Hogzilla II

I just wanted to make sure you are all aware that there are creatures like this out there! AUGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!


I guess an 11 year old boy shot this horrific boar in Atlanta, Georgia, with a pistol! It weighed over 1000 pounds and was 9 feet long. He chased it through the woods and shot it until it was dead. How lovely.

Sausage, anyone? P.S. Remind me to stay out the woods in Georgia.

Fiddler on the Roof

The play was wonderful! 7th and 8th graders at the Middle School performed in the auditorium to a full crowd. I love all the music in Fiddler on the Roof and have ever since my family went to see the movie in the 70's. Billy's Motel was outstanding. His deep baritone voice had everyone at attention and comedic timing is bar none! His Jewish apron fell down halfway through his monologue and he just went with it and everyone cracked up! I'm told by my parents and sister, Janice, that he was just as great on Sunday. I give these kids so much credit and my heart is full when I see my boy on stage. Congratulations Billy! Here's to next year....

There's no place like home...

Back to reality! It's a Thursday and it feels like Monday to me... After a very long day of travel we arrived home about 5 p.m. yesterday. It was great to see the boys and my in-laws. They all had a great time together and were happy to see us.

I think I need a week of detox from food and drink, but it was all worth it. What a company! The money spent on this conference must have been a very large amount! The last night we had dinner and a show (over 1000 people) with open bar, appetizers, and a comedian. After the comedian (Chris Bliss - very funny!) we saw a band called RAIN, who were just like Beatlemania. They were phenomenal! Everyone was on the dance floor and they threw out all these black Beatle hair wigs, which all the guys put on.. Then after a change of costume, (the drug era) they handed out blue and red tinted round John Lennon glasses. It was hysterical!

We really had a great time. I loved Denver and the surrounding towns. Some pics included are the Red Rock Ampitheater where tons of bands have played. It's an outdoor stadium with great acoustics surrounded by these gorgeous rock formations. We also saw the Buffalo Bill Museum and resting place (grave and a gift shop :) and the Continental divide, which are the white capped mountains. Great time, great getaway.. but always glad to come back home.

Denver Rocks!

Hey ya'll! I'm at the Convention Center and was able to get internet access to catch up on everything! We are having the best time.. What a much needed getaway. I highly suggest all couples do this once in awhile! I forgot how fun I am (lol!!).
Yesterday after a long day of travel even though we got here at noon, we walked into the city because our suite (yes we got a suite because no other rooms were available - but it's on Bill's company!). The city is awesome, so clean with a brick paved center in the middele and chairs set up with chess tables, and colorful benches while free vans transport you from one block to the next. Of course we wanted to walk after being cooped up and we poked around in shops, got Matt a t-shirt at the Denver Hard Rock Cafe and enjoyed the sunshine. Last night we walked to the Red Rocks brewing company and had a few cold ales with our appetizer of calamari then a brick oven spicy chicken pizza. We ended the night with a martini (no I am not a lush...) at the sky lounge on the 27th floor which overlooks all of the city surrounded by the gorgeous Rocky Mountains and we saw the sun set. Fantastic..

Today, I got room service for breakfast, then watched a little tele in the suite and took my new book down to the sun deck and sat by the jacuzzi for a few hours. After Bill got back, we had lunch in the city at an outdoor cafe and now we are headed to dinner with the meeting.

Tomorrow we go to the Red Rocks Ampitheater and to Buffalo Bill museum in the afternoon then another dinner tomorrow night. This really has been a wonderful trip.. I really like it here. Can't wait to get closer to the mountains.. I'll bring my camera and post when I get home!

Happiness is...

Getting a free book!

I never ever spend money on books because I have a great public library up the street where I can get FREE books. But since I am going on a little trip and I'm not that into the book I'm currently reading, I browsed at Stop and Shop's book isle where I saw that Anita Shreve, one of my favorite authors, has a new book out! And it was on sale.. 18.99...which is more than I wanted to spend, but it was payday and I said what the heck..

