Hopefully the wind,
Will only drop a few sticks.

Frag'n Friday

2011-08-25T19:42:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I fragged, so perhaps that means I have lots of little bits in my head...

Number one: I cannot get this song out of my head. And of course I picture my longest friend's husband dancing to it with a cigar in his hand.

Why this song? Well there is a rather large hurricane named
Irene(rhymes with Eileen) coming up the east coast right now (in case you hadn't heard about it).

The east also had an earthquake this week. I did not feel it, but I guess some Cape Codders did. I laughed at the pictures of people's lawn furniture being turned over, or the crooked picture on the wall. However, it is sort of creepy to have an earthquake and a hurricane within a week of each other on the East coast. What exactly does this mean?

Come Hell or High Water I am going to Maine for my vacation week. This is the first time I have used this phrase that it could be taken literally. Stupid Irene better not get in my way. Shit, there goes the chorus of that song again through my head. (That is the Hell part, people).

We start school after Labor Day and there is required summer reading. Every summer it is a battle because it often involves lots of writing. We just ran and got ice-cream where there was a sign that said, "Hey, your teacher called. Better do your reading." Maybe my kids aren't the only ones?

Little Dude's sister turned 1 this week! She is so cute!

Patty from A Day in My NYC has won the little Monsta IPhone that I was giving away!!! Yay Patty! Next week a little something from Hallmark.

Have a great weekend and don't forget to prepare for the storm if you need to. And I am sorry if you now have that song in your head, but at least you feel my pain.

Have I Done Enough?

2011-08-22T07:02:00.000-04:00

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night worrying that you haven't given your children the strongest moral base that you can?

A loaded question for so early in the morning, but that is what has been haunting me lately.

I know it is because K is entering HS in a few weeks and I am freaking out about it.

Have I taught her right from wrong? Will she be able to say "no" when she needs to? Will she trust me enough to call me when she needs help? Will she admit she needs help? Will she make new friends? Will they be "good" friends?

K and I have a tight bond, but she is also very different from me. I was a preppy, athletic goody two shoes growing up. She wants to be like Lady Gaga. She is a fantastic kid, don't get me wrong. However, if I say black, she will say white. I love going to the beach, she does not. I am optimistic to a fault, she is not. She has been pushing back on me for awhile now and I understand that even though it feels like she was just learning to walk a few months ago, she is a teenager that needs to try some things on her own.

It's just hard.

I am scared for her. I don't want her to be hurt. I don't want her heart crushed by a boy. I don't want her to have to be in that awkward situation where you know what you should do, but your friends are doing the opposite. I want her to like herself when she looks in the mirror. I don't want her to feel like she has to be perfect.

But that's all part of growing up, right? I cannot hold her hand forever, I am just scared that I haven't prepared her enough.

It's a SALE! No, it's THE SALE!

2011-08-21T08:34:00.000-04:00

Every 2 years, 3 stores in Chatham collect all their clearance merchandise and offer it up to the masses at unbelievable prices. I am talking $300 dresses for $50. $100 shirts for $30. $25 watches for $2!!!

Crazy, no?

I wrote about my first experience at it 2 years ago here. Go read it, it will explain a lot more of the background. Anyhoo, this year, I will admit, I was trying to ignore this wonderful sale because we are saving our spending money for a trip to Maine next week. That lasted all of 5 minutes on the first day when I posted on FB that my wonderful salonist Kelly, went to the sale with her super getinwheneveryouwantto ticket while my hair was cooking and bought me a $2 watch and $2 earrings. She's the best.

Of course my girls read my update and had to go ASAP. So, looking fine after my hair do, I went to get in line while my mom brought B to work and K to me. We giddily waited in line. Oh, yeah there's a line (go read the post from 2 years ago!). I was fooling around on my phone checking FB and twitter and saw that if I tweeted about the sale I might win one of those getinwheneveryouwantto tickets. A golden ticket? Hell ya I tweeted!

With all accessories at $2 and me not exactly fitting into many of these designer teeny people clothes, I parked myself at the $2 table. I bought a sparkly barrette with an $80 price tag on it for TWO DOLLARS people!

K being one of those teeny people scored with a bunch of cute clothes and headbands. She immediately called her friend and arranged to go again yesterday with B too.

We arrived at 8:45 for the 10 am opening:

Already a line. I went to Dunkin Donuts and brought them breakfast while they waited. I think a lot of people would have liked me to bring them DD because I got some looks of "Ugh, I wish she brought me DD."

Then I went and ran some errands, etc... At 10:06 I got the magical tweet that said I won a GOLDEN TICKET!!!! I immediately went to Violets and picked it up hoping to impress the girls when I waltzed in to the store without waiting in line! However, when I got there, they were still in line! So I scooped them up and we cut the line and walked (sorry, skipped with glee) in to the store!

It is craziness at it's best. Yesterday, there were actually 2 men in the fray. God Bless them. It is not a sale or place for men. But the girls said one of the men was a dad and was trying to help his daughter find some good deals and cute clothes. Granted this daughter did not agree with anything the dad said, but props to the dad for even entering this estrogen enhanced craziness.

Are there plans to go back again today for day 3?

Oh yeah, but we won't be waiting in line!

If you are in Chatham and want to experience all that is this fantastic sale (and yes, they restock every day), it is open from 10-3 kind of behind CVS.

Oooooh, Those Summer Nights

2011-08-18T08:28:00.000-04:00

The absolute best thing about living on Cape Cod is being able to head down to the beach for cocktail hour. The light is beautiful, the beach is almost empty (except for that May/December couple completely making out in front of us) and the water looks magical.

So in light of my favorite part of a summer's day, I bring you a cocktail....

Some music...

My niece who can just peek over the picinic table at almost 1 year old...

My niece again because she is so beautiful...

A seal floating aimlessly along without knowledge that there are great whites out there waiting to strike at any moment...

The first attempt at my sister's Christmas card photo (there will obviously be quite a few after this....)....

B and I posing for a photo...

B making fun of me attempting to do a handstand in someone's left over sand hole....

And a happy baby and her daddy.

What's your favorite time of the day?

Case-Mate's Newest Designs!

2011-08-16T14:43:00.000-04:00

Case-Mate has done it again with their ingenuity and creativity! This time, they have created fun iPhone-4 covers! Plain, black cases over your phone is so last year. Express yourself with one of Case-Mates 6 new designs! Check them out here. You could have one of the cute animal type covers like Nemo or a penguin. OR you could go "monsta" and get Frankenstein or a Mummy. Why let little kids have all the fun?

Today, I have the priveledge of giving away "Monsta".

So cute/scary, right? Why not add a little flavor or conversation piece to your phone?! It's silicone too, so if you leave your phone on the roof of your car (not that I have any experience with this, lol) it won't slide off!

To win the Monsta case:

*Check out Case-Mates and let me know which case tickles your fancy.

*Feel free to tweet it out or broadcast this on a billboard in your town. Just leave me a separate comment for each wonderful thing you do. I will use the random number generator on August 23rd at 12pm to find a winner!

This review is my opinion only and I only received one cover to give away. If I had an iPhone, the winner might have had to tear this out of my hands :)

Sundays in My City

2011-08-14T11:07:00.000-04:00

My trip to Blogher in San Diego also included a side trip to LA with K. It has been her dream to go to LA and see Hollywood (because that is where she is going to be famous and live some day). Our family friend, Aunt Betty, graciously kept K while I was in San Diego and took her to all the hot spots. I even got to spend a little time there on either end of the convention. K really tried to take Aunt Betty's dog, Lulu, home with her.

K is all prepared for winning an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy or Barbie statuette.

I have no doubt that some day she will!

Happy Sunday!

A Brief, Poetic Re-cap (BlogHer 11)

2011-08-11T21:27:00.000-04:00

Flying home from the west coast,

Thinking of how I would like tea and toast,

I think of my trip and smile a bit,

From thinking of 2 or 3 a giggling fit.

BlogHer 11 was in San Diego,

Where I reconnected with one or 50 amigo.

A bunch of girls together leads to laughter,

Not much sleep and red eyes after.

Rikki Lake spoke on 'being born",

Some how I thought she said, "baby porn".

A certain group was into some toys,

These were the ones not for little girls or boys.

I ran into The Pringles Man, and a tidy bowl brush,

A giant toilet and the man who plays Dust,

Elmo and Cookie, the Brawny man,

Even Oscar was peeking from his trash can.

I went to a breakfast with Sallie Mae

Learned that I needed to start saving yesterday.

Danced with unicorns, wanted the cake,

Wore a hand crafted bag chapeau, it was great!

Learned a bunch of stuff,

Got a bunch of swag, no fluff.

In a battery charger, I left my phone,

Without it, I felt so alone.

Sat by the pool with a glass of wine,

The weather there was certainly divine.

There were boats and yachts galore,

To be on the sea is never a bore.

Next year BlogHer is back in New York City,

Some thought this idea was shitty,

One blogger tried to throw a fit,

A friendly New Yorker told her to "suck it".

We were suppose to be home last night,

But there were epic stories with our flight.

That meant an overnight stay in Chi-town,

With out a brush or a night gown.

I got to stay with my roomie for a night once more,

We giggled and ate pizza and cookie dough galore.

The flight the next morning was right on time,

K and I slept in our clothes and had a layer of grime.

We were met at the airport by a big toothy grin,

B practically busted thru security, she wanted in.

It is good to be back and get back to the norm,

Next post about BlogHer specifics for me to inform.

