Apples, apples, apples and a lot more...

Sorry I've been MIA... Lots going on. I started my new job Wednesday and I love it! The day flies right by. I don't have to be in there until 9 so I have some time to myself in the morning with the boys and I'm home by 3:15. I still have hours in transcription but I can do one hour each night/evening and I'm all set. I probably won't have that luxury too long because the new voice recognition system is so great that we don't have too much work.

We are all anxiously awaiting news of a CT scan that is scheduled for my Dad... He had one last week which showed a large mass in his pelvis, twice the size since June. He also has new nodules in his clavicle and his chest/lymph nodes.. Once before they biopsied some nodules which turned out to be benign. He has been such a trooper and has had such an awful, awful year yet is so determined to fight this cancer. Our hope is that is is prostate cancer returning which they will just treat with hormones.. if it is the endocrine, it means chemo, and yes, he still wants treatment. Prayers would be greatly appreciated for his strength through this ordeal.. and also for my mother too, who takes care of everybody. Sometimes I worry just as much about her..

In some good news, we had a family apple picking day last weekend at HoneyPot Hill Orchards in Stow, MA, right over the Sudbury line. What a great place! They had pick your own apples and pears (yes pears!!) and a hayride around a pond, a picnic area, animals, and a large hedge maze. Bill and I picked up Mom and my sister Diane, my niece Ashley, nephew Philip and Brother in law Simon all met us there. After we went back to my parents and my brother Mike was there with my two little nieces, Anna and Maria, my other niece Kara came and my nephew Michael (who is DRIVING!!) came with two of his sisters, Avery and Alex.. Me and my mom made lasagnas and we had a wonderful day all together.. makes me realize that although we are all so busy we need to get together more often.. Happy Friday everyone!

Fall staples..

I'm on board with Dawn and Drews posts.. getting good advice from people who have been there.

Here's my thing right now.. I'm sick of cooking. and shopping. What are some of your easy to throw together (but yummy and hopefully healthy) fall meals? With drama and football and me starting a new job I want to be organized and possibly prepare things in advance.

One of my fall staples is Chicken Pot Pie. My kids LOVE it and so do I.

here's the recipe.

One prepared pie crust (roll out Pillsbury works well)

One can of Campbell's cream of chicken soup.

One half bag of frozen veggies (I use corn, carrots, green beans, peas and lima beans)

Leftover cut up chicken (or get some tenders and chop and saute)
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Heat soup and veggies on stove in pot. add chicken. Put bottom crust in pie pan and dump said mixture in. Put top on and crimp edges. Put a few slits in the top. Spread a little milk on top of hte pie crust and put in a 350 oven for one hour. (Put some foil under in case it bubbles over). Serve with cranberry jelly or applesause and ENJOY!

Please share if you have any kid friendly and parent friendly favorites. I don't like Ramen noodles. too salty even when I use half!

September 17th, 1979

It was in the evening. I was 13 and was in the basement when I got a phone call. It was "Billy" asking me out. 28 years ago today :) He remembered when I was driving home from work and had called him to check in. I had completely forgotten but he said "Hey, 28 years ago today" and I was like "what?" He reminded me and I jokingly said "Aren't you going to ask me again?"

"So, will you go out with me?" Yes, I said.

Strange Dream

Ok all you dream interpreters. I have had this dream twice now and it is rather disturbing. Hope I don't gross you out..

I dream that the bottom of my foot has a huge wound. and in my dreams I was hearing the words necrosis (which is probably from work) but why do I have this necrotic wound in my foot?

Yuck.

I love the 70s....

What were some of your favorite songs growing up? I remember listening to WRKO AM radio.. also my sisters had a record player that looked like a black suitcase which we kept up in our room and would listen to 45s on it.

Some that bring me waaaayyyyy back..

The Night that the Lights went our in Georgia (and the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands) (This was a scary song to me when I was a little girl)

Midnight at the Oasis (really weird song)

Delta Dawn (what's that flower you have on? could it be a faded rose from Days gone by?? And did I hear you say, he was a meetin you here today.. to take you to his mansion in the sky)

My Eyes Adored you (though I never laid a hand on you.. my eyes adored you.. Like a million miles away from me you couldn't see how I adored you.. so close, so close and yet so far..)

Sweet, Sweet Loretta ( you know I loved you better.. than anyone of those other guys.. that looked at you with those sparkling eyes!)..

Heartbeat its a lovebeat and a lovebeat is a good vibration, Oh a heartbeat, its a lovebeat and when we meet its a good sensation...