Anway, as I was self-checking out, my book ran up for 27.99...I looked around while holding up the book and grabbed the first person I could find in a green shirt. "This is supposed to be on sale" said I... He went and got the little yellow sign and told me that I would get it for free because it ran up wrong! It's the little things in life that make you smile! (or am I just cheap?)

Busy, busy, busy!!!!

What a weekend I have coming up! All good things and I can't wait! First I am going to Jessica's sister-in-law's house for a CYBER SHOWER on Saturday! They each have a web cam and we all shipped gifts out to sunny San Diego and we'll get to watch Jessica open them and see her beautiful belly! I'm very excited as this is so techno to me!! Then.. I have to scoot home to get ready for Billy's debut as Motel the Tailor in his school's production of Fiddler on the Roof.. I can't wait! I'll post pics of him later in the week.... THEN.. I have to get to bed early as Bill and I have a flight to catch super early Sunday morning.. We are heading to Denver, Colorado were he has a conference and I have a date with a pool, a book, a gym, and a bed! We have all day Sunday to ourselves to walk around downtown Denver and check out some local restaurants and shops and possibly go to Wolfgang Pucks Restaurant. He's also pretty free Tuesday morning so we are going to book a tour through the hotel to go see some mountains, and possibly the Coors Brewing company and some old west towns. I am so excited for this mini-vaca with just the two of us. The kids are in great hands with grandma and grandpa T and will probably enjoy being spoiled for the time we are gone! So I have lots to do.. wish I wasn't working today, but I'm going to split up my hours and get some errands and stuff done.. still haven't packed. OH yeah, there are two dinners that I'm invited to go to with Bill at night.. he actually asked me if I could fit everything in a carry on.. HA.. never ask a woman to pack lightly :)

Grrrrrr..... (again)...

My turn to rant... I hate calling the cable company so I pretty much just won't do it anymore. Bill happened to be home early this afternoon so he called because we are supposed to change our e-mail because Adelphia was bought out by Comcast. On top of this we have been having some e-mail problems, such as when we want to check our e-mails from a computer away from home it tells us our account is invalid. I knew it would be a half hour conversation with someone halfway around the world who I couldn't understand the accent...so I have been avoiding it. SO ANYWAY..... Bill called and it was more of a 45 minute conversation which turned into two phone calls. He did crack me up though because he wouldn't let them hang up until we had everything under control.. You know how they try to rush you off and you are so confused that you just end up hanging up and going "what?".... Well it's done and our old account is now defunct.. so any of ya'll that are trying to e-mail me I hope you received my e-mail with my new name...

I hope we don't have to talk to cable again for a long long time.

DreamGirls Review

Bill got 2 Red sox tickets last night and took Matt to the game so Billy and I watched the copy of Dreamgirls that my mother-in-law sent over.

It was good. Jamie Fox was great in it, Jennifer Hudson was great. Beyonce not so great at the beginning, but she was good towards the end, but I just couldn't get past seeing Eddie Murphy as a donkey. I didn't like him in this movie at all. I hated the tall hairdo and his skinny face. Maybe I'm still turned off from Norbit but I just don't like him anymore.

The song that brought goosebumps to my arms was the one where Jennifer Hudson sang (or belted!) "and I am telling you... I'm not going.. I'm not living without you.. I don't want to be freeeeee.. and you, and you... you're gonna love me".. I'll be singing that in my head all day today. Also you could clearly tell that they were lip sync singing.. But it was still good. I know Bill would rather poke himself in the eye than watch a movie like that, but if you like musicals (and I DO), check it out.

p.s.

I'm half caff now. The decaf thing just wasn't cutting it for me. So I'm mixing the regular beans with the decaf beans and packing a little more punch :)

A Happy Mother's Day...

