Ola...

It's been quite a week, hasn't it. Loving this bit of warmer (notice I didn't exactly say WARM) weather that we've been having.

Here's the poop..

Went away with Bill at the beginning of the week and lounged around watching movies, finished the puzzle, ate out, made chili and was just generally pretty darn lazy. I did attempt skiing on MLK day but it was -1 at the base, so imagine the ride up the chair lift. Think windburn and severe headache and your nostrils frozen. Not fun.. I did one run and ran for the lodge. Haven't had much luck with the ski scene this year.

Bill and I joined the gym again. It's a wonderful (but yes expensive) club that has raquetball, a pool, classes, weights, yoga, pilates, a juice bar, fancy bathrooms with steam and sauna.. I'm sure you can picture it. We bit the bullet and will make sure that we go. After chatting with cousin Kathy last night, we both agreed that the benefits of exercising are worth the payment, right ? right! So I went last night and will be leaving as soon as the bloggin is done.

My kids have been with Grandma and Grandpa Tringali all week and are having a fantastic time! They won't want to come home. I'll admit that it has been a lovely break, and I forgot how easy it is to just care for yourself.. wow, it's easy! They come back on Saturday.

Jessica is having a boy!!! I'm so so so so excited. I was secretly hoping for a little boy since the last two babies in our family were girls (who are now 6 and soon to be 4) so we are all looking forward to a little one to love.

I can't believe how much I am looking forward to Spring. I think I might have that Seasonal Affective Disorder thing because I have just been in doldrums.. I'm not made for gray skies :).

Dad starts his FINAL (I sincerely hope) chemotherapy treatment next week and is really looking forward to being done with all these appointments and being able to just be himself for awhile. He's very brave and I'm ever so proud of him. Mom deserves KUDOS for taking such good care of him and putting herself last.. Spring is coming.

Well, that's it for now. Over and Out.

Old Man Winter

I'd like to see him retire. It has been nothing but cold, cold, wind, cold more wind, and more cold. I'm bored out of my skull. I love to go out and take walks but it is so cold I only leave the house when I have to. I must be getting old. Or just not motivated to go anywhere! Although I'm not really sad to see no snow, I feel bad for the kids who can't sled or muck around outside and have snowball fights and be kids! I keep thinking one more month....It's my mantra.

My lucky boys are spending the week down the Cape with their Grandparents and older cousin. My in-laws have had a time-share for the February Vacation week for about 20 years. My brother in law met his future wife there when he was only 14 or so. They stayed friends as her parents also had the vacation week timeshare. She invited him to her prom and the rest is history. Two kids and a move to Florida later, they are very happy together. Maybe my future daughter-in-law will emerge :) They have lots of fun playing board games, cards, video games, basketball and going to the pool. Their grandparents spoil them and they deserve a nice break. Bill and I are having a weekend alone up North , some skiing, some relaxing, and then coming home to an empty house. I told him I'm taking the week off from cooking and he readily agreed. I'm sure I'll miss the boys by the end of the week so I'll be looking forward to them coming home.

In some sad news, our friend Norma's mother passed away suddenly yesterday at her home. It hasn't even been a year since her father died. Her and I were just gabbing about how she would love her mother to live with them and the room that was slated for Big Norma was just gorgeous... master bath with jacuzzi tub and two huge closets and the room is bright and sunny. I'm sure Norma could use all of our prayers and thoughts as she goes through this difficult time. She's been a great daughter, and to her mother's credit, she is a FANTASTIC mother herself.

Have a good weekend everyone.. Think Spring.

Movie Mania.. and some disappointments....

I rarely go to the movies (although I love it.. don't know why I don't go) but this weekend I went to 2. The first one was last night.. date night for Bill and I.. and since we didn't want to go to a late afternoon because we left Billy in charge, we were limited to our choices. So the one that fit into the time slot was THE MESSENGERS. I love a good creepy flick that makes me have to watch through my hands while saying "what's going on?" "what happened". I knew this one was going to be a "B" movie by watching the trailor for it so I wasn't surprised that it was "metza metza". I did enjoy it.. Yes, it was pretty stupid, but it got the requisite jumps out of me and I did some hand peeking.. I think I enjoyed being out with my hubby so I didn't mind that it was predictable. The whole farmhouse out in North Dakota, with troubled teen in a haunted house thing. Should you go? Probably not.

The second one was a HUGE disappointment. I'm sad to say that we took the kids to see NORBIT, the new Eddie Murphy movie. Since we both got a kick out of Nutty Professor and love to see how he can become different characters, we thought it might be semi funny.. It was bad. The language was bad, the humor was bad. It was racist, sexual, and just plain stupid. Unfortunately, the boys thought it was funny. I'll have to do more homework next time. I told them how I didn't like the language (everyone was a **tch and Billy said good thing you don't go my school, Mom, because that's how people talk. How very sad. This movie had some potential of being humerous. I'm not an Eddie Murphy fan at all.

Anyway, we are going out now to Matt's football banquet, where he will recieve another trophy to add to his headboard collection. This will be 100% more entertaining than the couple hours that I wasted this afternoon.

Anna Nicole

Wow.. Just clicked on to my homepage which is www.usatoday.com and saw the glaring headline that Anna Nicole Smith is dead at 39. Wow.

I'm one of those ones that would always shake my head at Anna with a bemused/confused look on my face but as a 40 year old female, I just can't comprehend her death at age 39.. Maybe it was something to do with the diet pills (trimspa) that she took and is in a major lawsuit over..Maybe grief over the death of her own son and the fact that she doesn't know who her baby's Daddy is.. All I can say is that it is very sad and tragic that someone so young has died for no good reason. Very sad indeed.

CRAZY......

Ok.. we have to talk about the crazy astronaught woman. What the heck?

Cold and Car-less (for a couple days..)

Sorry I've been away, I've been pouting. My stupid truck broke down outside of Macy's Friday night at the same time I was supposed to be picking up Matt from a dance. What did we ever did without cell phones??? Called Guy to come and check it out, called a friend to go get Matt. Called AAA for a tow. It was the starter, but we didn't know that yet.. Had it towed to my mechanic whom I called first thing Saturday morning. He asks is it covered? Of course, Bill is away with Billy for the weekend, so I have to slosh through all the paperwork and lo and behold we have MAJOR GUARD, so it is covered, but I have to take it to a GM dealership. By this time, my guy is closed for the weekend, so have to wait til Monday morning to tow the vehicle from my place to a GMC place. Grrrrrrrr......... SO ANYWAY, got it back yesterday but while it was there it needed more work (this is a 2004 GMC Envoy.. not an old clunker yet) because I had never taken it in for the 30,000 mile checkup because I was too busy moving 3 times and building a house and living with my in-laws and worrying about my father.... whew... breathe....

SO I'm $700.00 poorer, (yes 700 dollars) but I have my car back. :)

Question: Do you all take your vehicles to the dealer or to your own mechanic? And do you think they are out to "rip you off" and are all these things they do necessary? I just did them because they told me too but why didn't my regular mechanic tell me to do these things? Just curious. I'm vehicle-impaired.