Spiders and Snakes (yuck)

Now that you're all singing... what are some of your favs?

Uncle Danny

I'm driving to Boston to go to a memorial mass for my Uncle Danny today. I should say ex-Uncle Danny, because he and my aunt have been divorced for about forever now and he's been living in Virginia so I haven't seen him for eons. But I remember...

He was a really, really cool Uncle to a little girl. He was very handsome and always tanned. He had really thick dark hair that looked like a 50's hairdo. He drove a big Chevy Van when he wasn't driving his truck. He had false teeth early and would always stick them out at me to make me laugh. He called me beautiful way back when I surely wasn't even cute, with one eyebrow and braces. Without fail, everytime he saw me, he handed me a dime and told me to put it in my pocket in case I needed to make a phone call. He was so much fun. He drank cans of Schlitz beer and wore blue jeans.

I'm not sure what went wrong in their marriage and I really don't want to know. But I'll remember Uncle Danny fondly and I'm glad he was part of my life.

The Inspiring Story of a Miracle named Joel...

Here's the book I was talking about earlier...

Lord, forgive me when I whine

I just read a great book about a young man named Joel Sonnenberg who overcame being burned all over his body at age 2 and suffered such disfigurement but was able to become a motivational speaker, his class president, a soccer player, and was able to put people at ease and even joke about his appearance. I want to have my whole family read it so when we feel down, or overwhelmed, or are just having an overall lousy day, we can also feel blessed. It reminded me of a poem that my Great-Grandma Kelly cut out of the newspaper and read to me when I was a little girl. I found it online. I hope you enjoy it.



Today, upon a bus, I saw a girl with golden hair.
I envied her, she seemed so gay, and wished I was as fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and wore a crutch. But as she passed, a smile.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 legs, the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm.
I talked with him, he seemed so glad. If I were late, it'd do no harm.
And as I left, he said to me, "I thank you, you've been so kind.
It's nice to talk with folks like you. You see," he said, "I'm blind."

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 eyes, the world is mine.

Later while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play. He did not know what to do.
I stopped a moment and then I said, "Why don't you join the others, dear?"
He looked ahead without a word. And then I knew, he couldn't hear.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 ears, the world is mine.
With feet to take me where I'd go.
With eyes to see the sunset's glow.
With ears to hear what I'd know.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I've been blessed indeed, the world is mine.

More baby....

I love this one! He looks great in orange. How many people can say that?

Sunrise, Sunset...

This is for Nancy.. Here are some pictures that our friend sent us with the sun rising over the beach in Wells. In one of them you can see the Bush estate in Kennebunk. The last one is of me and Melissa and I am showing her how to fold fancy napkins for our Thanksgiving in August party! Can't wait til next year!

This is my Desk top picture...

And I smile everytime I turn my computer on... Hi Nathan!

Barbie Dream House Feloni Style...

After I read our friend Normas post about Emma receiving the coolest barbie house I began to reminisce about my own barbie years.

First memory is that my friends, Kathy, Sandra and I all played barbies ALL THE TIME.. we brought them outdoors, onto porches, carries accessories, and made up the very best barbie scenarios. Its funny that we named our barbies boy names thinking that was cool then. We had Bobby barbie and Billy barbie. I always preferred the brunette barbies to the blondes. My Godmother gave me 70's Ken one year and he came with a tan leisure suite and removable sideburns. Heaven!

While I desparately wanted Barbie Dream House, as a family of 7 we probably couldn't afford it. I think I might have posted about this before, but bear with me. I got the barbie house of MY dreams because of my mother's creativity. She took an old white aluminum filing cabinet and took off the door. It had 5 stories. She got me an old wallpaper book and rug samples from a store so I could paper and rug each story separately. On the very bottom was the bathroom with the real working pink and blue barbie bubble bath tub and vanity. I had yellow shag throw rugs on the floor complete with blow dryer for the vanity. The next level up was the den where we had just some cool home-made couches and things on the wall for barbies to just hang out. Then one up was the kitchen, the was decorated with the JODY DOLL old fashioned accessories complete with little plastic brown cat for the floor and milk jugs for the cabinets. A round wooden (plastic) table was in the middle. It was probably my favorite floor. Up from that was more JODY DOLL furniture. The formal living room with purple velvet couch and piano and fake flowers and little glass decorations. The top floor was my barbie bedroom with a white and yellow canopy bed. It was very little girls dream!!! I also had the van and played in the basement "storage room" for hours upon hours. Thanks Mom for your creativity and love. It was a blast and I'll never forget those memories.