California Girls

2011-08-04T11:17:00.000-04:00

Since arriving in California, every song I have ever known pertaining to California has come to mind. Of course they don't pop in nice and neat and a verse at a time. They all scramble together so I get a word or 2 of one song and it ends up in a verse of another.

"Oh the East Coast girls...."

"Welcome to the Hotel California"

"And it's one more day up in the canyons,
And it's one more night in Hollywood"

"Do you know the way to San Jose?'

"All I want to do is have some fun"

"I been rock 'n roll and disco
Won't you save me San Francisco"

"Sitting by the dock of the bay"

There are some examples of verses, but sometimes they come out 'do you know rock and roll sitting by the dock of the bay'. Or 'One more night in San Francisco have some fun'. My brain might blow up before I can even begin the Blogher conference.

These muscial interludes are coupled with words that my roommates and I find hysterical as only 4 women who haven't seen each other for a year can find.

For example, Melisa is effervescent.

I live in a hamlet.

Our roommate Momo recieved a tweet saying "what is a Momo"

Melisa is also pissofable ( a sub-category of Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible).

By the way, we just listened to 'Movin Right Along' by the Muppets which also includes the word California in it.

So, since I am feeling giddy about being in California and sad that all you bloggers or friends can't be here.... I thought I would get a little something for whomever could tell me the names and artists of the songs that I have mentioned. Then I will do the random generator thingy and pick a winner!

No More Braces! Kid 2!

2011-08-01T07:31:00.000-04:00

Way back in 2008, B got her braces on. She was only in 4th grade. Pretty young in the braces world, I think.

She got them off this last week and only wanted delicious gummy bears!

Now, she is absolutely even more beautiful than ever.

Congrats B! A job well done!

This Full House

2011-07-30T08:41:00.000-04:00

What? My house... full? Last night it was because Liz of This Full House and her family came for dinner!

Her hubby surprised the family with a weekend trip to Cape Cod and I got to reap the benefits! I knew I would see Liz in San Diego, but a sneak peak visit was awesome!

The girls and I invited the whole family over for burgers and dogs. I also offered lobster because when you live in a town of fishermen, you can get seafood easily and inexpensively. Liz, being polite, said no to the lobster, but I wasn't convinced.

So my fisherman friend, Scott, drove his truck over and let them pick out which lobbies they wanted to play with, um taste.

This picture cracks me up. Way to pick on the little one :)

My sister and baby R came over, as did my mom. That's right, sorry Melisa, but Liz got to meet Sally first. Now they will probably be facebook friends and plan excursions up and down the East coast together...

Pulling out lobster meat is serious business...

Look for Liz on the beach today, she will be the one with oodles of lobster salad. I cannot promise that she will share with you though...

Coming Soon! Blogher 11!

2011-07-26T08:28:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again.

I start telling people that I am going away for a week. Of course they ask "where?" and I say, "LA/San Diego" and then they ask the dreaded question, "why?". I could just say vacation, but I am honest to a fault. So I either squeal off in my minivan before I get asked "why" or try my best to explain what a blog is and why 3000 other of my closest blog friends would need a conference.

Because we are geeks.

My first Blogher confence was in 2009 in Chicago. You can read about my anticipation of it here. Let me just say that my local friends and family thought I was going to an internet convention with a bunch of pedophiles.

Last year, Blogher was in NYC, advice can be read here. By now my friends and family understood what a blog conference was and didn't hesitate to let me go (probably because they knew they would get good presents).

This year it is in San Diego. A far stretch from Cape Cod, but so worth it to see my friends.

I have made Blogher out to be that place where I go every summer to connect with other internet "geeks" like me. These (mostly women) are my friends. I only see them once a year, but know them better than I know some of my friends that live in a 50 mile radius of me. I know what the highs and lows of their year have been, I know who has a new job, who thought about not blogging anymore, where they all went on vacation and all about their kids.

It is also an opportunity to meet new bloggers, get insight into where you want your blog to go and meet with brands like P&G, Chevy, MacDonalds, Playskool, Hallmark etc.

It is a chance to wear the hats you want to wear, not the ones that people in your community see you in. For example, at Blogher, I don't have to be a mom, daughter or sister, shy, an elected official, a nanny, a wedding photographer, a woman mid-divorce, worried about how I am going to pay a bill, worried about who needs what from me that day....

I can just be Sue the blogger (OK, and mom).

Before anyone jumps on me for being ungrateful, I do not mind wearing those hats and enjoy all of them (maybe not the bill paying one). It is just at Blogher I am a writer hanging out with other writers and that is kind of cool. My only responsibilities are staying on my side of the bed (you're welcome Melisa) and absorbing all the fun, laughter and knowledge that I possibly can.

I am truly grateful for the group of bloggers that I have hung out with for the past few years. I am excited to make some new friends this year. I am excited to see the expo, excited to learn new techniques and excited to see San Diego. Blogher is what you make it out to be. I don't know how this one will top the 2 previous years, but I am eager to find out!

Sundays in My City

2011-07-24T15:39:00.000-04:00

This week's pictures brought to you by Sebago Lake, Maine where we were with awesome friends last weekend!

There was tubing....

There was cliff jumping, boat and golf cart fun....

Kayaking, dog loving, a town fair and lots and lots of love, laughter and smiles!

Happy Sunday!

Sundays in My City

2011-07-10T16:56:00.000-04:00

K went on her first official fishing trip with her dad today. She got up at 4:30 am and was laying on the couch by 11 am after catching skate fish and monk fish. She saw the sunrise and a bunch of whales. These are pictures of the boat coming past a beach and then at the Fish Pier. If you click on the pictures and make them bigger, you can see her waving. Don't you love the pink boots?!

Happy Sunday!

Frag'n Friday

2011-07-08T21:45:00.000-04:00

Stop by Mrs. 4444's and see that there are other people like me that only have fragmented thoughts on Fridays....

*I forgot to mention how patriotic Texas is!!! One (70's soft rock) radio station (the only station that wasn't country), played the National Anthem every day at 12. There were so many Texas flags flying that it made us wonder what the Mass. flag looked like because we don't see it over every other house in MA like they have them flying in TX!

*A friend of mine's fiance has a tattoo that says Pitt on his leg. I was thinking it was for Pittsburgh something or other, but B had other ideas. "I think it might be for Brad Pitt. Maybe he has a 'bro-mance'." I love how that kid thinks!

*My parents are officially on "vacation" tomorrow because they are moving out of their house in order to rent it to vacationers and make some extra money. They are staying at their friend's house (and sometimes my house). We are worried that my Dad will not know what to do with himself if he doesn't have his house to "putter" around. Any ideas for fun things for him to do? Crazy question since we live on Cape Cod and there is plenty to do, but let's see what you come up with.

*I have to write funny things this week because my friend Laurie had her tonsils out today. She is looking for entertainment for the next week or so. If you have any ideas on what I should write, now would be a good time to suggest them.

*Took this pic of my niece on the 4th of July. Love these legs!

*B took this video while we were in Texas while going down a water slide. Maybe only Laurie will look at it, (and laugh in her post anesthesia state) but it cracks me up. We have a flip video with a waterproof case. AWESOME!

Happy Weekend!

Top 10 Things I Learned in Texas....

2011-07-05T07:55:00.000-04:00

These are the following things I learned while spending 10 days in Texas....

1. It is effing HOT in Texas in June.

Can you see the sweat pouring off these poor children that we "dragged" around Sea World for 10 hours? Fine, they still look great, maybe it was just me that was sweating.....

2. Gas prices are 50 cents cheaper in Texas than they are on Cape Cod. I tried to smuggle some home with me, but the airport was having none of that.

3. Do not go tubing down a river when there has been a drought for 6 months. No matter what the lady at the desk tells you about how wonderful it is, you will still be walking over rocks for part of it. (carrying a big tube, in a bathing suit over slippery rocks = not pretty)

4. Texans like their beef. I traveled with one vegetarian and it was hard finding yummy vegetarian meals (except at Subway).

5. Buc-ees has the best billboards I have ever seen in my life. We had to stop there and almost miss our flight because of one liners like this, "beaver fever", "we love tour buses: 49 toilets", "power to the beaver", "beaver nuggets". Buc-ees is only in Texas.

6. The San Antonio river walk is lovely although someone needs to take charge and clean out the disgusting river.

7. An average of 300 people fall into that river every year according to our waiter, although many of that 300 actually are drunk and jump in on purpose. We did see one lady fall in, however.

8. Did I mention how effing hot it is there?

9. In MA you can find a Dunkin Donuts on every other street corner, Texans prefer Starbucks evidently by the amount I saw.

10. If you are going to be hot and sweaty, you may as well be hot and sweaty with your friends. Ok, I just re-read that and realized many of my dirty minded readers might read that wrong..... What I meant was I spent 10 days in Texas with friends which made the hotness bearable.

Yeeee-ha!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T05:00:00.001-04:00

Happy 4th Everyone!!!!

Sundays in My City

2011-07-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

Having returned from a very (read extremely) hot trip to Texas, Friday..... please enjoy my first "vlog" instead of pictures from my trip.....

Who knew my first vlog would be so close up and in a bathingsuit? Ugh.

Happy 4th weekend!

Texas Days 3&4

2011-06-29T19:01:00.000-04:00

Days 3 and 4 are going to be combined because they were a long whirlwind!