What a nice weekend. First I had some girls I work with over on Friday night for a little vino and a house tour and we had some great laughs. Saturday, we were invited to my neighbor's First Communion Mass and party afterward. She looked like a little angel and seeing all those trusting beatiful kids brought tears to my sentimental eyes. And yesterday, after waking up to chocolates and candles and cards AND a pancake breakfast of which I had to neither cook nor clean, we headed up to my parents house for a cookout. My very thoughtful Godson made me yet another CD of great tunes to add to my collection and the kids all took a walk to the local park and had a blast. My 87 year old Aunt (my father's last living relative) was also there and since she had no children, she really got a kick out of my two adorable little neices who wanted to hear funny stories (of the olden days :) and colored pictures and ate tons of cake and cookies. It was a great day of family and fun and I feel very fortunate to still have both of my parents with me and to be able to spend a day with all of my family. Hope you all had a happy one! Pictures are of some of the nieces and nephews, the two boys (besides Billy and Matt, are my Godsons, Michael and Philip, and the little redheaded Maria is my youngest Godchild.. I adore each and every one....

Sunshine, Flowers, and RIBBONS!

Mom and Dad took a ride down to go look for some flowers with me for my outside planters. Since flowers are not really in the budget this year, I got some Portulaca (which is gorgeous pinks, oranges, and yellows) and is an annual that will blossom all summer. Hopefully they will take and spread and look great. Next year I will plan something nicer that will bloom every year, but I just wanted a quick fix and some color. Dad is doing well, still looks fragile to me, but he tagged along all through Flowerland and took us to a new little place in town for lunch. Mom and I had grilled chicken panninis with avacado and pesto. DELICIOUS!

Later, I had to pick up Billy from his very first track meet where he won first place in the discus throwing! He will get a ribbon today at school.

Matt broke his very first window with a baseball while I wasn't home (to the little shed on the side of our house). He had to go over and tell Grandpa and was still upset when I got home. The funny thing is when I left and they were throwing the ball I told them they should be using a tennis ball so they don't break a window! I think I jinxed him! Anyway, It's fine. Guy fixed it and Matt learned a lesson. I hated to see him so upset about it, but it's only a window. (Now, if it was one of my new windows in the house I think I'd be a tad more upset).

So off to the office today :( My crazy co-worker has been much more sane. I just have to make sure she eats, then she's happy. Have a good day everyone!

Decaf Karen

It is day 3 of decaffeination. Bill suggested we go decaf so I was right on board. Today I have a slight headache but I don't feel too bad. I slept great last night. I did sneak in a cup of green tea in the afternoon.

I definitely don't feel the morning JOLT like I usually do.. but not too bad either. I'll check in later, if I'm not napping :)

MIA

Sorry I've been missing in action, but just been crazy busy!

Matt is doing great with his braces, but he has STREP, the poor little dude! He woke up with a bit of a sore throat, but I thought it was just a morning thing and got a call from the school nurse saying he wasn't feeling well. Since he's not a "frequent flyer" I went to pick him up right away and also got a doctor's appointment. He had the headache and nausea, slight temp and sore, red throat. The preliminary test came back positive....so here we are.

I dropped him at home to rest and figured I go back and get the prescription. While I was there, (stop and shop) I did a little shopping and then came home...FORGETTING TO PICK UP THE PRESCRIPTION! After I unloaded the car and checked on him again (sleeping) went for my fourth trip to that side of town and it was only 11 a.m.

Anyway, I'm back on my computer now trying to work but very distracted. Had a wonderful weekend..went by much too fast... Hope everyone is well.. BYe bye Monday!

ORTHODONTIA

Today is the day that Matt gets his top braces on. He's being brave about it but is definitely nervous. I think more nervous about the "cool factor" than the pain factor. I'm getting him out of school at 10:15 and probably not going to bring him back after the appointment. So this morning will be the last time for about two years that I will see that sweet grin without metal, but once they come off.. watch out world!!

Wish him luck! Happy Tuesday.. the sun is shining bright.