Double Dutch Day was Saturday and the thing about double dutch jump roping is that it is truly a team sport. You must have at least 3 people to do double dutch (2 to turn the ropes and one to jump). We have now labeled double dutch day/ drama dutch day. It is very hard to keep all the jumpers in a dd team calm and happy before they perform. It doesn't help when they fight the coach on changing something in the routine at the last minute. You have to put your faith in the coach that he knows what he is doing. When you are 11 and 12, that is not easy.

B started her day with double dutch speed. This is very straight forward, B and another girl were the spinners and 2 people jumped for 1 minute each. You try to get the most jumps today in that 2 minute period. There were a lot of misses and they certainly did not do as well as they had been doing in practice. Next up was her double dutch 3 person. All 3 girls jumped and spun at different times. I have seen them nail this routine and make it look like it was easy. Not the case on Saturday. The coach had changed a few things and they forgot things half way thru their minute and 15 seconds. There were tears and frustration all around.

It is hard to parent your child and give them advice and cheer for them all at the same time. I had to take B into a bathroom stall and remind her that this was Nationals, this is what she had worked for all year long and I was so proud of her for just getting this far. I told her that she could go out on the floor and "moo" and I would be proud. At least that got her to laugh off some of the anxiety. You do not realize how proud your parents must have been of you growing up until you have a child of your own.

So after the 3 person disaster, she went off with her 4 person DD team to practice. I never saw her before she and her team took the floor. I think I held my breath for the whole routine....the AMAZING routine that they pulled off! They had one miss about 45 secs into it, but other than that it was flawless!

Later that day at the awards ceremony they were called up for 10th place. They screamed, I screamed (we all screamed for ice-cream) and I barely remember running over to get a picture of them. Our team had never gotten a double dutch top 10 finish! So our drama dutch day turned out to be one of the best ever.

Later that day, any jump roper that wanted to cut 6 or more inches off their hair for "Locks for Love" were encouraged to come back to the convention center. B decided that she wanted to and was one of about 35 jumpers that did.

It was a very proud day :)

Texas Day 2

2011-06-24T13:52:00.000-04:00

I think New Englanders are probably some of the fastest moving people in the country. I don't mean that in a jump roping sense. We always seem to be "hurry up, let's get here", "hurry up, I need this". In Texas, I don't think the work "hurry" is in the dictionary. Everyone moves at a slower pace here. The Starbucks line is slower than it is at home, the grocery store people take their time, the waitresses move as if they didn't ever want their tables to turn over. I'm not saying this in a mean way, I just find it hard to slow down.

Yesterday, we came to the convention center in the morning for practice, then we had to be back at 1 for the competition to begin. We were here until 10 last night. Oy. The youngest kids jumping here are probably 7 and the oldest goes right up to adult. Even the adults were tired last night.

But we were back at it this morning at 8:30 and we will be here until approximately 5:30 tonight. I give B the most credit. She is set to compete in 3 events that are all taking place on Saturday. That's right, 2 long days of cheering on her teammates and practicing for Saturday. She has such a great attitude about it, too. She was just cracking us up by singing Kung Foo Fighting (complete with hand motions). I may have to sneak in a video of that.

What I do have is a video from yesterday's practice room. It's loud, crowded and noisy, but gives you an idea of the different levels that are here. B's group is first, then another group from the team and then 4 older kids that are absolutely amazing! The strength that the older teenagers have is incredible.

Texas Day 1

2011-06-23T15:35:00.000-04:00

Everything is bigger in Texas. That is our motto for the week. We are at the Jump Rope National Championship for the 3rd year in a row. It is crazy trying to get here every year, but totally worth it to celebrate B and the jumpers on the team that have worked so hard all year to get here. They have practiced 3 days a week for at least 2 hours a practice since October.

For the 3rd year it is in Galveston, Texas. We feel like we know the place by now and have figured out the restaurants, the hotels, the people, the grocery store.... Well yesterday, the grocery store threw us a curve ball. Here's the setting... the convention center(where all the action takes place) is in the middle, our hotel is on the left side of it, Kruegers is on the right side of it...all within walking distance. It's all within walking distance unless you are carrying 75 dollars worth of groceries which includes a case of water.... So my friend Kate, her daughter C and I went to the grocery store to stock up on snacks for our jumpers for the next few days. I was thinking of the walk back and didn't buy a full case of water, but a 12 pack. Still what I had was bulky. Kate bought a case of water and a bunch of other stuff. (Let me just say the grocery store here is SO much cheaper than at home! Along with the gas!!!)

We decide to take our carts out of the grocery store parking lot, thru the parking garage of the convention center and to the hotel. Last year, I did take a cart into the parking garage. I happened to notice a big posting yesterday before we left the parking lot that said if you took a grocery cart out of the parking lot, the wheels would lock. We looked at each other and said, "yeah, right. How can that happen?"

Kate proceeds out of the parking lot (while cars are driving by us) and hits a bump and has to fix the wheels on her cart because it seemed to get stuck. She tries to continue on and the wheels WILL NOT GO. I so hope the grocery store has a security camera on this because we were in hysterics! Cars trying to get out of the parking lot, Kate trying to get her cart to move back into the parking lot (but the wheels are frozen) and it is muggy hot out. It was like a magic spell had been cast upon her cart.

I am in the process of taking my groceries out of the cart, because Kate just proved to me that the sign was right! Kate is wondering how she is going to carry all her stuff when a woman drives up and asks Kate where she is trying to go. Kate realizes that this is the woman she helped to reach the cream in the grocery store minutes earlier, so they are instant friends. She gets her groceries into the woman's car and she and her daughter jump in, get to the hotel and load the groceries on a luggage rack.

I have chosen to walk at this point and I am still laughing about the whole thing (I had been up since 3am, I was completely giddy) and was hoping that this random woman hadn't kidnapped Kate.

Groceries are a whole lot lighter when you are laughing I have decided.

Frag'n Friday

2011-06-10T06:30:00.000-04:00

I don't think I have fragged in awhile, but I am doing anything to procrastinate this morning..... check out other people's procrastinations over at Mrs. 4444s.

*A HS friend of mine put this as her status this morning:

Started my day a bit late in my hotel room and frantically searched the bathroom for the hairdryer before determining that there wasn't one. I called the front desk in a slight panic and told them I needed a hair dryer. There was a pause and the woman said "It isn't attached to the wall?" I looked and sure enough there it was. I laughed and thanked her and knew for sure she was laughing AT me, not WITH me. Duh!

She often has gems like this on her status, she is so funny!

*My girls wanted to go to a half day of school today before we went up to the wedding festivities. Did you get that? They WANTED to go to school. Yes, I am impressed too.

*B won 2 awards at her Jump Rope banquet the other day. One was for compliments. She lets everyone know when they have done a good job at something. The other was the BIG award of the year for team spirit, attitude, jumping, effort, etc. I am very proud of her :) and she totally deserved both! Of course she had no problem getting up on the mic and thanking everyone profusely too, like it was an Emmy.

*While B was winning awards, K went off to Boston to be an extra in the upcoming Adam Sandler movie, I Hate You Dad. It is a secret what she did and she had to sign something to say she wouldn't tell anything about it! She got home at 4 am!! Ah the life of a "movie star" and she said it was totally worth it!

*I have no idea how it can go from 90 degree hazy, hot and humid one day to clear and beautiful 70 degrees the next day. Since my brother's wedding this weekend is outside, I am happy the hot 90 degree weather took a hike!

*HaPpY wEdDiNg EvE and DaY tOmMy and JeNn!!! LoVe YoU!

Once Upon a Time Wednesday

2011-06-08T23:06:00.000-04:00

Tommy was a chubby baby and kept his baby belly until he was about 10. I totally remember him losing his belly and turning into more of an adolescent/man. It was weird. Of course I was about 16, so what wasn't weird.

He is getting married on Saturday. It is sort of odd, different, interesting thinking that my baby brother will be married. I mean he is totally old enough (and some would say, "what took you so long"), but he is still 18 in my eyes.

He has asked the guests at his rehearsal dinner to put their two cents in and tell a story about he or Jenn or some marriage advice. Of course in the schedule of the evening, he has only allowed an hour for eating and story telling. I am wondering if he thinks if he only plans an hour for this, he will get off easily. Knowing 1/2 the crowd that is going (extremely well) he will not be adhering to his schedule. Our side of the family likes to talk and make fun of and expound on things. He could be in for a long night. I could tell you what I have in mind, but in the odd chance that he reads my blog before then (or ever?), I can't risk it. Instead I will tell you what I am not saying, because being all serious and gushy in public (especially when I get a chance to "roast" him) is really not me.

Tommy, On this eve of your wedding to Jenn, I want to tell you how proud I am of you and that I am impressed with the man you have become. Technically in my eyes, you will never be a "man", but I am willing to concede to boy/man. It's easy to see you still as a boy because you like your trucks, your lawn tools, making things in yards now (where once it was the beach) and your love of adventure. I can still picture you playing fetch in the backyard with Todd. I am sorry that I was too old to keep an eye on you in HS. I am so happy that you got to go to Waterville Academy and ski all winter instead of being in regular HS (although at the time, I was a little jealous). I miss that we don't live closer and I hope when you have a passel of kids, you come visit often. (I love little kids that you can hand back to their parents). Plus you will have built in babysitter cousins for the little nuggets.

Jenn is a lucky girl to have you as her husband. Just remember to tell her often what she means to you. Remember to do your own thing, but to reconnect at the end of the day and be proud of each other. And remember that it is important every once and awhile to feel as good as that day you were wearing your Vaurnet shirt, your cool shorts with the white side stripe, your tube socks and you were the cat's ass (haha, pun intended) as the head of the school (6th grade).

Love you millions xoxo

Sundays in My City

2011-06-05T17:17:00.000-04:00

Cape Cod is lucky to have a bike path that goes the length of the Cape, more or less. And we are lucky to live right near it! This is the newest thing that the girls like to do, B rides the bike and pulls K on the ripstick up hills. It works and makes them laugh, that's all that matters.....

Tic Tacs

2011-06-03T07:52:00.000-04:00

Tic Tacs have come a long way since this commercial.

I have always liked Tic Tacs minty freshness. But since they started making tasty, refreshing flavors... YUM!

Tic Tac is coming out with 2 new flavors just in time for summer! Peach Fusion and Wild Cherry! I had the opportunity to taste them both and share with some friends.

The very unscientific poll I took determined that both flavors were tasty, but one was not better than the other. It depends on the day for me, too. One day I like cherry better, one day I am in more of a peach mood. Whichever flavor you prefer, they definitely both scream SUMMER!

You can like Tic Tac on Facebook and sign up for their summertime Pandora music station.

And of course, look for these new flavors coming soon!

I was given 4 boxes of Tic Tacs for this review and everything I have said is my opinion.

Once Upon a Time Wednesday

2011-06-01T17:43:00.000-04:00

Snoopy was my one and only.

He never let me down and he didn't hog the covers.

He went on vacations with me, overnights and to college.

He has had a few operations and been re-stuffed a few times, too. (Kind of like me, lol)

He moved to the Cape with me.

He has been around a very (very!) long time. And even though he is not too fluffy for hugging these days, he still spends his nights in my room.

Friday Fragments

2011-05-27T21:11:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I have done my Friday Fragments, so long that Mrs. 4444's has changed her banner to spring pictures. Whoops.

*Every week I think about the things that I could frag and then Friday comes and goes. Now I am typing on an actual Friday and I am not sure if I can remember any of them.

*I will tell you that if you drop a root beer in a bottle out of your refrigerator and it explodes, you will be finding root beer all over the kitchen for days (ok, maybe weeks).

*We have had 6 months of a rainy season here that finally turned the corner into no, not spring or summer, but pollen season. That's right, we are going thru Kleenex(by Kleenex, I mean Puffs with lotion) like there is no tomorrow. Pollen is covering everything. That means that even though the sun is finally out, we cannot go outside and enjoy it due to the epic sneezing. (PS, I am sorry to complain knowing that our weather could be so much worse, like the mid west.)

*My daughter wants to be Lady Gaga.

*I know that many schools are getting out right now for summer, but we go until the 21st. That's 16 more days of school and there is so much crammed into those 16 days, that I have to make a chart on poster board to keep everything straight.

*B and I leave for the Jump Rope Nationals on the 22nd in Galveston, Texas! We know Galveston, but are going to San Antonio for a few days after. Does anyone have any suggestions for restaurants or things to do in San Antonio?

*I got to go out to dinner twice in the last 2 weeks with girlfriends and now I have 2 more blond stories for you... you'll have to wait until next week.

*How did you like Scotty winning American Idol?

*Last, but way not least, my friend and Blogher bedmate, Melisa with one S has written a fabulous book about what to see and do in Chicago with tweens/teens! It is called Chicken In The Car And The Car Won't Go. She had a fantastic book launch the other night sponsored by many Chicago greats including Chevy. They took a "cruze" around Chicago!

*Thank you to the men and women currently serving in our military and our veterans. We wouldn't be the country we are without all of you. Happy weekend!

No More Braces!

2011-05-24T12:46:00.000-04:00

Today is a monumental day in our household! K got her braces off! They have been on for 3 long years!!!

She was 11 when they went on. Look at how cute she is!

I took a page out of Melisa's book (ok, blog) and bought her a ton of chewy candy and gum that she hasn't had in 3 years. And believe it or not, she has been very, very good about not eating chewy things. In the brown bag are sour patch kids (her favorite!).

The Dentist's office actually gave her an oversized waterbottle filled with chewy candy and gum as well! And balloons! What fanfare! And have you ever heard of a dentist giving out candy?!

Here she is now, my beautiful 14 year old with her newly fashioned pearly whites just before she chomps into her grilled cheese sandwich (hence the hurry up and take the picture face).

Congratulations K!!!

A Blond Walks Into a Firestation...

2011-05-23T08:53:00.000-04:00

The blond theme is running rampant around here.... This story is not about me. It is about someone near and dear to my heart, but I will not out-her publicly. Let's call her Elizabeth...

Saturday night, Elizabeth woke up feeling dizzy. Elizabeth is prone to panic/anxiety attacks and had pretty much determined that she had a concussion and a number of deadly diseases which were causing the dizziness. Her husband eventually calmed her down enough to go back to sleep.

Sunday morning they woke up and she was still dizzy. Husband said, "I will take you to the emergency room", while Elizabeth said, "How about we just go to the fire station?".

This is an approximation of the phone call....

Fire station: Hello.
Elizabeth: Hi, um, I woke up feeling dizzy and was thinking I could possibly have a concussion and maybe could I come in and get looked at?
F.S.: We can come to you if that would be better.
Eliz: No, the baby needs a nap, so my husband can drive me and baby can sleep in the car.
FS: OKkkkkk
Eliz: I have a weird question for you though... is a certain fire fighter working?
FS: She's still in the building, but off duty.
Eliz: OK, that is good. She doesn't like me. We are neighbors and we have dog issues.
FS: Okay......Totally understand. Come on in.

Elizabeth, baby and husband go to FS. Husband drops off Elizabeth so he can drive around while baby sleeps.

FS(a little bit concerned): Did you husband just drop you off and leave?
Eliz: Yes, baby is sleeping in the back seat.
FS: So why don't you tell us what is going on.
Eliz: Well, yesterday was the Women of Fishing Families' Celebration at the Fish Pier and I hit my head while wearing a sumo wrestling blow up suit.

FS: Oooh, those suits are so cool!
Eliz: Yes, and there might have been some alcohol involved.
FS (smiling): Yeah, we kinda figured that. Did you pass out, see stars, etc...
Eliz: No, I didn't pass out. I also consumed 2 red bulls. And I am prone to anxiety.

Fire Station checks out Elizabeth and tells her to take it easy, but they don't think she has a concussion. She leaves the building and realizes that dear husband is not outside. She goes back into the fire station.

Eliz: Um, yeah. While all that was going on yesterday... I lost my phone. Could I use yours to call my husband to tell him I am all checked out?

Calls husband who says he is just about there, but really a mile away. She goes back outside to wait until he gets there. Even though it is raining she stays outside because she can not embarrass herself further by walking back into Fire Station.

Today, she posts this on facebook: It's a Christmas Miracle - the cell phone has been found! Where it was found is too crazy to even admit but lets just say it was safe in a flower window box with a beautiful view of the ocean.

Yeah, just another blond moment.....

PS: That is her friend falling in the photo. I am not sure anyone got a shot of her fall.

A Blond Walks Into A Store...

2011-05-16T03:57:00.000-04:00

Saturday arrived with the usual things to do... dump, grocery store, a wedding to shoot, but it also included the need to get my future sister in law a present for her shower. A favorite store downtown was running a special: if you brought in your reusable tote from their store, you would get 20% off of your purchase.

Time was moving faster than normal (yes, that can happen, it's my story) and I realized that I better get to the store, so I could get to the wedding on time. I stopped by my mom's house, folded a basket of laundry for her while she got dressed and off we went to the store.

The store is called Picnic Fashion and is the cutest store ever. It's packed with beautiful colors, fabrics, picnic baskets and the nicest owner and store clerk. So of course, my mom and I were talking to them while we were looking around. We were in there for a half hour or so when I realized that I really had to make a decision and get moving. I paid for my items and said to my mom, "Can you bring them home after they wrap them and you get your stuff? I need to get home to change and get to the wedding."

My mom said, "Sure, no problem."

I live about 5 minutes from this store and as I was driving into my driveway, my mom called and said, "Can you pick me up on your way home from the wedding?"

That's right.

I left my mom at the store.

With no ride home.

Completely by accident.

We were in hysterics laughing. The store ladies were in hysterics laughing. K and B were dumbfounded that I didn't remember that I had driven Nana to the store. More laughing.

The moral of this story is
a. Don't ever let the 2 of us out on the town again.
b. Blonds really do have blond moments.
c. If you have too much on your plate, scrape some off.
d. All of the above.

I think she has forgiven me, but oddly enough, she stuck very close to me at the shower that was 2 hours away from home yesterday.

Sundays in My City

2011-05-14T21:23:00.000-04:00

Amy and I shot a wedding today at the Wequassett Inn. They have the most beautiful array of tulips at their front entrance. Even if it doesn't feel like spring on Cape Cod, it sure does look like it! Enjoy!

Happy Sunday!

Forgive Me, I Have Ignored.

2011-05-12T15:36:00.000-04:00

Forgive me blog, for I have ignored you.

My actions of the past few weeks have been similar to that of a chicken running around with it's head cut off.

These actions, well mostly fun, have denied my readers an insight into my very exciting life while at the same time causing me stress whenever I ran by the computer to the next activity.

As penance, I will now give a visual/written summation of the past 2 weeks.

*William and Kate got married. I watched and cried and got meds for a sinus infection.

*My beautiful niece was baptised. She rocked the bonnet look while singing with the choir.

*The "after" luncheon where everyone let down their hair and played with ducks.

*Lisa and her husband went on a 2 week book tour of Australia. The grandparents and I held the household together like a glue stick.

*K turned 14, but that will have to be a whole'nother post.

*We crammed in a few pictures of the grandchildren at the beach so we could get a Mother's Day present for the grandparents.

*Cannot resist chubby feet pictures... especially sandy ones.

*Later that day we had a Kentucky Derby party at my parents' house where we made hats and fascinators!

*B and little dude's sister are rocking the look!

*Little dude even got into the action.

*3 lovely ladies in their derby finest :)

*For K's birthday, we got her tickets to go see Bruno Mars at Boston University. She brought a friend and B and I went, too. Luckily another mom in town got tickets too, so there were 8 of us all together! Other than getting home at 2am, it was a blast and I highly recommend him in concert!

These events along with the every day things like grocery shopping, laundry, work, jump rope, swim practice, horseback riding and the bake sale I ran this morning are the reason why I have avoided you, my dear blog.

Please, please forgive me.

Once Upon a Time Wednesday

2011-04-27T17:56:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time Wednesday is about things from the past. There are many stories in my head that I want to share with my girls. The trip to Ellis Island, thank you very much Liberty Mutual, this summer made me realize that I had to get these stories documented. History is extremely important and fun! Play along if you want!

Easter dinner was a typical family meal, but with guests, so the conversation was even more lively. You would think we would try to tone it down a bit when guests were around, but not this family. There was talk of the shelf life of milk, the lessons my brother has taught his future bride (how to dry off after a shower without getting the bath mat wet was one), how the song "He's So Shy" came on the radio and my sister blurted out how I would sing it (in my head) to the crush I had in HS and one of our guests' dog was having issues with his knee. His partner said that the dog was so small he couldn't even imagine where the dog's knee was! I actually had to start writing things down so I would remember all this juicy stuff.

The best tid bit came flying out of my dad's mouth, which leads to:

Once upon a time, when my dad was in his early 20s, he and his buddies would come to the beach in Falmouth (which is on Cape Cod for all you out of staters). My dad is a very handsome man and let me just say, he was hot when he was younger. Not in an incestual way, I am just stating the truth. My dad and his buddies would come to Falmouth on weekends in the summer. Evidently, at 3:00, if you did not have a date for that evening you would go stand at the water line. All the people at the water line would check each other out and hook up for the evening.

I can't tell you how loud the sound is when 10 people's jaws hit the dinner table at the same time.

This, I guess, was the precursor to Match.com?

How did this word get around the beach?

What was it like standing there checking people out while you were being checked out... IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!? I mean a bar is one thing where it is at least dark and you have clothes on, but the beach in a bathing suit?! Yikes. (OK, obviously I have a few insecurities).

Now the real question is, do they still do this on the beaches of Falmouth? Anyone know the answer to this or am I going to have to take one for the team and test this out?

Yes, We Are Tapped

2011-04-26T15:37:00.000-04:00

This past weekend while the girls were away, I was invited to my parents house for dinner. That was not an unusual occurence, but what we did after dinner was pretty special. We taste tested 10-12 beers for the royal wedding.

That's right. When we talk about the royal wedding in our family, it more often refers to my brother's wedding in June. He and Jenn, his fiance, brought a bunch of beers with them for us to taste because they don't want the regular Bud/Bud Light on tap at their (royal) wedding. So there we were, Mom, Dad, groom, bride, my sister Karen, her husband Dave and me "testing" beers. The amusing thing was that the only real beer drinkers were my Dad, brother and Dave. The rest of us like wine, vodka or anything fruity with a high alcohol content.

(We split one beer amongst the 7 of us BTW. We are not that crazy to drink that many beers with a 7 month old intently watching us).

Anyhoo, we were able to vote on a 1-5 scale, but had to include adjectives. Thankfully my brother was writing this stuff down, because it got pretty funny right before he passed out. Just kidding, he didn't pass out, just started giggling like a girl.

Bride to be's language became increasingly wordy as the night wore on. I believe she started talking about the integrity of the beer. My sister came up with the description "ass-tastic" which was a good thing and "ass-ter-taste"* which was a bad thing.

Perhaps you would like to do your own taste test. Here is a chart my brother wrote about the beers and one of the better comments for each.

Berkshire Brewing Steel Rail EPA - Tom Sr "Didn't do it for me, 3 1/2"
Allagash White - Sal "It tasted like lemonade, 3"
Smuttynose Summer - Tom Sr "Words do not describe, 2"
Harpoon IPA - Karen "Too Dark. Ass-ter-taste, 2"
Smuttynose IPA - W2b "That will not be at the wedding, 0"
Wachusett Country Ale - Sue "Bland and not enthusiastic, 2"
Long Trail Pollinator - Dave "4, Just because"
Harpoon Summer - Karen "Bleh, 1"
Magic Hat #9 - W2b "It has integrity, 4"
Wachusett Summer - Dave "too weak, ass-less, 2"

This is a purely unscientific survey and although we had tons of laughs, I am not sure we ever decided on which beer they should use for the tap. Feel free to list your favorite beer and I will pass it along to the royals.

*Definition of asstertaste: When the beers aftertaste tastes like ass.

Frag'n Friday (Saturday Edition)

2011-04-23T09:19:00.000-04:00

*It's school vacation week here so everything is on a much more laid back schedule, this is why my fragments are on Saturday.

*K and B are with their dad in Florida. I am getting some amusing stories via text and calls. For example, K flashed the beach yesterday because the big waves caused a wardrobe malfunction with her bikini top. Then their grandfather told them about the time when he was swimming with his girlfriend and a bunch of people. Said girlfriend lost her top and Grandpa came to the rescue by covering her up with his hands.

*It is weird without the girls here. I can't blame any cups on the coffee table or clothes on the floor on anyone but myself.

*I bought a book yesterday and read the whole thing before I went to bed. It was that interesting. It is called Heaven is for Real.

*I got to spend 3 1/2 hours with one of my besties (Good Lord, now I am talking like a teen) yesterday. Beck drove down from Maine, I drove up from the Cape and we met at the South Shore Mall. If you go to the Cheesecake Factory there, ask for Harry as your waiter. He is good and has nice eyes. As always it was excellent to see each other, but far too short of time! Does anyone want to send the 2 of us somewhere for about a week? I'd be happy to write a stellar review.

*My mom and I went and enjoyed a glass of wine (OK, a bottle) with 2 women the other night. One of the women, Cindy, once worked in the cubicle next to my brother (God Bless her) and we had heard of one another, but had never met. She and a friend had brought their kids to the Cape for a few nights and my mom and I invited ourselves over. Now all 4 of us are fast friends and I am pretty sure we will be seeing more of them on Cape Cod. I am pretty sure by the end of the (bottle) night, we gave them an open invitation to stay at our houses whenever. Cindy writes a funny blog here.

*Hope the bunny brings you lots of chocolate!

Once Upon a Time Wednesday

2011-04-20T08:45:00.000-04:00

See how dressed up they were? Well that is what my family basically looked like when I took my first (one that I remember) airplane ride in 5th grade. It was like going to church. Please don't get me started on how the flight attendants gave us all sorts of cool things and treated kids like royalty. And we actually got a full, hot meal..... OK, anyway, people felt it was important to look nice on a plane.

Yesterday, K and B went to Florida with their Dad to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We have been on planes plenty of times since I was in 5th grade and I realize people don't get dressed the way they once did.

Extreme case in point: Lady Gaga.

However, when K walked out with ripped denim shorts, I had to send her back to her closet for something more presentable. She looked cute, but I couldn't let her do it. It's like wearing jeans to church for me. I cannot wear jeans to church. It is something that was not allowed when I was younger.

So will my girls think of this trip when they are in their 40's and their kids want to wear ripped jeans on their first rocket flight? I don't know, but I would like to think that my grandchildren will look presentable when they get to Mars.

The Day After Jumping Rope....

2011-04-14T08:39:00.000-04:00

The other half of my weekend, consisted of lots of shopping in stores where the music was too loud and obnoxious (Yes, I am becoming my mother). However, we did take a little tour up to my favorite beach and town in the world, Ogunquit, ME.

It was a beautiful day and tons of people were out walking the beach.

We frolicked...

Made a quick dribble castle...

B pried my camera out of my hands to get a rare picture of me.... (I was the only brave one to put my feet in the water, by the way. It was probably a balmy 45 degrees and it took my feet a day and a half to warm back up.)

Barnacle Billy's is the summer spot to have dinner and drinks on the deck...

A few boats were filling in the harbor, but it will double in another month or so....

I just love this picture....

After all the touring and shopping, we did get to stop at my favorite ice-cream spot (Kimballs). Waited in line for 1/2 hour, but it was so worth it!

And there were crocuses blooming, which makes me think that permanent warmer weather has got to be around the corner!

Jumpin' Regionals 2011

2011-04-12T08:35:00.000-04:00

This weekend was Region 10's jump rope championship. The stakes were high because all jumpers finishing in the top 5, would be able to compete in Texas at the Nationals in June. Texas was the goal for everybody!

Here is a little taste of the day....

It was beautiful out and we were in a gym for 12 hours. I did have to take B out for a little calming down before her favorite double dutch heats.

Here is her "the sun is too bright" relaxation pose...

Here is her, "I can do anything" relaxation pose...

This is a pic of "best jump rope sister" and what the fans in the stands were doing.

Here are some of the "action" shots! Pretty cool, right? Click on it and you can see it bigger.

And here is my proud girl with 4 ribbons, 3 of them qualifying her for Texas! Yeeee-ha!

Frag'n Friday

2011-04-08T08:22:00.000-04:00

A quick summary of the week before we head to NH for the Jump Rope regionals this weekend!

*The sun finally came out and it was warm enough to play outside with jackets anyway. Here is little dude and his sister enjoying some fresh air!!

*I'll stick with the cute kid theme and throw in pic of my adorable niece too...

*K and B tried on their summer clothes this week to see what they needed for April vacation in Florida. Seems that they grew a few inches since last year. Their shorts have now become daisy dukes. Yikes.

*My mom emailed me this little gem this week:

A woman is sitting at home on the veranda with her husband and she says: "I love you."

He asks: "Is that you or the wine talking?"

She replies: "It's me ............... talking to the wine !!"

*Happy weekend and keep your fingers crossed that B qualifies this weekend for Nationals in June!

Ouch!

2011-04-05T08:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, K got into the car after school and said, "If Ms. Blahblahblah calls you and asks you to go to the Science Museum as a chaperone next Thursday, say NO."

Me, "What? Why?"

K, "I don't want you to go."

Me, "Ouch."

There was a time, not very long ago, that she used to beg (BEG) me to chaperone field trips. She wouldn't think of going on the ones "over the bridge (off Cape)" without me on the trip.

Evidently the tides have changed and that makes me a little sad.

Happier field trip days....

To Squee or Not to Squeeeee!

2011-04-04T08:40:00.000-04:00

The online community uses certain words to express themselves.

There's woot-woot. As in "can I get a woot-woot?" It is used to celebrate something.

LOL "laugh out loud".

OMG "Oh my God!"

Squee! This is used when someone is excited about something.

The funny thing is trying to use them in public or real life. I am not sure I have ever heard anyone fist pump and say "woot-woot". I have heard people laughing, but not going around saying LOL instead. If I use OMG, it is usually with a valley girl twang for some reason.

This morning I used the word "Squeeeeee!". I received two looks of "are you kidding me?" from tween and teen. I couldn't help it. I was so excited that I had to express myself somehow. You are totally wondering what would cause me to squee out loud aren't you?

Kimballs' opened March 31 and we are going to NH this weekend so that means we can drive "that way" on the way home and stop for the best ice cream ever!!! Squeeeeeeeee!!!!

This is a picture of B that was taken a few years ago. Oddly enough, I wrote about Kimballs here in 2009. The size she is holding is a small.

Can you blame a girl for squeeing out loud?

Frag'n Friday

2011-04-01T09:10:00.000-04:00

It's raining fragments, cats and dogs. It must be Friday.

*Sometimes I don't shower before I drive the girls to school. I grab pretty much whatever is comfy and on the floor in my room, throw on a pair of shoes and hope I don't get pulled over. The middle school is having a reading marathon this week. I have to go listen to kids read from 10-12 today. B said, as she was getting out of the car, "You are changing before you come in later, right?" It would be a fantastic April Fools' joke if I didn't.

*It is snowing in much of New England today. Happy spring.

*Last night I went to a Girls Night Out sponsored by Cape Cod Life magazine and Puritans with proceeds going to the fabulous women helping women group, We Can. My mom and 2 of my friends went and we tasted delicious food, wine and got lots of goodies.

*I had to go to a dermatologist this week to have a few moles checked out. It is tough finding a dermatologist that one likes (at least this has been my experience). This guy was a step up from my last one who had a dog in her office and would swipe with a razor at things that were curious to her. I specifically asked him to look at a thing(?) on my arm and something on my stomach. The stomach one needs "surgery" in a few weeks which I asked for him to dig generously so I could have a six pack by the time he was done. The arm he looks at, grabs a needle, unloads liquid (Novocaine?) and slices a piece of my arm off. What is it with dermatologists and razors?!

*Do you remember all the beautiful people in college? If I look back on it now, everyone was beautiful. No one wore mom jeans or had stretch marks and the guys all had hair. Why oh why has someone created a website for specific colleges so people can "hook up" for the night? If college kids are having a hard time getting a date, what chance do I have?

*Anyone into good smelling scents? I bought Cascade New Zealand Springs dishwasher cubes the other day and they made my whole kitchen smell wonderful!

*Yeah, men will be lining up at my door after that comment.

*Happy Weekend!

Once Upon a Time Wednesday

2011-03-30T20:49:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, we had a rotary phone in our home (it may have actually been that color). Let me bring you back.... you had to dial the phone by turning the numbers, one at a time and you could hear the little duhduhduhduh as the number reset itself. Of course this phone was connected to the wall with a very long curly-q cord that would allow you to walk all over the kitchen.

Then we had the push button phone. That was cool! This still included the long cord too. Of course there was no call waiting, no answering machine and no caller ID. Barbaric right? This is the phone I got asked to the prom on. Wandering around the kitchen, twirling the cord, waiting patiently for a certain boy to ask me the most (or second most) important question of my life.

When answering machines came out, my mom was adamant about not getting one. She didn't see why we needed to get a message when someone called. She figured if people needed us and couldn't get us, then they should call back. Now we have voicemail instead of an answering machine.

I got my first cell phone in my 30's. My husband (at the time) had a "bag phone" which was a huge cell phone that pretty much came in a bag and he could transport it from his car to this boat. I was excited to get my cell phone and had him call me from the same room, just so I could answer it!

Since my first cell phone, I have progressed and upgraded to a Blackberry (crackberry) and of course love the fact that I can get my emails, check facebook and twitter and keep a contact list as long as my arm.

Evidently, I am already behind the times. I do not have an iphone or a droid. I have always loved Apple and have had Macs as computers for all of time, so I of course have wanted an iphone for about, forever. I would not get one though because Verizon did not have them and AT&T does not work too well on Cape Cod. Verizon has them now and I am counting the days until my next upgrade.

Guess what the iphone has that I cannot get on my crackberry? This...

Jealousy..... oh jealousy! 2 of my favorite things combined: shopping and an iphone. That's right, you can have an app on your iphone (or droid) that will scan a bar code and tell you if that product is for sale somewhere else cheaper. Seriously, why couldn't I have invented that? Other than the fact that I have no computer know how, but the idea in itself, I totally could have come up with that. It also allows you to buy it right from your iphone (or droid). Crazy.

The world has become a wild place(more and more like the Jetsons!) since I paced around my kitchen, twirling the long code, waiting for those 8 fantastic words, "will you go to the prom with me?". What ever will be next?

Do You Segway?

2011-03-28T08:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went on a one hour segway tour of the Boston waterfront with (and thanks to) my sister- Karen, her husband-Dave, my brother-Tommy and his fiance-Jenn.

It was FUNTASTIC!

5 giddy, giggling adults cruising the sidewalks of Boston on segways. Who knew adults could have so much fun?

We arrived at Boston Gliders early so we could catch the info video and learn how to not fall off the segway. The video was simply hysterical. I don't think it was suppose to be so funny, but the guy had a wicked Boston accent and was using Boston references throughout. The main point was to be relaxed while on the segway or "get the hell off". Then we hit the sidewalk to try the gems out. I could do a full cirlce like an ice skater in no time!

Captain Jim-Bo was our tour guide. He was all about having a good time on the segs (yeah, I am that cool that I can now call them that) and he threw in a little history of the waterfront. I handed over my camera to the Segway tour caboose and he took shots while we rode. A helmet cam would have been hysterical. (Next time). Captain Jim had a mic hooked up and we all had receivers and an earplug so we would hear him while we rode.

I couldn't do the trip justice with just a few pictures, so I made you a video. Yeah, I am nice like that.
Keep in mind that it was freezing and windy yesterday. That is why we look like eskimos.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sundays in My City

2011-03-27T09:19:00.000-04:00

Some beautiful colors from my birthday yesterday!

Happy Sunday!

Frag'n Friday

2011-03-25T13:15:00.001-04:00

Fragments are falling on my head.....

*Actually yesterday snow, rain, hail and sunshine were falling on our heads here on Cape Cod. It was defininitely one of those New England weather days.

*B announced that she wanted to be a "reverse gender polygamist" the other day. Huh.

*I was looking back to see what the heck I wrote about in March from years past. This beauty comes from March of 2008:

"What do you get when you combine 5 episodes of My Big Redneck Wedding, eating shepherd's pie on the couch with plastic forks (to keep with the theme), a daughter with a stomach ache that wants to go in an ambulance to the hospital with a side trip to Dairy Queen, a husband that is trimming and grooming the dog (for the 100th time this week), a daughter that is roller blading back in forth saying that she is a 'witch bunny' and a mom that has dipped into the chardonnay?

Yup, you got it..... a rainy Saturday night in March on Cape Cod. Yeeeee-haaaaa!"

*If you are looking for something fun to do next Saturday on Cape Cod, and are near Chatham.....

At Chatham Coffee there will be a jump rope demo, treats and a kick ass raffle between 10-12.

*Tomorrow is my birthday and I am going to try to convince my brother to dry my nails while I paint them like he did when I was a senior in High School.

*Happy Weekend!

Sundays in My City

2011-03-20T21:07:00.001-04:00

Sundays in My City is brought to you by Unknown Mami. Today's picture is really a video because I thought it would give you a better sense of the 9 hours I spent in a gym watching jump rope yesterday. B is the one with black sneakers on and I added a little music because it's more fun that way. They did mess up a bit in the beginning, but pulled a 3rd place out of it for their age group!

Frag'n Friday

2011-03-18T21:03:00.000-04:00

Friday is the day to spill some random thoughts and make a post. Hmmm, sounds good to me :)

*Tomorrow, B, has a jump rope tournament that will last from 8-5, in a gym.... with lots of kids....... with no air, ack.....

*Charlie Sheen, I know, I am sorry to bring him up. He is performing? in Boston in April and the tickets are going for outrageous amounts of money. Actually all you can get now are single tickets. Oy.

*Tonight, the moon was rising on one side of the house, the sun was setting on the other and it was after 7! How fabulous is that?

*Corned beef is really cheap at the grocery store now and the stuff lasts forever! Score!

*Do you ever crack up at who is following you on twitter and how they found you? College Planning is now following me. 5 more years and haven't a clue how to send them to college without serious financial aid. How does College Planning know this?

*I was in a gift type store the other day downtown and they were playing an old U2 cd. Haha, it is funny how music can bring you back to the time it was released!

*Had a green bagel for lunch yesterday, which is par for the course. My mom would send us to school (since I don't know when) with green bagels and tuna or cream cheese for lunch on St. Patrick's Day. Our friends would gag, but my brother, sister and I would think it was hysterical (and normal).

My girls had a green bagel with cream cheese, cucumber and ranch dressing and teddy graham sandwiches with green frosting in between for lunch. Mmmm, green!

*Little dude got to spend most of the day yesterday outside with his trucks. Pure heaven for him!

*Happy Weekend!!!

Sitter Mixer!

2011-03-17T08:27:00.001-04:00

A week from tonight there is a very innovative, fun party going on at the Kiddie Kollege Earlly Learning Center in Hyannis. It is a sitter mixer. OK, OK, I can hear you all saying, "A what?". A sitter mixer is a convienent way for babysitters to find families and families to find babysitters. Where was this when my girls were little? Plus this special mom's night out includes SWAG! That's right, you get to go home with a bag of goodies and a list of potential babysitters that you have actually already met! Win win!

You’ve never had so much fun searching for a babysitter!

Sitter Mixer is coming to the Cape!

Meryl's Music and Arts and Michelle LaRowe, the Cape Cod Baby Planner are pleased to be co-sponsoring a new event to help moms and babysitters find each other in a fun and convenient way! The Sitter Mixer will be held on Thursday, March 24th from 7 pm - 9 pm at Kiddie Kollege Early Learning Center in Hyannis. The atmosphere at a Sitter Mixer is part-cocktail-party, part-speed-dating, part-job-fair, and all fun! In one night you will be able to meet and interview multiple, qualified sitters from your local area and walk away with your very own Sitter Match Book with the complete resumes, references and contact information for sitters specifically matched to your family’s individual needs. Imagine having a notebook full of awesome sitters ready and waiting to care for your children– it’s every mom’s dream! But the fun doesn’t end there… In addition to mingling with amazing babysitters, you will enjoy a relaxing night of “retail therapy” with our fantastic “Sitter Mixer Boutique” of fabulous, local vendors showcasing mom-owned businesses from all over the Cape. Get your thrills winning raffle prizes, and walk away with a terrific swag bag chock-full of freebies, coupons, and samples. Registration is $39 for moms, $5 for sitters.

Spaces are limited and pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, visit www.sittermixer.com.

*As Cape Cod Turns Blog readers get 20% off registration, use the coupon code "capeturns20off" to get your discount at checkout.

I am giving away a free registration to one mom and one babysitter. Please leave a comment here or on my Facebook page, preferably saying how awesome this idea is and if you are a mom or babysitter! Leave your email address with your comment if you don't think I have it already. I will pick a winner Saturday night at 5. If you are not my "free" winners, you are still a winner because you still get 20% off of your registration! Everyone wins!

*I did not recieve anything for writing this review. I just think it is a fabulous idea!!!

Once Upon a Time Wednesday

2011-03-16T15:55:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time Wednesday is about things from the past. There are many stories in my head that I want to share with my girls. The trip to Ellis Island, thank you very much Liberty Mutual, this summer made me realize that I had to get these stories documented. History is extremely important and fun! Play along if you want!

Once upon a time, I was not very smart when it came to science. Who am I kidding? I am still not a science maven. I would have made a kick ass nurse if I could have gotten through biology. Anyway, my school science career came rushing back to me last night as I was trying to assist K in an 8th grade science project.

Let's review:
7th grade science: This is where I learned that you could use scissors to cut pizza. God I hope my science teacher washed the scissors before she started snipping at the pizza. That was before I was a germaphobe.

8th grade science: Would sneak peaks at lab notebook during tests. No I do not recommend this (especially if my girls are reading this).

9th grade science: Lots of beakers and stuff.

10th grade science: Chemistry. My first D on my report card. And a female teacher who favored boys.

11th grade science: Anatomy. Loved it, but it was not easy. Dissected fetal pig.

12th grade science: Did I take any science that year? Who knows. I am pretty sure if I didn't have to, I didn't.

College science: I so tried in 18 different ways to Sunday to not take science, but had to at my liberal arts college. I took physics 101 thinking it would be easy. Nope. Sucked.

So all this experience led to the 3 of us sitting on the kitchen floor last night, willing K's thing on wheels to go down a ramp and go exactly 60 inches. The thing would go past the line, we would adjust the ramp, it wouldn't go as far as the line, adjust again and it would go past the line.... are you getting the picture? Back and forth, forth and back with K whimpering, B laughing and me drinking.

In my mind's eye, I could see all my science teachers mocking me. Then K said the thing that hurt the most... I wish Daddy was here because he would know what to do. Ouch.

*As a side note, after 20 tries in school today, she got the (damn) thing to work. I am hoping the teacher gives her an A for effort and me a break on science projects that need to be built at home.

Ouch, Writer's Cramp

2011-03-14T08:28:00.000-04:00

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't posted in a week (thanks, Mom).

I am experiencing a little bit of writers block, let's call it writer's cramp. I am having a problem coming up with anything witty to write. I know, it surprises me too.

I am also feeling a sense of restlessness. I am sure my therapist would say I am not dealing with something deep inside of my conscious. I am pretty sure he would be right, but since I am avoiding "thinking" I am getting a lot of organizing and cleaning done. The weather is starting to get nicer which equals beach time which means I will not have the desire (or time) to clean until the fall.

I have also been glued to the TV watching the horror in Japan. I can't even imagine.

So, today I will work on finding something funny, clever and witty. I must break this streak, my fingers are atrophying from lack of typing.

Hop Aboard the Train (the crazy train)...

2011-03-07T21:04:00.000-05:00

A train leaves the station, goes over hills and valleys, goes across the plains, starts to pick up speed and suddenly seems to careen out of control. It's going faster and faster, but it is headed toward a wall. You want to look away, but you know that train is going to hit that wall and you just don't understand why it doesn't slam on the brakes.

Charlie Sheen is that train.

I can't look away.

I know that there are much more important things going on in the world that deserve more press, but Americans love a good 'train wreck'. It's fodder for the water cooler, for FB, for swim meets, for the grocery store, for all the morning shows.... you get the picture. For whatever reason, watching Hollywood fall is compelling.

Two and a Half Men is one of my favorite TV sitcoms. It was better for about the first 5 years because it wasn't as raunchy as it has become now. It does seem to follow Charlie Sheen's real life. Were they right to pull the plug for the last 4 episodes of the season? I think so.

It seems that Charlie Sheen has been more popular and famous now that his show has been canned. He has over 2 million twitter followers, a live web show and has been on all the morning shows repeatedly.

Seemingly, he is winning.

His "tiger blood and adonis DNA" are working for him.

Sober Valley Lodge seems to be a great place to hang out. Oh wait, one of the godesses left the building leaving him with only the porn star godess. And his kids were removed. And seriously, how long can he "party" without what he once partied with?

He tatooed "winning" on his wrist this weekend.

Some of his tweets are interesting/disturbing/amusing...

Face it folks, you just feel better when you say it. #WINNING

This Warlock is in the breach. Poised. T - minus 51 mins. read my tigerblood dripping lips; you've been warned.

It has all of us within it's pages. most Twitter followers EVER, 24 hr period. they should change it's title; "The Guinness Book of Us"

So, since I started writing this, Charlie has been actually FIRED from Two and a 1/2 men. I wouldn't call that winning, but of course he does. He is also looking for a social media (paid) intern. Who better than bloggers/ facebookers and tweeters to apply for this? I wonder what it pays? Does it include benefits? For example, one of the "winning" t-shirts his camp is selling right now?

I would wish for Charlie, a smooth train ride that did not have a wall at the end of the rail. To be continued.....

Friday Fragments (Saturday Edition)

2011-03-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Fridays where fragments are all the rage.

*This was a headline of the Cape Cod news brief I get emailed to me every morning.

Cape Cod MSPCA over run by guinea pigs
The lesson here: Always check the gender of your guinea pigs.

I like their sense of humor.

*I am currently obsessed with the crazy train called Charlie Sheen. This is the funniest video I have seen in a long time!!! (It's only a minute long, go check it out, I'll wait)

*I started this yesterday morning and this is how far I got. Seriously, things shouldn't be more important than putting up a post.

*K is learning how to be "on camera" for the next 3 Saturdays. She is going to be famous some day. Mark my word.

*B has a huge swim meet tomorrow. She is super excited for it.

*I am going over the bridge today! For you unfamiliar with Cape Cod, it means getting off the Cape and hitting civilization otherwise known as Target. I am also going to watch my future sister in law get fitted for her wedding gown. Actually I think they will fit the gown around her, not the other way around. And, no she didn't get it at Target.

*I think I'll go vacuum out the pine needles left over from my Christmas tree in my car this morning. Yeah, it's about time.

*Gas prices are making me want to cry.

*B, K and I are going to see Bruno Mars in concert in May for K's birthday! We want to bedazzle tshirts, Melisa want to help me out with this?

*Happy Friday/Saturday/Sunday!!!

Once Upon a Time Wednesday

2011-03-02T08:58:00.000-05:00

Need a closer look at the smokin' hot 8th grader on the first day of school? Here you go:

1980 was during the preppy explosion. I am surprised I am not wearing 2 Izod shirts with the collars popped. Sweet chinos too, right? And to complete the look, a bag made just for me by mom.

Giggle all you want now, it gets even better. As I mentioned yesterday, I was a huge Red Sox fan. (Still am, just not fanatical). There were quite a few baseball cards in the box, a stat sheet cut from the Boston Globe from September 8, and some magazine pictures of my favorite Red Sox. To even out my love of baseball, I also had quite a few ski racing pictures. So I was a total jock.

B pulled out a piece of string and asked why the heck I was saving a silly piece of string and I said that it was how tall I was in 8th grade. She thought that was pretty cool and immediately measured herself against it and found out that I was a good 3 inches shorter than her back then (and she's in 6th grade!).

The best things in the box were the questions I had to answer.
Name 3 people you respect:
1. Fred Lynn: I respect him because he's an awesome baseball player and someday I hope I could play as good as him. Evidently I was a dreamer in 8th grade too.
2. Ingemar Stenmark: I respect him because he's a massive skier. Someday I'm gong to win as many World Cups and Gold Medals as he did. Now that would have been something!
3. Carl Yastrzemski: I respect him because no one I know at age 41 still be playing baseball as well as he is. He is the only one I know (or seen) to make 400/3000. Smart ass B asked if that was how much money he made and I said no, those were homerun/something stats all before the steroid years.

Name 5 boys you think are cute:
Did I make up this question or did the SS teacher seriously ask us to write this? I cracked up at my answers because 3 of the 5 were "bad boys".

My 5 best friends:
Melissa Clark
Amy Potts
Carol Ventola
Kerry Lynch
Joyce Kreie
I happen to know that at least 2 of those people read my blog and I am friends with 4 on Facebook.

Places I would like to go:
Colorado
Utah
Vermont
Switzerland
Huh? Vermont and Switzerland in the same grouping?

5 things I would like to accomplish this year:
1, Win at least 2nd place in a ski race.
2. Make the softball team.
3. Get an A in SS and English.
4. Get a B in Math/Science.
5. Go out with at least one boy.
6. Make an A+ in Gym.
Evidently I was an overachiever because I wrote 6 things instead of 5. An A+ in gym. I wonder if I reached that goal? And I did go out with one boy who was on my list of 5 boys I thought were cute for a total of 3 1/2 days. We were better as friends and had nothing to say to each other as boyfriend/girlfriend.

I may have to do this with the girls just so their children have something to laugh hysterically at years from now.

Less Than 6 Degrees of Similarity

2011-03-01T08:49:00.000-05:00

B started swimming on the team at the Y in September. She has made many friends and has improved in her swimming tenfold. It has been very fun to watch. But it hasn't been all about her.

I jumped into the swim parent arena not knowing a soul. It was OK. We all had a common reason for being at the Y for one hour, 3 nights a week. I started learning people's names and matching them with which kid they belonged to in the pool. We were a group of parents from all over the Cape, but we began to find common bonds with less than 6 degrees of separation. A few months into the season, 2 of B's friends from school joined the team as well. I was already very good friends with their parents, so it was easy to bring them into the "swim" fold.

What have I learned about these new friends?

*Lee once worked at the May School. The same school that brought me to the Cape with my first real job. Suzy worked there, too. One day we had a field day going through the "did you know so and so"game!

*Laurie was in an almost deadly car accident 8 years ago and already knew Lee because Lee was her OT.

*Laurie's husband Bob works with Suzy's brother.

*Bob LOVES York Peppermint Patties.

*Mark is the mayor of the pool and can fill you in on anything you need to know.

*Dan videos his son every single night, but is also a wealth of info about the team.

*Men can have hour long conversations about septic systems.

*George did some of the remodel on Lee's kitchen.

BUT.... what I learned the other night was the best of all! Lee and I are sole sisters because we worshipped the Red Sox in the late 70's. We were one upping each other with stories for one hour. It was hysterical. We went from sending Carlton Fisk birthday cards every year, to asking Fred Lynn to an 8th grade dance, to kissing Rick Burleson's mailbox, to making scrapbooks of the team, to keeping stats for every game, to comparing who we had signed autographs of, to who lived in our town, well you get the idea..... It all started because I had been going through some old pictures and found a bunch of my Red Sox paraphernalia and brought it up while we were watching swim practice.

I am not sure where I am going with all this except to say that I am so grateful for meeting all these new friends this year. They have provided me with hours of laughs and a bond into a "new" group. My advice is, jump into a new situation and put yourself out there. You never know who you are going to meet and you just might find someone who is less than 6 degrees similar to you.

Frag'n Friday!

2011-02-25T13:27:00.000-05:00

I should have something to write about today since I have been on hiatus all week. I would love to say I have been in the Bahamas all week and just been too busy doing beachy things to possible sit at my computer and type, but alas that is not true. It has been February vacation here and while I have thought of things to blog, I just didn't have the time or energy to.

*Because it is raining today (and I mean RAINING), we are spending the day inside catching up on homework and such. During some of the gusts, it looks like the neighbor's flagpole is going to snap.

*I made a very quick trip to the grocery store this morning and bought an already cooked chicken so I could make some chicken soup.

*The chicken soup will also hopefully stop my cold that is coming on minute by minute....

*Heart burn in the middle of the night sucks.

*We saw Just Go With It this week. It was really funny and Jennifer Aniston is so beautiful (not in a gay way, not that there's anything wrong with it).

*I am jealous looking at other people's pictures of their vacations in warm sunny places on Facebook. I am happy that they were able to go somewhere, but green with envy at the same time. Green is not such a good color on me.

*Oh, I also read The Glass Castle last week. Such an amazing book! I am going to have my girls read it this summer. It will give them something to think about the next time they want something and can't have it.

*March begins on Tuesday. Thank Goodness!

*Next week, I should have a few good stories surrounding a box of pictures and things we are going to go through over the weekend!

*Here's your taste of summer for the day....

*Happy Weekend!

Sundays in My City

2011-02-20T13:08:00.000-05:00

Cheers to Unknown Mami who runs Sundays in My City for giving birth to a beautiful baby girl!

Yesterday I spent my day watching this.....

And today I spent some time watching this.....

Such talented girls!
Happy Sunday!

Once Upon a Time Wednesday

2011-02-16T15:37:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time Wednesday is about things from the past. There are many stories in my head that I want to share with my girls. The trip to Ellis Island, thank you very much Liberty Mutual, this summer made me realize that I had to get these stories documented. History is extremely important and fun! Play along if you want!

Once upon a time, Valentine's Day was a big deal. I remember picking out my box of cards for my schoolmates and filling them all out. Remember giving the best one to the boy you liked in your class? My dad would always give us each a rose. We always got a card from my parents and my mom would make the day special by adding something to our lunch or making a nice dinner.

During prime dating years, I made it known that I LOVED Valentine's day (so you better do something for me, or else). Often times going out to dinner wasn't an option and I would cook a nice meal and we would eat by candle light.

I even, once upon a time, got engaged on Valentine's Day.

When the girls were born, I started taking an annual Valentine's picture. I would go to Old Navy and buy them matching pink Valentine shirts and do a photo shoot. These are some of my favorite pictures of them. Because I am crafty (dare I admit it), I always had the girls make their cards for their classmates. We marble painted hearts, added stickers to hearts and one year I took each of their top 10 favorite songs and made CDs for each of their classmates. We had fun doing this together. Given the option of buying cards for her friends or making them this year, B chose making them.

On Monday, I made the girls cinnamon rolls with pink icing, put Valentine's cookies in their lunch, got them each a bracelet, cards and their own Whoopie Pies with their names on them. They were very appreciative!

I am not sure if Valentine's Day has gotten a bad rap about being a greeting card holiday or what, but I was very disappointed to see the answers to my brother's Monday blog he puts out. He sends a question to like 200 people and posts their answers on Tuesday. He's been doing this for maybe 7 years. He went on about how he is not a fan of Valentine's and how he and his fiance were IGNORING the holiday. He asked what his friends did..... many of them said the same thing. They sat around and watched TV, went to bed, worked late, blah blah blah. The thing that got me most was that he didn't even send my mom a card! He actually used to send my mom, sister and I flowers on Valentine's Day. How did he turn into the Grinch of Valentine's Day?

I believe that many people say that Valentine's Day should be celebrated every day, not just one February day out of the year. What I wonder is how many people DO celebrate it every day? Do you tell the people in your life how much you love them every day? Do you do random acts of kindness every day? Do you leave chocolates on the pillows of your kids every night? I think it is nice to have a holiday in the middle of winter (when we are all about at our wits end) to remind us who and what we are grateful for and that love exists in many ways.